Fairfax NAACP Community Meeting with the Superintendent
Members of the Fairfax NAACP witnessed a rare event: a school superintendent willing to have a frank conversation about the state of schools for Black students. The meeting was hosted by Fairfax NAACP’s Dr. Sujatha Hamption (first Vice President and Chair of the Education Committee) and Mike Woltz (Chair of the Legal Redress Committee). It was a tough, open discussion with Dr. Michelle Reid, Superintendent of Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS).
Racial equity was the foundation of the entire discussion with particular focus on the following:
Impact of Regional Assistant Superintendents (RASs)
Literacy and Numeracy
Hiring and Retention
Needs for the Future
Dr. Hampton framed the discussion through Dr. Reid’s credo: “If we walk by an inequity or mediocrity and do not attend to it, then we have lost the credibility to lead.” Mr. Woltz added that this forum was an opportunity to tell the whole story and was just the beginning of a dialogue.
Impact of Regional Assistant Superintendents (RAS)
For Black students, the impact of RASs is often negative despite their role of leadership, accountability, and direction of school principals. It seems that most of the RASs were once principals, thus their interest in holding principals accountable can be in conflict with their current role. Additionally, there is perceived disproportionality in time spent on some matters (e.g., the Hayfield football situation) versus time spent improving special education in that same region. It was discussed that the RASs’ focus does not always extend to things that matter most to Black students and educators, including active efforts to reduce racial discrimination in schools.
Under Dr. Reid’s supervision, the role of RASs has changed. Where they were once able to create their own independent plan for their region, they are now guided by the Strategic Plan to ensure that all regions are “going in the same direction.” They meet weekly to ensure they are accountable and to discuss the regional data dashboards.
Based on the discussion with Dr. Hampton and Mr. Woltz, Dr. Reid acknowledged that, “We still have work to do.” Dr. Reid shared how families should report racial incidents:
Talk to school based staff. If the principal conversation doesn't go well, then escalate to the RAS. Then, the chief equity office.
If the principal is the problem, then the RAS should be contacted immediately.
Also there is a discrimination and harassment form online. Regional equity specialists should be reviewing incidents in a timely manner and the team should support an environment to reduce harm; however, this may not always happen.
A "Let's talk" feature has been added to the laptops for students. Now, it is being tracked, and they weren't before. It is 2nd year of tracking.
Literacy and Numeracy
Dr. Hampton celebrated the successes FCPS has made with English Language Learners where their World-Class Instructional Design and Assessment (WIDA) scores were up by 11% but that led to the question, “Why hasn’t FCPS seen similar improvements to close gaps for Black students?” This would include barriers to improvement that are inside the schools, including unconscious bias which results in greater discipline of (11% for Black students versus 6% overall) and fewer opportunities offered to Black students (e.g., fewer in advanced classes and AAP).
Thoughtfully, Dr. Reid responded that “the system is designed to get the results it gets,” thus she has worked to disrupt practices that lead to barriers for children negatively impacted by the system. FCPS has seen increases in both the number of Black students taking Algebra by 8th grade and on-time graduation for Black students.
Dr. Hampton described the “gates” (e.g., Advanced Academic Placement (AAP) access) that are “still there to prevent Black kids from having opportunities, and someone is operating the gate” which lead to the question,”What are the changes in FCPS to make the [Strategic Plan Algebra] goal by 2030?” Dr. Reid said that access to Algebra by 8th grade should not be related to access to AAP, but is related to whether advanced math is available in elementary schools. She suggested that boundary review and restructuring of middle schools to include 6th grade may enable access for all students to Algebra.
Mr. Woltz added that his children have had few issues with their peers, but more with their teachers, thus, Black student access to AAP is more about the teacher’s personality and views than about a child’s abilities. He asked whether Dr. Reid considered the concept of bringing AAP to the kids, rather than kids going to AAP? Dr. Reid said that AAP is a civil right and that her instructional team is working to get AAP opportunities to the kids.
Dr. Reid shared ideas of making Career and technical education (CTE) classes more accessible and modern, including: opening academy class offerings around the school district, an innovative partnership with INOVA Hospital for ultrasound technicians, and apprenticeship programs. These programs can open doors for students who are not (quite?) ready for college.
There was an interesting discussion about recent efforts to defund public education systems as part of a national effort to create an “underclass” by making higher education less accessible, particularly for underrepresented groups like Black students. Therefore, there is a need to balance opportunities between higher education and CTE. Dr. Ried pointed out that so many more people with high school diplomas (and no higher education) died of COVID than their college-educated peers, due to the inability of remote work for most jobs for those without higher education.
Hiring and Retention of Black Staff
The rate of staff departures in FCPS has decreased by a whopping 37%! Although she did not have a breakdown by race of retention, Dr. Reid shared that FCPS continues to increase the number of Black teachers, Assistant Principals, and Principals hired every year since 2019. Nevertheless, FCPS needs to continue to make progress.
Fairfax NAACP advocated for attracting, hiring, and retaining the best teachers and highlights the positive impacts on students of having a Black teacher, including a decrease in disciplinary referrals, and improvements in math scores and attendance. In FCPS, there are problems with both hiring and retention. For example, skilled Black recruits are less likely to be contacted by principals and many schools are unsafe for Black educators. White parents and community are often less welcoming (if not openly hostile) to Black staff and principals, while white principals have deleterious impact on the retention of Black staff.
Needs for the Future
The meeting ended with “asks” by Fairfax NAACP, including:
Holding more meetings like this one.
Success in solving the Black/white achievement gap in FCPS.
Regular sharing of numeracy and literacy data.
AAP enrollment changes (e.g., every pyramid should have AAP centers).
Data on Black students and math pathways.
More data on recruitment and retention.
Improvement of RASs vis-a-vis racial equity, bias, and reporting.
Despite recent elections which may change the landscape of public education across the nation, Dr. Reid assured the room that FCPS would remain steadfast in its resolve to quality public education for Black students and all students.
Public education is the cornerstone of democracy. We are at a crossroads, and Fairfax can be a light for the nation. We have a mandate and the future of the country depends on our work. -- Dr. Reid
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