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End of Session Update: Budget Amendments The 2024 General Assembly session ended on March 9th with 12 of the 4 Public Education priority bills adopted by both the House and Senate, containing substantial substitutions in some cases. All of these bills have been sent to Governor Youngkin for his consideration–his deadline is between April 8th or 12th to sign, veto, or amend those bills. Updates on the changing status of these bills will be posted at this link. The Budget Conference report, Budget Bill HB 30, was adopted on March 9th by the Senate (24 to 14, with 2 not voting) and House (62 to 36, with 1 not voting) and received bipartisan support in both chambers. A comparison of the State, House, Conference, and Governor’s proposed budgets can be viewed at this link provided by The Commonwealth Institute for Fiscal Analysis, with proposed K-12 education funding starting on page 4. Thankfully the Budget Conferees recognized the critical needs for funding, as seen in their budget (HB30) that is an amendment to the Governor’s proposed budget. One item of agreement in all versions of the budget is for the needed $15 million funding for mental health resources in schools, but that is where the agreement ends. Notable and necessary amendments that were made to the Governor’s inadequate budget in the Conference Budget include: An additional $1.15 billion more in the General Fund support for Direct Aid for K-12 public education and the Department of Education Central Account. Additional funding to provide the state’s share of a 3% raise each year for state-recognized school staff. An additional $371 million of at-risk add-on funding to reduce barriers for students from low-income families and students in high-poverty communities. An additional $72 million for additional English Language Learner teachers. More than $4 million for each of the next two years for teacher training on inclusive practices for students with disabilities and to establish parent support centers in each region. $10 million for literacy screening and support. $5 million for community schools and for creating an office of community schools within the Department of Education. Diverting $250 million from the Literary Fund for school construction. $4.4 million for Special Education. Now it is the Governor's Turn Legislators will return to Richmond on April 17th when they will consider any amendments and vetoes that Governor Youngkin makes to the more than 1,000 bills sent to him to consider. The Governor was not pleased with the Conference Budget and reacted angrily to the amendments to his budget bill and called it “backward” because some items important to him were removed from the budget, in part to provide as much funding as possible for k-12 education. Items removed that were priorities to the governor included: tax cuts for wealthy Virginians and development of a sports arena that was budgeted at $2 billion. These items were removed from the governor’s proposed budget because they would have reduced the available revenue for other purposes and would have continued the underfunding of K-12 public education in Virginia. Upon receiving the Conference budget Governor Youngkin warned that “changes will be needed” so expectations are that he will use his veto pen liberally with bills that are Democratic priorities. Alternatively, he may use those priorities as bargaining chips to resurrect his tax cut and sports arena priorities. At the time of this writing, March 13th, the Governor has not yet weighed in on the K-12 education bills.

Fairfax County School Board Matters: March 7, 2024 First, I want to address the elephant in the room: I was unable to attend in-person last week because I suddenly realized that my tax deadline was less than 24 hours later. I love watching civic engagement in action, but to paraphrase Benjamin Franklin: death and taxes come for everyone. I also did not attend the 2/22 meeting either. I have a family who twisted my arm to miss the "excitement" of a school board meeting. Nevertheless, here I am…bright-eyed and bushy-tailed to give you some "deets" on the last meeting, but before I do, here is an invitation to a rally next week to celebrate trans visibility, theater, and diverse books in our libraries. It will be hosted by FCPS Pride and Allies, like 4 Public Education. Join us next week at 6pm on March 21, 2024 before the school board meeting at Luther Jackson Middle School. The 3/7/24 Fairfax County School Board meeting (see agenda and video) was short on public input and long on critical education discussions. The meeting started promptly at 7pm and the small but mighty Cherry Run Elementary School Cardinal Chorus sang the National Anthem. The FCSB then took difficult votes on student disciplinary actions regarding assault, use of a pellet gun, and unlawful acts. Aw heck. I cannot believe that I missed both the Women’s History and Disability Acceptance/National Disabilities Awareness Month proclamations! Women’s History: Ms. Robyn Lady spoke to the theme of “Women Who Advocate for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion” to recognize those “who understand that, for a positive future, we need to eliminate bias and discrimination entirely from our lives and in institutions.” She notes that “women working full time in 2020 on average earn 82 cents for every dollar a man working full-time earns” which results in $10,000 annual earning losses. Disability Acceptance and Awareness: Mr. Kyle McDaniel shared that 28,000 FCPS students (16%) receive special education services, and that disabled students encounter more difficulties being accepted by peers and participating in school and school activities. (I can attest to this!) Public Input Only three signed up for public input, yet they each brought their A-game on critical issues: A sweet, brave 2nd grader spoke about her ADHD, which her mom calls her superpower. She asked that other students learn about disabilities so that they will be kinder and more empathetic. (I am in tears with the beauty and strength of her speech. It was like hearing my own daughter speak about her experiences with ADHD and her desire to be treated with kindness and respect.) An ESOL teacher from Bryant Alternative High School spoke of her 9 years of experience as an FCPS Adult ESOL teacher where she was classified as a temporary worker, without benefits and at low pay, despite working 25 hours per week year round. This affects so many employees, and it forces experienced staff to leave or move to other positions. Lawrence Webb, former Falls Church School Board member (and an all-round amazing guy!), spoke about recent Next Door posts that show how “Great Schools” rankings define schools as “good” or “bad,” when really those rankings are akin to redlining some of Fairfax County’s amazing schools. He asked the FCSB to ensure that those schools are funded to the levels that they deserve and need. School Board Business Student Representative Matters: Ms. Karim discussed an eye-opening Equity Symposium including a Student Equity Ambassadors Leaders (SEALs) presentation that shared inequities in different schools that sometimes narrow the future opportunities of students (e.g., focusing on vocational and military versus college), and the failure of many students to know about resources like free mental health services (e.g., telehealth) and tutor.com. Awareness is limited and improved communication strategies are needed for Gen Z students, particularly when word of mouth and concise messages on other platforms may work better. College Board Sole-Source Contract: Ms. Seema Dixit introduced the Sole-Source Contract Amendment to the existing contract for The College Board–the value of which amendment is $3.83 million! Neither Ms. DIxit, nor her second Ms. Marcia St John-Cunning spoke to the amendment (nor would I, if I were them!). Mr. Ilryung Moon asked pointed questions and commented that The College Board, a 501(c)(3) non-profit, “is in fact making quite a lot of profits.” He asked Dr. Reid to open up conversations with them. She agreed and expressed that she felt the move to on-line testing should involve cost savings that are passed on to FCPS. Dr. Ricardy Anderson asked for clarification for the public to better understand the issue. Dr. Reid said that The College Board “is the sole provider” for the content exams, PSAT, AP, SAT, etc. which means that they are the only source of these tests for students across the country. Ms. Lady shared that The College Board demands list of all students who are receiving free and reduced lunch in order to waive testing fees; however, FCPS is unwilling to break student confidentiality, thus the College Board’s inflexibility increases costs to our school system. She added that FCPS is essentially free labor for them because school counselors need to proctor for weeks at a time, despite the College Board’s severe inflexibility to reschedule for sick students. VOTE to approve amendment: all 11 present (because no school district has any alternative than the College Board). On a personal note: It feels to many high school parents that The College Board essentially has a monopoly over the schools, parents, students, and colleges. They charge excessive fees to schools, parents, and students for services, when there is LITERALLY no where else to go. They are a sole source provider to all of us, while they mine our personal information and ask our minor children for enormously valuable information about their future plans and family demographics. Elementary Language Arts Basal Instructional Resources (K-6): Ms. Noel Klimenko, assistant superintendent, Instructional Services Department (ISD) walked through the process taken and the committee who chose these materials. 4 Public Education’s own Cheryl Binkley (President) was on this committee and has impressive things to say about the committee’s efforts to choose curriculum materials aligned with the Science of Reading with full implementation for School Year 2024-2025. There is much discussion. VOTE to approve purchase of Benchmark Advance, 2022: All 11 present. Other items: Amending the School Board's Proclamation Process Robust discussion–worth a listen. VOTE to amend the proclamation process: 8 Yes, 3 No (Mr. Moon, Dr. Anderson, and Mr. McElveen) Financial Planning (EL-5) Monitoring Report: Dr. Ried discussed the materials and presented slides regarding financial planning. She shared that her team has received some awards for financial transparency and reporting. (Congratulations!) VOTE that the Superintendent has made adequate progress: 9 Yes, 2 abstain (Mr. Moon, Mr. McElveen ) VOTE to maintain Executive Limitation 5, Financial Planning, as it is currently detailed: 9 Yes, 2 not present (Dr. Anderson and Mr. McDaniel) Board Committee Reports: Board Members share what their committees are doing. Board Matters: Please listen to the board reports from each board member. They share interesting and important things from their districts. Really listen to them! I found out that Mr. Frisch visited my son’s school to enjoy his class debating legislation during Student Congress in government class. I’d be remiss if I didn’t highlight Mr. Frisch’s important comment (see video of his full statement here) in light of a recent lawsuit against FCPS: I’ve heard from various members of our community students parents who are worried about recent news they've seen and I want to send a message of reassurance to them Fairfax County Public Schools remains committed to fostering a safe, supportive, welcoming, and inclusive School environment for all students and staff including our transgender and gender expansive students and staff. It is clear that students learn most effectively when they feel safe and supported and respected and accepted for who they are. 4PE President, Cheryl Binkley, was one of the few audience members at the meeting. Her thoughts on the meeting are incorporated in this document. Many thanks to her presence at the meeting and for her hard work on one of the agenda items. Current and retired teachers are filled with so much useful information–I always appreciate their willingness to educate a "more mature" student like myself. The meeting adjourned at 10:54 pm after lasting nearly 4 hours.

As the 2024 General Assembly draws to a close, the drama over the budget continues to ramp up. Much of the discussion about the budget revolves around the underfunding of Virginia’s public schools which can affect public schools across Virginia. Although, if you ask the Governor or his recently appointed Chair of the Board of Education, public schools in Virginia are “adequately funded.” What is the truth, and what is an attempt to gaslight Virginians? Final week of the 2024 General Assembly There is a flurry of activity at the statehouse as the House of Delegates and the State Senate work to finalize bills during this last official week of the 2024 Session. The status of active priority K-12 education bills can be found at this link. At this time of this writing, (Wednesday, March 6th), seven priority education bills passed both chambers and five bills are scheduled to go to conference to resolve differences between versions of the bills that the House and Senate passed. Saturday, March 9th, is the official last day of the 2024 session; however, getting the bills out of the General Assembly is just one step in the process. Each bill must still be considered by the Governor, and even if they pass, many bills will not be implemented unless they are funded through state appropriations via the budget. Many of these bills are not currently funded in the Governor’s budget, so keep a close eye on this. This week the Joint Senate and House Budget Committee is combining the House and Senate Budget Bills (HB30 and SB30) into one bill containing proposed amendments to the Governor’s proposed budget bill. 4 Public Education urges the Budget Conferees to include the key investments that are needed to ensure every student in Virginia’s public schools receives a quality education. Public school advocates know that these investments are needed for a quality school system and that funding these investments will show that Virginia values our teachers, our staff, our students, and our public schools, and will help bridge the achievement gap between low income and more affluent communities in Virginia. To fund or not to fund public education? The question remains whether Virginia will fund or underfund its public schools. The House and Senate both proposed in their budget bills that substantially more funds be allocated to Virginia’s public schools than did the Governor in his bill. This was because the House and Senate took to heart the recommendations made by the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) on how to resolve the deficiencies in public school funding and the teacher pipeline. Unfortunately, the Governor appears to have dismissed the reports by this non-partisan and highly respected commission, and this difference has set the stage for a battle over the budget. Much depends on whether the budget conferees include the critical funding needs for K-12 education in their joint budget bill and whether the Governor accepts their amendments. It should be noted that many organizations in Virginians have already objected to the Governor’s proposed budget as being unacceptable. All indications are that the Governor will challenge critically needed K-12 education funding that was already identified and passed via bills in the General Assembly. In his March 1, 2024 letter to the budget conferees, Governor Youngkin challenged the JLARC recommendations for greater K-12 funding as being unnecessary, but as it turns out, his claims were based on a flawed analysis and erroneous assumptions. . His dismissal of the JLARC recommendations and claim that their analysis was faulty led to an immediate rebuttal by JLARC as well as criticism by the Virginia Education Association and other financial experts. Apparently, the Governor’s analysis contains “inaccuracies and mischaracterizations”* that led to the his flawed claims. This is unsurprising, since Virginians are well aware that the Governor’s Department of Education has trouble with numbers–remember when they lost over $200 million in public school funding? Sadly, this appears to be another attempt by the Governor to gaslight Virginians with misinformation. From his March 1, 2024 letter, it is apparent that Governor Youngkins does not understand how to properly analyze the data he used to make his claims. For example, he claimed that the increase in state funding in 2020 more than made up for the 14% underfunding by the state, but this is incorrect for a number of reasons. It was not state funding but instead the overall (federal, state and local) funding that underfunded schools by 14% compared with the average budgets for public schools in the United States. The Governor should have used 56% as the amount Virginia underfunded their school systems relative to the national average, not 14%.* In Virginia, localities use property and other local taxes to try to make up for the state funding shortfall, but less affluent communities have a difficult time doing this and as a result are severely underfunded. If the Governor used the correct state funding and inflation data to compare Virginia with the average state funding levels, Virginia’s underfunding would still be 17 to 22% (including federal and local contributions) compared to the national average in 2023. This contrasts with his claim that Virginia closed the shortfall “with room to spare”.* Another erroneous claim made by the Governor is that Virginia’s average teacher pay outpaces the national average. His use of mixed data sources with known differences between them, lead to this erroneous conclusion. If he used the correct data and based the calculations on his Department of Education’s estimates and budgeted teacher salary increases, average teacher pay in 2024 would still be several thousand dollars below the national average for teacher pay.* This contrasts with the Governor’s claim that Virginia has closed the gap in teacher pay relative to the national average, again an attempt to convince legislators and Virginians that there is not a need for additional K-12 funding. Our Governor asserted that, “We have no greater shared priority in the Commonwealth than fulfilling our Constitutional and moral obligation to provide a quality education for our students” yet he used a flawed analysis to dismiss recommendations by a respected commission that was directed by the legislature to review and audit public school funding and the teacher pipeline. 4 Public Education urges the Joint House and Senate budget conferees to refer to the accurate analyses that are available from JLARC and The Commonwealth Institute.* The watchdogs are watching the governor and Virginians should, too. * These statements are based on an unpublished analysis provided by Laura Goren at The Commonwealth Institute.

TJ and FCPS Win in Court after Three Years of Litigation Fairfax County and Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) are celebrating a victory for its students, families, taxpayers, and schools because the Supreme Court refused to hear the appeal of the Coalition of TJ on February 20, 2024, thus permitting the May 2023 U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals decision that ruled that TJ admissions did not constitute discrimination against Asian students. When Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, or “TJ” as it is known locally, began nearly 40 years ago in 1985, on the grounds of TJ High School, it is doubtful that anyone expected that it would become the political football that it has been for the last 4 years, much less that amicus briefs to the Supreme Court would be written on its behalf. Many thanks to the students, parents, organizations, and elected officials who worked together, under some surreal conditions, to ensure race-blind admissions for TJ became a reality. In the words of Karl Frisch, Fairfax County School Board chair: We have long believed that the new admissions process is both constitutional and in the best interest of all of our students. It guarantees that all qualified students from all neighborhoods in Fairfax County have a fair shot at attending this exceptional high school. You may ask why this case matters so much. Well, there are multiple reasons: First, this is a hot topic, particularly in light of recent Supreme Court decisions in cases brought by Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) against both Harvard and University of North Carolina (UNC). The Court ruled that those schools’ affirmative action programs violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution, thus overruling 45 years of precedent that permitted “race conscious” admissions policies. Second, schools across the nation are struggling to find ways to ensure geographic and economic diversity in admissions. In Fairfax County, the Coalition for TJ challenged efforts to create new race-blind admissions policies by declaring such changes to be discriminatory, which the 4th Circuit found “simply runs counter to common sense.” Speaking of common sense, it is important to note that neither the SFFA nor the Coalition for TJ case involved actual students, much less any students potentially harmed by admission policies. Third, the challenge to the reformed admissions policy at TJ was funded by Pacific Legal Foundation, which has deep pockets, other cases pending in the Supreme Court Docket, and a seemingly insatiable thirst to end any admission policies that even hint at efforts to improve campus diversity and equity. As mentioned above, this is not the end of such school admissions challenges. Pacific Legal has made it clear that it plans to continue to chip away at efforts by schools to improve diversity and equity. They have seemingly unending resources to do so, which puts under-funded public school districts at a financial disadvantage, while also distracting schools, educators, and school boards from their core purpose of educating students! The Vice President of the TJ Alumni Action Group, an organization that worked for years to change TJ admissions, Jiunwei Chen, affirms this when he shared with the Washington Post that “There’s been a lot of back-and-forth around affirmative action. It is very much a hot topic and will continue to be so…. Even though it might be, knock on wood, over for TJ, it is definitely not over for other schools.” 4 Public Education thanks the Fairfax County School Board, FCPS, the FCPS lawyers and law firms, and all of the groups who filed amicus briefs in support of TJ’s race-blind admissions changes. We agree with John C. Yang, president and executive director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice who said: Increasing opportunity is the opposite of discrimination.

Improving support for K-12 public education to help students thrive is a widely shared goal. Students across Virginia deserve funding that unlocks their potential. Unfortunately, the governor’s proposed budget for the upcoming two years, which was unveiled in December 2023, will not provide enough to keep up with the rising cost of current programs for our students, let alone the significant need for additional state funding to bring the state closer to paying its fair share of the costs of providing a high-quality education to every Virginia student. The good news is that both the House and Senate make strong investments for K-12 public education in their respective budget proposals, helping to move the commonwealth toward meeting its fair share of school funding needs. On net, the House and Senate provide $940 million and $1.6 billion more than the governor for Virginia school divisions, respectively. This includes implementing some of the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) recommendations to invest in our students who are facing the greatest barriers. Both the House and Senate propose an additional $385 million and $370 million, respectively, for schools serving students from low-income families. Also, there are additional investments of $95 million and $27 million in the House and Senate budgets, respectively, for increasing the staffing capacity for our English language learners. In total, the House and Senate budgets each deliver about $900 more per pupil on average in the upcoming two years for the school divisions serving the highest number of low-income students. For a more complete summary of the House and Senate budget choices, check out TCI’s side-by-side comparison. In addition, both chambers are striving to adequately address school staffing needs by increasing teacher salaries, and the Senate budget funds additional support staff positions. The House and Senate provide an additional $452 million and $350 million, respectively, for teacher salaries and the Senate proposes over $400 million to fully lift the support cap, which currently limits state funding for support staff. Currently, Virginia has the third worst teacher pay penalty in the country and the arbitrary support cap has underfunded critical positions that help our students for over a decade. Investing in these proposals will move our teacher salaries toward the national average and provide schools with the staff needed to help our students thrive. As Virginia’s House and Senate budget negotiators (known as “the conferees”) go deeper into working on Virginia’s “conference” budget, we hope that they continue to keep K-12 public education as a top priority. State lawmakers have tools available to adequately fund our schools and can do so in a way that every student in every zip code has the resources they need to be successful. We urge them to make the key investments needed to ensure every student in public schools receives a quality education. Funding these proposals would send a strong message that Virginia values our teachers, our staff, our students, and our public schools. As a research associate at The Commonwealth Institute, Briana Jones supports research efforts across all policy areas. She is passionate about working with marginalized communities to advance social equity. She received her B.A. in Public and Urban Affairs with a concentration in Public Policy from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

This is an update from the  report  on priority education bills that was published on February 14, 2024 and is current as of Wednesday, February 28, 2024.  The following five bills have passed both chambers and will go to Governor Youngkin for consideration. He will decide whether he will sign, veto, or amend each bill or allow it to become law by not addressing it. If the Governor vetoes or amends any bill it will go back to the General Assembly for further consideration. The similar bills (HB187 and SB104) will likely go to a conference of the two chambers to produce one bill on that topic before sending it to the Governor.  HB187  Increase teacher salaries SB14  Give localities greater flexibility to improve school funding  SB104  Raise teacher salaries SB105  Establish At-Risk Program  SB272   Help English Language Learners  These two bills have been reported from their respective committees and will soon be heard on the floor of their respective chambers. They address a similar issue and will likely go to the conference of the two chambers to produce one bill. Please see their calls to action at  this link .  HB398  Evidence Based Student Discipline  SB586 , Implement Restorative Discipline The following 2 bills are still being considered in committees of the Senate and House. Calls to action on these bills will be posted at  this link if and when they head to the Senate and House floors for a vote.  HB624  Improve funding for public schools HB 625  Establish an office of Community Schools

The following is a letter posted by 4 Public Education Board Member Robert Rigby to Loudoun County Public Schools in response to their devastating advancement of Youngkin's anti-transgender "model policies" last week. In the face of the revelations of horrific beating death of nonbinary 16 year-old Nex Benedict on school grounds in Oklahoma, we feel that the sentiment in this letter needs to be public. Please consider standing up to be counted and speak out for our most vulnerable students no matter their gender, gender identity, race, ability, income-level, or language. Robert sets an example that all of us should follow. February 15, 2024 Dear all, in Loudoun County Public Schools, Let me be the fool who tells the emperor that he in fact is unclothed. Your proposed changes of Policy 8040 are one of the greatest withdrawals of human rights that a class of people have previously had that I have seen in my 60 years on the planet. It’s not a routine policy adjustment. Speaking truthfully: When the governor proposed his “Model Policies” by fiat in 2022, some children in our area lost their lives. I attended a number of wrenching memorial gatherings. More deaths of children happened around the state when that “model” policy was enacted by executive order last summer. Many folks who did not die physically on the outside died on the inside. I caution you that similar loss of life and permanent damage to psyches and souls will likely occur if you pass this proposal in committee, more so if it passes the school board itself, and in a great way once it is enforced: The proposal is a massive withdrawal of Human Rights from a defenseless population. It is a response to a wavering, unstable period in state government. That is, the suggested changes to 8040 are an answer to a proposal given by fiat by a one-term-governor that has been rejected by the courts and the legislature. It will result in some death among children, and much harm that may be physical, emotional and spiritual. If you pass the proposal or any part of it you will be a powerful, policy-making contributor to that harm. Families will flee Loudoun if they are able; others will hide. Some children will try to get out as they are able, whether they are voting with their lives or with their feet. Again, this will be your doing. No teacher respectful of children will want to come and work for you; it turns out that Fairfax next door has chosen to be an humane place, so decent people have a place near-by to work. You radically reduce the viability of your county as a place for businesses to locate, for people to live and for people to work. Who would choose to locate a business in a place that diminishes its most vulnerable residents? You will be clearly, openly, expressly and with great effort creating a safe space for this particular type of bigotry. Playing with authoritarians never works; appeasement never works; this ends up being a creeping but real threat to the democracy of which you are a part. To repeat the statement above, children will die in their bodies, children will die inside for life, families will flee, children will flee, and you are encouraging and are complicit in home-done reparative therapy. If you vote in favor and are a perpetrator, I have no idea what to say: how does one approach a soul so indifferent to the least among us as you would be then. If you oppose, but appease and compromise and so remain in the room while this is being approved you should remind yourself that history will not remember the vitriol of the bad people but it will remember the criminal silence of the good people. If this passes against your will, I recommend expressing your unwillingness to remain in a room where such Nuremberg Law-like policies are being enacted, and leaving after having declared why. If you stay in the room out of politeness, you look like what is going on is OK with you. It’s not about parents’ rights, it’s about scapegoating a disliked, vulnerable, defenseless group of children to foster unrelated goals. The same people (ADF, M4L, PDE, IWF, Parents First, Shapiro, Farris, Walsh, etc.) who are pushing parents’ rights here are elsewhere working hard to deny parent’s rights to support their queer kids. I call BS! It’s not about parents’ rights, it’s about scapegoating a disliked, vulnerable, defenseless group of children to foster unrelated goals. What is this attempt to abnegate the existence and reality of transgender children from a 10,000 foot perspective. It is most certainly not democracy. It is demagoguery and authoritarianism, which are steps on the road to totalitarianism. You all can make the analogies to 1922 in Italy; 1933, 1934, and 1938 in Germany; and Spain in 1936-39 without my help. Here are my recommendations: 1) Do not vote for this; 2) Loudly proclaim why not; 3) If it passes despite your opposition, do NOT remain in the room; rather, resign from the committee, refuse to be complicit, and leave the room. You really can do no other while still remaining worthy of the people whom you represent, the families whom you serve and the children in your care. Robert Rigby Jr. Retired teacher LGBTQIA+ person

The 2025 FCPS budget  is worth reading. This 211 page document is extraordinary for its length, surely, but really for its fully integrated structure that includes the strategic plan, quality standards, and performance benchmarks. It provides details on every aspect of where the funds come from and how the money will be spent and basically how each dollar will forward the goals for our children. Most families may not have the time to read this hefty tome, so FCPS also created an easily digestible summary . The only issue that I see with it is that the total amount of funding is inadequate. But this is NOT the fault of FCPS. We all know that the recent JLARC study  found that Virginia underfunds our schools. State support for public education is severely and chronically underfunding when viewed against the US average (we are down 14%) and three of our neighboring states (KY, MD, WV). If we wish to be competitive, we have to do better for our kids and the state economy.  All school systems rely on a balance of federal, state, and local funds for public education. Fairfax is unique in that over 70% of its funding comes from the county government and only about 19% comes from the state, which means that Fairfax County sees a net outflow of tax money to Richmond. Sales tax provides an additional 6.7% of the budget and the federal government provides about 1.3% of the FCPS revenue. My takeaways from a topside review of the FCPS proposed 2025 budget are: Our school system is doing a great job with the approved funds. The FCPS proposed budget is a tribute to the management's dedication to excellence for our kids. FCPS management is doing everything possible to optimize the use of our money, but  there is not enough money to stay competitive in the modern economy, this is a State of Virginia issue, not  FCPS’s fault. FCPS is doing a great job of balancing all of the demands aimed at them, despite a seemingly endless set of desires, but too little money. It is impossible to make everyone happy, as each advocacy group wants more money for their particular focus,  The 0.8% rate for management positions is by far the lowest in NOVA, by far! Great management! 86% of resources are fully invested in instructional staff and facilities. Other major costs include security, capital investments, and environmental investments such as e-buses and solar which will save money when implemented. It is important for the public to read the proposed budget  to see that it is complicated and expensive, but worth it, and it is important to focus on the right target for any issues that you have.  In the end, we want our kids to have as many opportunities as possible with their skills, yet we want our kids to locate near us if at all possible–I know that I sure do. Additionally, we know that businesses start and often re-locate based primarily on the available pool of skilled labor. Therefore, we want our local schools to build skills and confidence in our students, to prepare them for a range of opportunities to support themselves, their families and communities.  We know that our local businesses and governments hire and promote the best of the available talent. I want my kids to be well-positioned to compete with any other kids–to get the best opportunities and to excel at them. Also, I want your kids to be their best so that maybe when your kid starts a new business here in Fairfax County, then they might hire my kid, or vice versa.  Yes, it takes money, a lot of money but we all know that investment in the education of our kids is the best investment that we can make. I don't want our kids to have to move to a state that has better business opportunities–instead, I want them to find opportunities in our Commonwealth: to grow the Virginia economy, to generate taxes that pay it forward by their investments in the future.  If we do not lead in the education of our kids, then someone else's kids will lead the way into the next generations.  We here at 4PE encourage you to: Read the budget  (or skim it), and understand the complexity of managing a huge operation under tremendous scrutiny and competing interests, but all are focused on the best for our kids.  Participate in the public comment period for the County-wide budget on April 16-18, and/or the public comment period for the FCPS budget on May 14.  Write or call your FCPS board member  to thank them for their service, to voice your support for the proposed budget WRITE, CALL and VISIT your state delegate  and senator  to demand more resources for Virginia public schools.  Rick Clayton worked as an economist at the US Bureau Labor Statistics for 40 years.  He worked to improve the monthly payroll survey, to accelerate and improve data quality of the BLS business register, to publish and analyze structural business statistics such as business births, openings and closings. He also built the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS).  He has studied entrepreneurship and the role of a quality labor force as a driver for attracting businesses. He is the chief economist at Clayton Economics specializing in business surveys.

Budget Amendments are a Critical Part of the Legislative Process Things are certainly heating up in the General Assembly! Not only are both chambers busy hearing the bills that crossed over from the other chamber, but the money committees (House Appropriations and Senate Finance and Appropriations Committees) have been preparing budget amendment packages in response to the Governor’s proposed budget. Here are the comprehensive budget amendment reports for the House (HB 29, HB 30) and Senate (SB 29, SB 30). Many of the amendments to the K-12 education budget items are in direct response to the Governor’s proposed cut of $300 million relative to last year’s K-12 education budget. The Governor’s cuts to the 2024-2026 budget seem tone-deaf in response to his “parent’s rights” mantra and the 2023 Joint Legislative and Audit Review Commission’s report that showed Virginia public schools are seriously underfunded and need between 66 to 93 percent more funding. A side by side comparison of the Governor’s, House and Senate budget versions are available at this link. The success and effectiveness of education bills passed this session depend to a large extent on whether funds are provided for implementation of those bills, so the state budget for K-12 public education is critically important. A number of organizations have expressed displeasure with the K-12 education portion of the Governor’s budget, including Fund Our Schools, Virginia Education Association, the Commonwealth Institute, and 4 Public Education. There is intense competition for limited funds and Virginia’s economic forecast has declined even further since the Governor released his budget. To make matters even worse, the temporary covid relief funds from the federal government soon will end, producing what some will call a “fiscal cliff” for public education in Virginia, which will be detrimental to students, teachers, and families. Communities will suffer, as they need to “make up” the expected budget shortfalls to ensure quality public schools. Budget Amendment Process Explained In the 2024 General Assembly, a number of the education bills proposed changes that will require increased funding to Virginia’s public schools, including bills that would change tax code and education policies. One bill that is still being considered by the Senate (as of Wednesday, February 21) would allow individual districts to vote on whether they wanted to increase sales taxes by 1%. Another bill would have created another upper tax bracket to increase revenue from Virginians with more than a million dollars in taxable income, but it was continued (i.e., delayed) to the 2025 session. By last Sunday, February 18th, the House Primary and Secondary Education and Senate Education Subcommittees produced budget reports that are those chamber’s proposed amendments to what is considered an unacceptable Governor’s budget. By next Sunday, February 25th, the House Appropriations Committee and the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee will each use their chamber’s subcommittee reports to produce a budget bill from each of the chambers. Over the next few weeks, both chambers will consider and vote on their amended budget bills, then pass their approved bills to the other chamber for consideration as was done for the legislative bills during crossover. Usually the next step is for the bills to go to a joint Conference Committee and where a Conference Committee report will be returned to the House and Senate for another vote before going to the Governor as the joint budget bill for his decisions. The Governor's Role in the Budget Process Once the joint budget bill is approved, it will go to the Governor who will make one of four decisions: Sign the budget bill, Recommend amendments to the bill, Veto certain line items in the bill, or Veto the entire bill. If Governor Youngkin does anything but sign the bill outright, his amended bill will go back to the General Assembly in a reconvened special session where disagreements will be resolved. Rinse and repeat. It should be noted that in 2023 the budget bill was not resolved until the fall of that year. How to Advocate for YOUR Public Schools View and click on updated calls to action at this link.

School Board Matters, February 8, 2024 meeting School Board meetings are ground zero for the culture wars. Our “School Board Matters” blog will include analysis and links to video, agenda, and votes that affect you and your student(s), including links to primary source documents to support involvement in your student’s experience and education. We hope this will provide better access to and understanding of the Fairfax County School Board, including their powers and duties, as governed by the Code of Virginia. Although this blog will primarily focus on Fairfax County, we will share school board meeting reports from around the state, when possible. Before we get into last week’s meeting, please note that the Fairfax County School Board has been busy since then with additional meetings, which I’m very sorry that I missed! 2/13/24 Public Hearing on the 2025 Budget 2/13/14 Work Session on the 2025 Budget 2/10/24 Board Retreat Before the meeting, about 15-20 students from the Pride Liberation Project (@PrideLiberation on Instagram and Twitter) held a rally against book bans and in support of libraries and books that represent all students. The 2/8/23 Fairfax County School Board (FCSB) meeting began with a lovely performance of the National Anthem by Rachel Carson Middle School Bella Voce and Lift Every Voice and Sing by the Mount Vernon Voices. We all felt the power of these two groups. Dr. Ricardy Anderson (Mason District) read the proclamation honoring Black History Month, focusing first on Carter G. Woodson’s accomplishments as the father of Black History Month, reminding the crowd that W.T. Woodson will be renamed in his honor next year. Dr. Anderson focused on the trials and triumphs of African Americans over the last four centuries, including dismantling Jim Crow segregation in the South and contributions to the history, society, and arts of this nation, with specific contributions to the rich and vibrant culture of Fairfax County, including through the Tinner Hill Heritage Foundation and the Gum Springs community. She reminded us that we need to name and intentionally dismantle the structures that oppress and inhibit accomplishments and contributions of our citizens. Ms. Sandy Anderson (Springfield District) read the Custodians and Food Nutrition Services Appreciation proclamation honoring FCPS’s custodians, field custodians, and building supervisors “who are responsible for the daily care and safe operation of all facilities and buildings on a year-round basis.” She detailed the training and certifications attained by these workers who “nurture and nourish” our students. (sniff!) Public Input Public input was once again dominated by regular Fairfax County citizens who care about improving safety, education, and inclusion which is a nice contrast to the past couple of years: A student leader of the Pride Liberation Project (@PrideLiberation on Instagram and Twitter) spoke of the need to protect FCPS libraries and classrooms from book bans. Schools can’t teach empathy and emotions, which can only be found in books. Through books, we learn about other cultures and experiences. Through reading books, she was able to find herself, as a queer Asian woman; however, most of the books bans are about queer characters and by queer authors. (I look forward to hearing more from her this year!) A number of teachers spoke to critical funding needs for: ACE teachers asked for continued investment in student success through adult programming that enables adult students to develop new skills and learn English. A staff member spoke against a policy that harms teacher pay rates due to inequitable salary proration in some months which means that the prorated costs of leave disproportionately places some staff (e.g., disabled) at risk. Dave Walrod of the local teachers’ alliance sounded the alarm about the shortage of special education teachers. He shared that one of three special education teachers are not fully certified. Burnout is pushing teachers out of the profession around the country. A parent referred to the dilapidated and unsafe state of Luther Jackson Middle School where the School Board meeting is held. The school campus is open and exposed to traffic while the narrow hallways and mold endanger the students inside, yet Luther Jackson is continually passed over in the queue for full renovation despite being built in 1954, as the first Black high school in Fairfax County. School Board Business Student Representative Matters: Ms. Karim shared actions and meetings from the past weeks. The SEALS have come up w/the idea of a student advisory council to the school board. She hosted a Town Hall bringing students together from Region 2 and 3 where students raised dietary needs, meal debt issues, and the need for more safety drills. FY 2025-2029 Capital Improvement Program (CIP): Holy cow! This was an exciting and complicated discussion. Check out the agenda for more details, but it started with a motion from Mr. Ryan McElveen shared a mother’s testimony from 1950 for the first FCPS School Bond. However, 70 years later, years of failed leadership have forced our schools to "economize" which works for no one. The first school bond in FCPS history enabled FCPS to accommodate post world war II growth. Mr. McElveen shares that we have more than 10 times the trailers than we did in the 1950 when the biggest building spree. The number of FCPS students in trailers equals the number of students in Arlington County or Richmond City. Amendments were added and voted upon: Dr. Anderson (seconded by Mr. Ilryong Moon, At-Large) asked to amend the CIP Parklawn Elementary School to Priority Recommended Boundary Adjustments to adjust for huge, rapid increases in enrollment. Vote: 9 Yes, and 3 Abstaining (Ms. Seema Dixit, Ms. Anderson, Ms. Rachna Sizemore Heizer) Ms. Robyn Lady, Dranesville District (seconded by Mr. Kyle McDaniel, At-Large), asked to amend CIP to add Coates Elementary School to Priority Recommended Boundary Adjustments due to  Vote: 9 Yes, and 3 Abstaining (Ms. Seema Dixit, Ms. Anderson, Ms. Rachna Sizemore Heizer) Most of the school board members expressed frustration, concern, and alarm at the increase of the construction queue from 37 to 42 years, the need for long-term fixes, the decades of underfunding and poor management, and the impact of community advocacy that sometimes results in inequitable allocation of resources. As Mr. Karl Frisch (Providence District) said, the system is “irreparably broken” and he decried the need for boundary adjustments when there are so many students who need relief for overcrowding. It seemed that the entire school board agreed that they need to avoid boundary adjustments in the future due to impacts on the community and the creation of “school islands.” Subsequently, three school board members abstained from voting on the amendments. Based on the discussions, Ms. Melanie Meren (Hunter Mill District) proposed two critical and innovative amendments to the CIP (seconded by Dr. Anderson and Ms. Sizemore Heizer, respectively) that were unanimously accepted: The Superintendent will present to the School Board by April 25, 2024, options to fund capital projects that maximize current funds, identify new fund sources, and obtain cost efficiencies including the evaluation of public/private partnership opportunities, an analysis on the use of  “swing spaces” during school renovations to decrease project time, and local revenue-generating options available under Virginia law though not currently used in Fairfax. Directing the Superintendent to transmit to the School Board by April 25, 2024, a plan to create a facility infrastructure policy for FCPS, including a summary findings from a review of relevant FCPS policies and corresponding regulations FY 2025 Proposed Budget: Dr. Reid began by thanking the FCPS staff who worked countless hours on the budget, “The budget is the engine from which all of the work is derived.” Her FY2025 Proposed Budget presentation was high level and shared great information about the school system, how $220 million of the budget is invested in our workforce, and why the budget includes a $301 million increase (hint: the increase is primarily for staff compensation!). She included a calendar of future discussions, which every parent, teacher, and citizen should look at, particularly: Board of Supervisors Public Hearings in mid-April and School Board Hearing in mid-May. Listen to the dynamic discussion and dozens of questions from the school board members after the presentation. Academic Matters: Dr. Reid gave a presentation focusing on School Counseling, in honor of National School Counseling Week (Feb 5-9, 2024). Ms. Sizemore Heizer (Braddock District) lifted up thanks to school counselors for their social-emotional support of students and she shared concerns about the adequacy of the counselor to student ratio and how we are supporting counselors. Dr. Anderson asked about other burdens on the counselor's schedule–Dr. Presidio answered that for counselors and other specialists, they may be placed on the Master Schedule to deliver lessons for up to 10 hours per week–Dr. Anderson said that she has heard how counselors are not available for students due to this (I have also heard that this distracts from the ability of counselors to address student needs when they are deployed to pinch hit and teach classes instead of working with students). Ms. Lady, a former school counselor, echoes concerns about the burdens on counselors and cites the worries about the ratio of social workers to students which forces counselors to do social work. Mr. Mateo Dunne (Mt. Vernon District) asked if state support staff limitations are affecting our ability to hire more counselors–Dr. Reid said that the state does not fund, but Fairfax has chosen to allocate funds toward increasing the number of counselors–Mr. Dunne advised that FCPS looks to the nationally recommended ratios, which might require doubling the numbers that we currently have. Ms. Seema Dixit (Sully District) has found that counselors are overburdened and unable to provide the career and college advising that is needed. Superintendent Matters: Dr. Reid spoke about recent events. Board Matters: School Board members shared important news about their districts. This was the third general meeting of the School Board elected in 2024–it adjourned at approximately 10:40 pm. Collaboration and innovation were on display tonight!