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Despite efforts by the President and his administration, Pride Month will be celebrated across the country. Nowhere is that more evident than in Virginia where Pride events are scheduled all day long for the next couple of weekends.  Fairfax County has a great list of pride events here . These are a few family friendly (free) events where you may find other FCPS folks: * June 7th 9:30-11:30am: Fairfax City Pride at Old Town Hall Fairfax (3999 University Dr, Fairfax, VA 22030) June 7th 2-6ish pm: World Pride Parade  (begins at 14th Street & T Street, NW and ends at 919 Pennsylvania Ave) *June 7th and 8th 12-10pm: World Pride Street Festival  with booths and other events (located on Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Between 9th and 3rd Streets) Note: most events are family friendly, but some are specifically for adults. June 14th 3-9:00pm: Mosaic Pride Festival  (Mosaic District, 2910 District Ave, Fairfax) *June 14th 4-5 pm:  UUCF Hope Rising Concert . Click the link for cost. FCPS Pride will have a booth at these events marked with an asterisk (“*”). Additionally, in Fairfax County, both the Board of Supervisors and School Board have Pride proclamations next week. Consider attending to show your support for our LGBTQIA friends, family, neighbors, and selves because it is a great time to meet your representatives and be in an official photo. Tuesday, June 10th, at 9:30 am: Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Pride Proclamation at the Fairfax County Government Center Board Auditorium (12000 Government Center Pkwy, Fairfax) Arrival at 9:15 is recommended. Proclamations are held in the early part of the day’s agenda, between 9:30 and approximately 10:30. Thursday, June 12th 7:00 pm: Fairfax County School Board Pride Proclamation in the Luther Jackson Middle School Auditorium (3020 Gallows Rd, Falls Church). Please consider signing up to speak in honor of the proclamation or pride here . Signup is open from 6/5-6/10 5 pm.  4 Public Education would like to extend many thanks to the leaders and elected officials who resist the pull toward silence this month of Pride. Fairfax County’s support for respect and equality of all people, including the LGBTQIA community, is especially important now when rights, freedom, and equality are under threat .  In the words of one of FCPS Pride ’s leaders, Chris McCormick : “Right now, there’s a need for visibility. There’s a coming together as a community.”

Challenge the Voucher Scheme Stuffed into the Reconciliation Bill The 2025  reconciliation bill  narrowly passed (by one vote) in the U.S. House of Representatives on May 22, 2025. Now the bill has passed over to be considered by the U.S. Senate when members of that chamber return Monday, June 2.  Click to Read Earlier Call to Action That bill contains many unpopular provisions including one that would provide private school scholarships  to some students while depriving public schools of critical funding. Because this provision is part of the Reconciliation bill, it can pass with only 51 votes in the Senate instead of the 61 votes needed if the same provisions were to go through the normal legislative process with bills S.292  and   H.R. 833 .  The Senate Parliamentarian can challenge provisions in the reconciliation bill that are inappropriate for inclusion in a reconciliation bill, and the provision for private school scholarships should certainly be considered inappropriate for this bill.  According to Section 313 of the Congressional Budget Act, also known as the Byrd Rule , there are limits on the kinds of legislative provisions that can be included in a reconciliation bill. That rule prohibits provisions  that are “extraneous” to the budget, such as if the provision does not change outlays or revenues. Sometimes legislators try to include unpopular, but non-budgetary, provisions in a reconciliation bill just to make the provision easier to pass, and this current provision appears to be an example of that move by GOP House members. If the Parliamentarian’s challenge to this voucher provision is successful, the scholarship provision will be removed from the Reconciliation bill, which would result in the House and Senate considering S. 292 and H.R. 833 using the normal legislative process. If this happens, a required 61 votes for cloture will be needed before either bill can come to a vote in the Senate.  To date, neither Senators Kaine nor Warner have challenged this inappropriate provision under the Byrd Rule with the Parliamentarian. On June 4, 2025, 4 Public Education made a formal request to both senators that they initiate a challenge on this provision (SEC. 110109, pg 784 of H.R.1) to the Senate Parliamentarian. Under the Byrd Rule it should be judged inappropriate for a reconciliation bill. Advocates can help by asking their senators to challenge that provision. Also advocates can ask their Senators to vote against HR1 , by answering this quick and easy call to action. Click on image to learn more about the impact of private school vouchers

Please Note: In this blog, I am speaking on behalf of myself and no one else including the Boundary Review Advisory Committee (BRAC), Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS), 4 Public Education, FCPS Pride, or any other organizations of which I am a member.   These are my opinions and observations. You may know that we are in the middle of the first ever holistic boundary review of the more than 200 public schools in FCPS. The process started late December 2024 with the first meeting of the BRAC. It is now in the process of public review of initial boundary scenarios, so if you haven’t already, you should attend one of the remaining public meetings (e.g., Glasgow Middle School on June 6 6:30-8pm register here ) to discuss boundary scenarios and/or review the boundary scenario maps  to provide input.  Boundary Review Process Everything you need to know about the boundary review process (e.g., timing), can be found here . At this time, the FCPS community is about midway through the process with expectations of final potential boundary scenarios expected at the end of this calendar year prior to further public comment and School Board approval. Goals of the Boundary Review are outlined in Policy 8130  and the accompanying presentation  which include: Transportation (times and safety), Under/Over-crowding, Access to Programming, Split Feeders and Attendance Islands (Proximity). Please notice that test scores are not mentioned anywhere in the policy, despite the pervasive rumor that boundary analysis and changes were being driven by improving test scores of schools. This rumor is old, tired, and a lie. It was floated during the 2019 School Board campaign by a right-wing PAC and was wrong then, as well. Please know that the BRAC, FCPS, and the FCSB care about the process and outcomes. They care about children, education, and success. They are all taking this seriously, as this affects their neighborhoods, kids, neighbors, and friends. What is the BRAC’s role? One key component of the boundary review process is the BRAC, which is made up of multiple representatives from each pyramid and other community members. The BRAC is expected to offer detailed local knowledge of schools, travel times, and neighborhoods. Additionally, they are expected to interact with the community to answer questions and collect feedback. Click here  for the list of BRAC members and their emails. The BRAC has met about ten times since December 2024, and the first couple of meetings had full tables around the room, but the more recent meetings have had less attendees. There has been great support by Thru Consulting and FCPS during the meetings when we had questions or concerns. At the BRAC meetings, Thru Consulting and FCPS have presented information to allow the BRAC to do the following:  Review and categorize public input to date. Learn about the full range of programming available in FCPS.  Analyze best practices for decision-making. Evaluate different boundary scenarios using our knowledge of our schools, regions, programming, and traffic patterns. Thus far the scenarios evaluated have been: impact of moving 6th grade to middle schools, impact of all students remaining at their base schools (excluding TJ students), attendance islands, split feeders, and severe over/under-crowding. Only the last three scenarios are included in the current public review. Unfortunately, the scenario reviews conducted by the BRAC lacked significant information, thus it was hard to provide informed and accurate input on the boundary scenarios. In future reviews, many BRAC meeting attendees asked for the following to be provided when reviewing boundary scenarios by Thru Consulting:  Travel distance and time; Relevant capacity of and impact on affected schools (i.e., this was not provided for all  schools affected by a change, just some); Key demographic data about schools and the neighborhoods; Walkability of neighborhoods to the school; Bus information (e.g., travel times, number of buses per school, etc.); and  When affected schools were going to undergo or complete renovation. Additionally, some schools impacted by split feeders (e.g., Greenbriar East) were not included for analysis, which was confusing and irritating for BRAC members whose kids attend those schools.  It is important to know that BRAC members are a diverse group of individuals with differing opinions, but two things many on the BRAC seemed to agree upon was that: We lacked necessary data when we reviewed the boundary scenarios to make decisions on whether the suggested changes were appropriate.  Our input on the different boundary scenarios was not incorporated prior to recent public input opportunities; therefore, the maps presented to the public only reflect the consultant’s work, not the knowledge of local parents, staff, and community members. ( Below are my personal views on boundaries after reviewing a couple dozen Region 5 boundary change maps and attending all but one of the BRAC meetings. ) Next Steps of the Process Click to test out the Boundary Scenario Tool Those who have attended the BRAC meetings have worked hard to understand school boundaries and neighborhoods at multiple levels; however, we don’t live in all of the neighborhoods, which is why your input is important! These are the next steps: Fairfax community members should check out the Sample Boundary Scenarios: These are draft scenarios for your review , developed by the consultant, Thru Consulting: They involve solving for split feeders, attendance islands, and severe over/under capacity schools with some additional changes by the consultant. However, these boundary scenarios:  Were not developed by the FCSB, FCPS, or BRAC.  Do not incorporate critical input from the BRAC. DO NOT include a number of considerations including: travel times, travel safety, buses, AAP centers, language immersion, special education, etc. In Person Public Input: Seven meetings were scheduled around Fairfax County. The last meeting is on Friday, June 6, 6:30-8 p.m., at Glasgow Middle School. If you haven’t already, you should: Attend the remaining public meeting ( register here ) to discuss boundary scenarios, and/or Review the boundary scenario maps  to provide input.  Additional BRAC Review:  The BRAC will review the responses and concerns to develop final scenarios to be completed by December 2025. Final Opportunity for Public Input:  Public notice for additional public input should occur sometime in January 2026 before the School Board votes on the changes. Outstanding Community Concerns Finally, there have been intense community concerns about this process and possible outcomes: Current Boundary Scenarios:  I’ve heard both concern and relief about the current boundary scenarios. One big issue, I’ve heard is with the Crossfield feeder split, which involved recommendations that would drastically increase bus rides at all levels, irresponsibly split neighborhoods, and move students around for little benefit.That being said, I (personally) feel that the three scenarios out for public input are somewhat immature and will change greatly over the next several months, but I strongly suggest people offer input…specific input about the positive or negative impact of changes.     Phasing of School Changes : Everyone I’ve spoken to supports phasing (formerly known as “grandfathering”) which permits students, especially those in middle and high school to remain in the school they started. In the last 20 years, nearly every boundary change included phasing boundary changes, and phasing is included in Policy 8130 . We all understand how devastating it can be to move a middle or high school student to a new school. In fact, when I was a student in FCPS, they did this to my class–ripped seniors out of our high school and moved them to our high school rival. This had a devastating impact on students and families. Mental health concerns soared, and four students took their own lives. Rumors about Boundary Changes : Rumors have instilled unneeded fear in neighborhoods and have ignored the facts. For example, there has been a rumor that the intent of Policy 8130 isn’t to address decades of failure to address boundary issues, but is to move kids around just to raise test scores at some “poor performing schools.” Some sharing this rumor refer to these as “equity boundary changes,” meaning that somehow “equity” would invite uprooting children from their schools just to increase test scores at other schools. Of course, this is an unfounded and ridiculous rumor, because: That is not how equity works.  It would be harmful and disruptive, and wouldn’t be fair or equitable to anyone.  Moving kids around to “improve test scores” has never been suggested and it would never work. Finally, the school board, BRAC, and communities wouldn’t permit it. Poor versus High Performing Schools : These are terms used to reflect schools overall standardized test scores, not the capacity or quality of students, much less the quality of the school. In fact, When you listen to the stories of success and warm communities of the so-called “poor performing schools” you might realize that you and your family would feel at home there. Thus, it may be acceptable to use the terms “high” and “poor” performing schools when describing their test scores, but not as a pejorative to describe the students or the school, because one standardized test score does reflect how great or smart the students are in a school.  For more information:  Feel free to read two previous blogs by 4PE about the New Boundary Policy  and History of Boundaries and Policy  in Fairfax County, because they may answer some concerns or questions.

Those who control the purse, control the future of our schools   In the case of Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS), families and staff are at the mercy of Governor Youngkin and the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors (BoS), yet neither are listening to our desperate pleas to FUND OUR SCHOOLS! This blog will be short as possible so as to avoid a hailstorm of cursing by the author about the fact that FCPS was forced to make tough choices because neither the Governor nor the BoS considered our schools important enough to bridge the $121 million FCPS budget shortfall. Their decisions forced the Superintendent to make difficult choices which will ensure raises for staff, but will involve larger class sizes at all school levels and likely reduction of staff at the Elementary level, specifically the advanced academic resource teachers and elementary special education department chairs on staff. The FY2026 budget process will be discussed at the end of this blog, but first we must discuss some major issues with the budget and the overall process. Serious Issues with the BoS Budget and Process Every year Spring Budget season is a circular firing squad among the Board of Supervisors, the State, and Fairfax County School Board (FCSB). Of course, the FCSB always loses, which means school-aged children, their families, and the future of educated employment in Fairfax County are put last in the BoS budget.  Thankfully, all of the FCSB have been communicating about the budget issues with their constituents, but Hunter Mill FSCB representative, Melanie Meren, really knocked it out of the park with her  educational Facebook reels , which really deserve more attention. She also wrote an incredibly brief, but detailed explanation of the historic decrease in funding to FCPS citing the following :  Historically, FCPS’s annual transfer of funds from Fairfax County has been a little over 52% of total Fairfax County funds. For the last two yea rs, it’s been below 51% which results in close to $50 million less per year disbursed from Fairfax County to FCPS.  The Superintendent based her budget on the historic percentage - which has been consistently provided by the BoS, except the last two years, which resulted in a $120,000,000 short fall. FCPS has asked for a set percentage of transfer, with no success.  It is pretty clear that calculated disinformation campaigns swayed the BoS, which was most evident with Mr. Herrity’s comments. Mr. Herrity reiterated the Fairfax Times anti-FCPS talking points about the some of the executives in FCPS, including our hardworking Superintendent. However, observers were saddened that many of the other Supervisors had been influenced by the repetition of Fairfax Times cherry picked data, which only looked at the salaries of FCPS education professionals, while ignoring the salaries of their Fairfax County counterparts--for example, the fact that Fairfax County employees make 20% more  on average than FCPS employees. Even for the top 10 executives, Fairfax County executives make about 15% more than the top 10 FCPS executives. In fact, the top Fairfax County attorney makes 27% more than the FCPS general counsel. (Note: this is all based on 2023 figures ). Also, there seems to be a transparency differential between the BoS and FCPS. It may just be a webpage issue, but for FCPS, all of the necessary documents and links are readily available in one place: https://www.fcps.edu/about-fcps/budget . On the other hand, the BoS webpages are hard to navigate. In fact, it was hard to understand how to participate in the public hearings, and it has been nearly impossible to find BoS public hearing videos. At least the BoS, FCSB, and FCPS Superintendent know that the process is flawed, and they seem determined to do something about it…we hope. Fairfax County and FCPS Budget Process Here is the abbreviated version of the Fairfax County budget process timeline, but please read our blog, “ Raise Your Voice about the Fairfax County Budget ,” for more information: BoS and Fairfax County School Board (FCSB) met on November 26, 2024  and several other times during the budget planning process. BoS and FCPS created their budgets: January 23 FCPS FY2025 proposed budget  which included staff raises negotiated with the teachers’ associations. February 18 BoS FY2026 proposed budget  included a 1.5 cent increase in property tax rate and a 4% meals tax . The budget threatened numerous cuts to critical services to working parents, disabled young adults, elders, successful middle school after school programs, etc. to try to “balance the budget.” These cuts outraged (and possibly distracted) the community. (Anti-tax groups grumbled, made yellow shirts and signs, and yelled “no new taxes” on social media.) Stop raising taxes folks in their yellow shirts The BoS held budget meetings the last week of April, and had a record number of speakers. 4PE was there and spoke in defense of our schools, staff, and students, as were hundreds of parents, students, teachers, union representatives, yellow shirts, and nonprofits speaking their minds. Hundreds attended each of the meetings, the vast majority of which spoke AGAINST cuts to positions that directly serve students and families. Teachers and parents showed up in force to support our schools! On May 6, the BoS  presented and voted on their budget markup . There were less than 100 attendees at this meeting, and 4PE covered some of this meeting here  which resulted in: 4% meals tax to diversify revenue streams and reduce burden on property taxes. Eliminated proposed 1.5 cent increase to reduce the Real Estate Tax rate by ¼ cent from the current rate of $1.125 to $1.1225 per $100 of assessed value.  No additional money to FCPS budget, but they did expound on failures by FCPS to communicate needs earlier, despite months of meetings and communications between the BoS and FCPS.  A reiteration of the need for a formal process to address the FCPS budget. (It feels a little late, but better than never to make this decision.) A lack of respect for the collective bargaining agreements of teachers, while respecting collective bargaining of police and fire unions. After thousands of responses, they restored funding to the middle school after school programs, but plan to force FCPS to pay for these programs in the future. Look who I ran into on May 6th! FCPTA Officers! The BoS budget choices triggered entreaties by FCPS staff and leaders, including this from the President Elect of Fairfax County Federation of Teachers on May 14 , which highlights the impact of the BoS choices, including a broken contract with staff and anticipated cuts in Special Education and Advanced Academic services leaving students with less support and larger classes.  On May 22, the Fairfax County School Board passed their budget  which included negotiated increases for staff, reducing FCSB and central office budgets by 3%, half non-local travel for professional development, and more outlined here .

Urgent Call to Action for Public Education Advocates The push for K-12 private school vouchers continues to be a priority for the Trump administration and the majority party in Congress, despite voucher bills repeated past defeats and the objection to voucher programs by the majority of the public. But this time is diffe rent. Though voucher bills have been introduced, the most likely method for their passage is through the budget reconciliation bill, where a simple majority can permit a bill to pass, instead of requiring 60 votes in the Senate to pass a stand-alone bill.  It is clear that vouchers are part of the plan to dismantle the Department of Education (ED) and are the key to eliminating quality public education in the United States. Although approval by Congress is needed to close down the ED, the Trump administration is forging ahead with the plan to give public school funding to states to be used for private school vouchers. The rationale of voucher supporters includes that it would give more education options to families, but the administration ignores the many negative aspects of school vouchers that have been detailed by 4 Public Education  and others .  It has been shown that if the bills pass, the vouchers will land unequally across states and the country, with increased harm by voucher schemes to rural and low income communities than more urban and wealthy communities. There have been successful legal challenges to vouchers, based on the facts that they were more accessible and mostly used by wealthy families, which led to the defeat of state voucher programs , and a specific program from 2017  on which the current federal plan is based. The impact of funds being diverted away from public education will be felt in all communities, but students from low-income communities, rural communities, and communities of color, who rely more heavily on well-resourced local public schools, will be disproportionately harmed. Expected impacts  of voucher schemes to all students include: reduced transparency and accountability, increased discrimination against students, increased food insecurity, reduced disability services for students, and defunded public schools which serve 90% of the population. The Coalition for Public Education provided a fact sheet  that details potential impacts of voucher programs. Also, experts from well respected institutes have shared their conclusions about the negative effects of voucher programs (eg. the Brookings Institute  and the Economic Policy Institute ). In the past, attempts to launch voucher programs have been defeated after the downsides of vouchers were revealed to the public (e.g., The Atlantic  and National Public Radio ). Yet here we are again fighting the same battle, with the challenge even harder this time because politicians are under extraordinary pressure to pass the Budget Reconciliation bill.  Reconciliation is used to quickly advance high-priority fiscal legislation and allows expedited consideration of components of the bill without it being subject to filibuster, where 60 votes are needed to pass a bill. Instead, only 51 votes are required to pass the bill in the Senate. This means it will take even more effort than in the past to keep voucher bills from passing in Congress. Education experts  encourage public school advocates to contact their legislators and urge them to vote against the Educational Choice for Children Act ( H.R. 833  and S.292 ). There are two ways advocates can easily make this request of their legislators. The first is by calling and leaving a message for senators and representatives, asking them to vote NO on the Educational Choice for Children Act. The phone numbers of all senators and representatives can be found at this  link . Remember to tell whoever takes your message that you are a constituent and give them your name and address. The second way to advocate against these bills is by accessing this form  that when filled out and submitted will automatically send a letter to all your legislators asking them to vote NO on these bills. Your legislators are identified by the tool using the address you add to the form.  It is urgent to get these requests to our legislators now because the House Ways and Means Committee is scheduled to begin reviewing the Reconciliation bill on Tuesday, May 13.  If you would like more information on the subject of school vouchers, please attend the Education Law Center Webinar on May 15: “Save neighborhood schools - Say NO to Private School Vouchers. Please Register here.  Click on image to learn more

Let me off this Crazy Carnival Ride! The first 100 days  of the Trump Administration have been a chaotic carnival of harmful Executive Orders ( 142 so far ), irresponsible mass firings of federal employees ( more than 121,000 ), over 200 lawsuits, increased concentration of power under the executive branch, mass deportations of immigrants without constitutionally required due process, and an unknown number of American citizens caught up in these efforts, including children and cancer patients.  The stock market has been a roller coaster ride of dramatic ups and downs. Prices continue to rise, and due to the trade war Tilt-a-Whirl, shelves are emptying of goods and online prices are skyrocketing. Courts around the nation are playing bumper cars with lawsuits and injunctions against the Trump Administration actions. The President’s popularity is in freefall like the Kings Dominion Drop Tower. The full impact of these first 100 days on students, staff, and families in public schools is yet unknown, but the Trump Administration has threatened funding of special education, meals, and Title 1 programs that support our most vulnerable students. Frequently, the Trump Administration has used the funding for these programs as leverage to force other unpopular, and possibly illegal, actions against the rights of LGBTQIA students, Title IX protections, state regulations, and decades long efforts to make schools inclusive and equitable to increasingly diverse populations of families.  Nowhere has this been more evident than the attacks on trans students and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in K-12 public schools. However, more recently, he has turned his eyes on higher education with similar initiatives to remove DEI and force politics into the classroom.  His attempt to strong-arm Harvard into sweeping, politically motivated reforms failed miserably. For non-compliance, the Trump Administration threatened Harvard’s $2.2 billion in grants and contracts, which contribute to groundbreaking innovations  in science and health. In response , Harvard went public with the Administration’s demand letter , and sued the Administration , placing the Trump Administration back on the kiddie rides–at a disadvantage against all of higher education, many of whom banded together  to oppose the Trump reforms: “We are open to constructive reform and do not oppose legitimate government oversight. However, we must oppose undue government intrusion in the lives of those who learn, live, and work on our campuses.” – American Association of Colleges and Universities 4 Public Education has tried to keep up with the first 100 days of the Trump Administration's efforts to defund, destabilize, and destroy public education in the nation. Please view our coverage here, as we experience the next 100 days: Demanding the Impossible: Why DEI cannot be Eliminated from Public Education (Cheryl Binkley) Federal Scene on Education is at a Turning Point: Trump’s First 100 Days (Binkley) Just say NO to Federally Funded Private School Vouchers (Marianne Burke) Trump's Education Appointee has no IDEA about Public Education (Vanessa Hall) When the Attack is on History is About Controlling the Future (Hall) A Week in the Trenches Dodging Bullet Points (Hall) Eliminating the US Department of Education will do more Damage than You Realize (Burke) Wrestling the Department of Education from Incompetence: Linda McMahon Confirmation Hearings (Binkley) Real and Presidential Danger to Public Education: Executive Orders Harming Public Education (Hall) How Fairfax County Public Schools are responding to Anti-Refugee Policies (Binkley) Keep Funding and Freedom To Learn in Our Public Schools (Burke) Trump's Department of Edu-Propaganda (Hall) 4 Public Education will continue to keep you updated on impacts to our K-12 and higher education. Follow  and support us , to keep in the know about federal, state, and local public education issues. May this chaotic carnival ride soon end so that we can find price, political, and personal stability.  Truthfully, seeing our nation through a funhouse mirror has not been flattering or fun for anyone.

"Overly Broad" Says Some School Districts The U.S. Department of Education (USED) made a surprising demand of all state education agencies (SEAs) on April 3, 2025 : agree to USED terms to abolish diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), or else lose federal funding. Federal funding that would otherwise go to special education services, meals for children, and much needed funding for high poverty schools (i.e., those with large percentages of students on free and reduced meals). Nearly 90% of school districts  benefit from the Title I program serving low income schools. In the USED announcement of the anti-DEI demand, Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor stated, “Federal financial assistance is a privilege, not a right.” He then claimed that schools use “DEI programs to discriminate against one group of Americans to favor another based on identity characteristics in clear violation of Title VI.” Essentially, to fulfill the Trump and Project 2025 goal of eliminating DEI, the USED targeted the most vulnerable populations of students, threatening to hold hostage funding that is statutorily required under Title V and Title I of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) . This letter was intended to satisfy vague requirements of anti-DEI executive orders  (EOs) by President Trump (e.g., EOs 14173 , 14168 , and 14151 )  and a “novel” interpretation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Each state was given a 10-day deadline, which was later extended to April 24th due to a lawsuit by the National Education Association  against Trump’s USED. Civil Rights groups from around the nation signed a letter sent by the Legal Defense Fund  (LDF) to all SEAs to: “Not abandon your lawful efforts to support Black students and other students of color and should issue guidance to [S]EAs and their administrators and staff to stay the course…. Embracing diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility fosters academic excellence, innovation, and a thriving school culture where all students feel valued and empowered…. We urge you to continue to support school communities and educational environments that ensure equal opportunities for all students.” Trump Administration’s Novel Interpretation of the Civil Rights Act The USED claimed that their April 3rd letter  was to certify compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act; however, states had already certified compliance in order to receive federal funds, as they do every year . Additionally, the USED certification letter contained additional language, not found in Title VI, specifically: “The use of Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (“DEI”) programs to advantage one’s race over another—is impermissible. The use of certain DEI practices can violate federal law. The continued use of illegal DEI practices may subject the individual or entity using such practices to serious consequences [including withholding federal grants and litigation].” Analyses of the anti-DEI EOs have found that the EOs are inconsistent with the Civil Rights Act, state legislation, and other laws, thus there are multiple lawsuits against these EOs. However, Mel Wilson (LCSW, MBA) , Senior Policy Advisor for the National Association of Social Workers identifies something even more insidious in the EO 14173 , Ending Illegal Discrimination And Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity:  “The authors of this EO knew quite well that DEI as a concept is a derivative of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. By appropriating that term, they hope to create a false equivalency that DEI is as much a civil rights violation against White people as it is seen as a protection for communities of color.” The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)  echoes this when they described the Trump 2025 plans before inauguration:  “The anti-DEI backlash is part of a larger effort by right-wing foundations, think tanks, and political operatives to dismantle civil rights gains made in recent decades.” The Civil Rights Act of 1964  is considered by nearly every American to be one of the nation’s most important equal rights, anti-discrimination legislation for all Americans. But not Project 2025, whose blueprint is the guiding light for the Trump Administration. Youngkin Punts the Controversy to School Districts What did the Governor of Virginia do? Did he defend Virginia’s public schools and funding for our low income students and those who require special education support? No. He shifted the burden to every school district in Virginia. Unlike Maryland which handled the letter at the state level, Youngkin’s Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) stood down and punted the issue to all 132 school districts. Thus requiring expenditures of time and money to individually analyze the demand letter vis-a-vis federal and state regulations and federal funding.  Imagine how much time that took away from education excellence and supporting staff and students. Imagine the difficult conversations behind closed doors with superintendents, general counsels, school boards, and other staff: do we cave to federal extortion to ensure funding for our students, or do we find a different path? The School Superintendents Association (AASA) published a letter on April 14th from the EducationCounsel LLC  to provide guidance to school districts and SEAs citing multiple concerns, including: lack of clarity over what “DEI” actually is makes it hard to comply, it may increase litigation exposure, and “raises multiple procedural concerns regarding the rights of states and districts.” On April 24th, Superintendent Aaron Spence of Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) summed up the controversy  and responded to the USED demand letter  citing legal concerns, as well as a lack of clarity by the USED:  “There are legal challenges to this request that argue, in part, that the requested USDOE certification—as written—is vague, overly broad, and committing public school divisions to terms/conditions beyond what is required under applicable law.” “Most importantly, the requested certification lacks clarity . It references “illegal DEI” or “certain DEI practices” without explaining what those terms mean or how they differ from the diversity, equity and inclusion programs and initiatives we currently have in place–programs that help students feel valued, included, and supported…. We cannot–and should not be asked to–certify we are not engaged in behaviors that have not been clearly defined. Doing so would not be prudent.” Mr. Spence cited that other SEAs (e.g., Maine, New Jersey, Oregon, and about a dozen more) have declined to sign the USED certification, including Maryland which signed an “alternative certification.” In Virginia, LCPS and Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) are reported  to be the only school districts to have declined to sign the USED certification letter. Superintendent Michelle Reid affirmed her commitment of inclusive, equitable education for Fairfax County students to Virginia Mercury , “Here in FCPS, we believe our diversity is a strength and that each and every child deserves access to a world-class education.” Ultimate Impact on the Nation’s Public Schools In many ways, the anti-DEI certification letter from the USED feels like a game of chicken, except Secretary Linda McMahon tried to tie students to the bumper hoping that state SEAs would swerve and cave to Trump’s anti-DEI demands. Or maybe a better metaphor is this was an old fashioned "stickup" with Linda McMahon's USED demanding, "Your Title I student funding or your DEI." Either way, it was effective. Most states caved to the unreasonable demands, yet nearly one-third of the states did not. Outside of Loudoun and Fairfax counties, school districts around the Commonwealth signed the USED anti-DEI certification, but it is clear by public statements that this was, for the most part, under duress, as districts were concerned about losing federal grant funding for their low-income students. For example in Hampton Roads , some school districts responded by eliminating DEI programs (e.g., Virginia Beach and Suffolk), but others modified the terms of the USED anti-DEI certification letter (e.g., Norfolk and Hampton). On April 24th, the Norfolk School Board went a step further  to reject Trump’s anti-DEI EO in a 5-2 vote. Legally, the Trump Administration has hit significant legal hurdles in light of rulings by federal judges in Maryland, New Hampshire and Washington, D.C.. NPR reported that these judges ruled on April 24th that the "Trump administration had overstepped when it ordered the nation's schools to stop all diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs as well as classroom teaching the administration might consider discriminatory." This restricts the ability of the USED to force districts to "eliminate DEI" (?) by withholding federal funds designated for low-income and disabled students in K-12 schools.   Fortunately, the AASA has continued coverage  of legal challenges to Trump’s anti-DEI EOs, as well as updates on the USED anti-DEI certification letter including the most recent news that the USED bowed to legal pressure:  “On 4/28, the U.S. Department of Education sent a notice to State Chiefs that they were no longer requiring districts and States to complete the Title VI DEI certification. It is unclear whether the litigation on the underlying DEI guidance will be appealed by[US] ED in three separate circuits. ”  The USED is playing chicken with our students' future, but their games are only wasting time, energy, and critical education funding. Our students, staff, and families deserve better than that. Of course this is not over. Public schools will continue to face attacks on the critical initiatives, like DEI, that offer respect, opportunity, and success for students. This will be played out in the courts and the news for the next 1,360 days .

Teacher Appreciation 2025 I woke up in the middle of the night with Teacher Appreciation Week and  Love in the Time of Cholera o n my mind. Love in the Time of Cholera is a 1985 novel by Nobel Prize Laureate Gabriel Garcia Marquez about a long unrequited love that uses magical realism as an element of the story. I know - odd combo - but “teaching in the time of” Executive Orders, state supported measles outbreaks, recurrent school violence, insincere post-COVID learning loss demands, and expansion of Christian Nationalist parental rights groups must feel like a longstanding unrequited love juxtaposed with the everyday reality of guiding and supporting students, in the midst of a supernatural, impossible reality. How else could teachers be expected to educate students when there are threats from the federal government of patriotic education and eliminating lunches for kids, during the everyday possibility of life-ending violence? We observe Teacher Appreciation every year right before Mother’s Day in a pre-planned, but always sudden, burst of notes with effusive sentiments and inexpensive knickknacks, so that for the rest of the year we can all go back to a love-ignore-hate relationship with those who care for and nurture the becoming of our children. I realize parents and administrators who observe Teacher Appreciation are good, and well-intended people, I was and am one of them.  Normally, I would mark the week with cutesy memes about great teachers and remind people to “appreciate” the teachers in their lives, and I probably will do that for the rest of the week, but this year the whole exercise feels sadly insufficient and hollow.  The subtext of Teacher Appreciation now has all the markings of fantastical literature. Themes like: We love you, but only the idealized version of you. We love you but we blame you — for pretty much everything. Sacrifice yourself but don’t expect too much from us; all seem implicit in the world teachers inhabit. I know —a grim view of what is intended to be a lighthearted happy observance—but frankly to pretend that we are in the old days when a sweet message in a childlike hand could fix everything is just plain ignoring the realities of the situation our teachers are in. To appreciate teachers with small tokens in today’s current conditions is so ironic that it has the smell of bitter almonds, the opening motif in Love in the Time of Cholera  that evokes a time of deep sickness.  And there’s every reason to see Teacher Appreciation as a version of giving flowers ( camellias  in Love in the Time of Cholera ) which are ignored or returned as empty promises.  If you genuinely have any small appreciation for the work and craft teachers practice of nurturing and facilitating brighter, stronger, more resilient humans, do let them know. Make that appreciation real with actions and defense of them. Is there a chance we can go back to observing teacher appreciation sincerely, without irony, without it being empty platitudes? Only if we tend to the business of restoring their dignity and respect now and refuse to allow political and governmental abuse of them and their students. If we do not protect them from the menace of current conditions, we have no business giving hearts, kisses and coffee mugs. So here is what’s needed for true Teacher Appreciation:  Try to daily remember that another person (or few people) spends their days and nights doing things that will benefit you and your children, and try to treat them with consistent common regard and respect for their choice to do that with their lives, and the struggle it is in today’s circumstances.  Respect their expertise. Understand they do a low paying and thankless job because they believe in us all and want children to thrive.  When you hear ridiculous things about them, question the speaker with a little skepticism.  When you hear they don’t care or are soulless, spend some time with them to find out the truth.  Stand in the way of those who would abuse them, structurally and physically. Make teacher appreciation more than a trite meme and a kitschy Knick knack. Champion those who make public education possible.

Why DEI cannot be Eliminated Project 2025 Plan & Execution The attacks on inclusion, equity, and diversity have been underway for several years. The Heritage Foundation’s   Project 2025,  which clearly articulated the plan, was published two years ago in April 2023, but the conflict over inclusive ideas was underway well before that. Since his inauguration, the President and his administration have executed the  Project 2025 agenda and set about an  aggressive campaign  against what they term DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) Programs. However, the Executive Orders  (EO) and agenda to defund and eliminate DEI goes far beyond programs and departments which protect traditionally disenfranchised people from discrimination and well beyond what most people expected.  Project 2025  suggests that Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programs  not just be eradicated, but be made illegal and those who practice Inclusion or Equity be prosecuted by the Department of Justice. Although most think of it as an attack on immigrants and people of color, the plan also calls for a massive roll back of women’s freedoms and rights in the workforce and in classrooms.  The President and his advisers consider any stories, perspectives, or actions that are not focused on white, heterosexual Anglo-Saxon-protestant-males as “discrimination against white people.” This results in books or facts by or about women, Black, Hispanic, LGBTQIA+, or even neurodiverse people being removed from libraries of schools, universities, and towns. Most recently, even the Naval Academy had 381 books removed. People were shocked to find Mein Kampf stayed, but Maya Angelou was removed.   Another example has been a national campaign against a balanced history curriculum in K-12 schools under the guise of anti-CRT (Critical Race Theory) which continues to attempt removal of non-white-hetero-male perspectives from instruction and content from pre-kinder to post-doctorate education programs. Whether the themes in the books and programs are about personal life or are political, the administration deems them objectionable by virtue of the author’s race and gender, or sometimes by the mere presence of the ideas of equality or common humanity of all. Furthermore, the President’s EOs direct his department heads to implement the  Project 2025  goal of trying to establish any non-white-male content as criminal. Once Donald Trump took office, the festival of firing by DOGE and the Pentagon has focused heavily on firing Black, women, and transgender employees, particularly Black and women employees at higher echelons of the civil service such as  NIH scientists where 38 of the 43 senior researchers fired were women or people of color. In the military, besides attacking transgender soldiers in general, the  leadership purge has focused on Black, Hispanic, and women leaders who had, until that time, successfully filled their positions of responsibility. It has been two months since the President delivered a two week ultimatum that U.S. schools had to eliminate Diversity Inclusion and Equity programs, and almost two weeks (April 3) since he specified that governors be required to certify  compliance or lose all federal funding for their state’s public schools. He has not distinguished whether or how other federal funding cuts to education, such as Title 1, IDEA , or Free and Reduced Meals, which have already had substantial staff and grant and program cuts, would figure into this ultimatum. On April 8, Linda McMahon, Secretary of Education, announced a two week extension to the mandate so certifications are now due by April 24.  Our Nation is too Diverse for DEI to Be Erased Though the executive branch and (formerly) conservative political officials seem hell bent to reform the United States into a white-Christian-hetero-male dominated nation, and wish to declare the nation a White Christian Nation, they miss the obvious barrier:  It is impossible to turn either the nation or its schools back to 1953, or even earlier. We are not, and can never again be a monolithic country. The anti-DEI attacks overlook that every school district in the U.S. is different, despite ongoing efforts by the far right to portray public schools as monolithic “failing, government, schools.” Each school district has its own demographics, economic status, and cultural personality.  I grew up in an all white small town-rural school system in a town of half farmers and half factory workers. I also lived and taught for fifteen years in a school with no ethnic majority that was proclaimed by National Geographic as one of the “most diverse high schools in America,” in an inner-suburban working class neighborhood. My children went to a similar school just a few miles away, and the third nearby school in our neighborhood was a majority Asian, gifted magnet school. I also worked in a school that out-scored most schools in the world on international test scores. All were different, and all were good schools. Across this country there are many districts that manage one small high school, a middle school, and several elementaries that feed them. Some of those are majority white, some majority Latin, some majority Black, some very blended.  According to Ed Week, in 2019 the average number of students in an American High school was 524. Approximately 69.5 percent of districts had fewer than 2,500 students, meaning that they likely had only one or two high schools in their system. However, in many locations, from mid-size towns to suburban county systems and cities any one of many district high schools may have thousands of students. There are school systems whose schools are geographically far-flung, transporting students as much as 40 miles to their nearest school, and some who serve a tight geographic neighborhood where most kids can walk to school.  The cultural dynamic can be just as mixed, with the local economic drivers exerting huge influence over school personalities. Schools on Virginia’s Eastern Shore or Cape Cod are influenced by the waterman culture. Schools in the Hampton Roads area and North Carolina’s Ft. Bragg communities are highly impacted by proximity to the military and by proximity to one of the world’s largest shipping ports. Schools in Miami, Dade County have substantial Cuban and Caribbean cultural influences. Northern California’s largest minority populations are Asian, but not from only one Asian heritage. It would be unthinkable to deny music or film to Los Angeles or Nashville schools. Western states we normally think of as being ranching regions, also have large connections to a world tourist trade as well as environmental management, and there is a separate system for schools on native reservations managed by the U.S. Department of the Interior. Religious practices, even in towns with relatively monolithic history can have diverse practices which influence everything from which historical events are remembered and observed to which holidays are important, to what kinds of food are served in the cafeteria. Even a traditionally Catholic or Protestant community can have wide variations in everything from student dress to holiday food choices. In other words, the variety of diversity is huge. There is no monolithic “government school.” Each is a local school that serves the children and teens of its community, with a goal of preparing those children and adolescents to live in the world. And that world is simultaneously much smaller ( it fits in the palm of their hand, or on their watch), and much bigger for today’s generations than it was only a generation or two ago.  Even the idea of preparing students for the work-force requires an understanding of diversity and the exercise of inclusivity. A mid-western farmer may also be a global business-person. A southwestern town may be the home of artist colonies whose artists work in a variety of media from bronze to holographic art to textile or digital art and whose artists sell to galleries world-wide. A niche business anywhere, may develop a thriving internet trade and get its supplies from several parts of the world, while it sells to multiple customers in multiple countries. According to the  2020 Census, there are 33.9 million people in the U.S. who consider themselves multi-racial. In the U.S., Hispanics can represent a variety of racial profiles and the census counted 62.1 million in 2020. The United States is quite simply no longer as monolithic, exclusionary, or biased as the current administration presumes.  Use Real Definitions In their simplest definitions,  Diversity means a variety of people who are in some way different.  Inclusion means welcoming everyone, and  Equity is a synonym for fairness.  So, when the Trump government dictates local schools that they cannot teach children about diversity, or inclusion, or equity, then the federal government is dictating that local schools cannot teach children about themselves, their own families, their own towns and communities…their own world. DEI is daily reality, not political ideology. Diversity encompasses so many types of differences.   Diversity can be ethnicity. Diversity can mean students who are not in the local majority ethnically, a white child in a black neighborhood, or an Asian child in a white neighborhood. Diversity can be different learning or physical attributes, including:  A child with dyslexia, or who struggles with writing, or has an autism spectrum disorder A student who is hearing impaired or diabetic A student in a wheelchair, or with traumatic anxiety Diversity can be economic. A kid whose family income is below the poverty level, or a homeless child, or a child whose family vacations internationally regularly and owns multiple homes.  All of these Differences Exist in Every Community Inclusion, means simply including that diversity, all the children of a particular town, neighborhood or community. Inclusion has been a mandate for our many faiths and our secular American culture for a very, very long time. Our moral and legal code demands we welcome children, and that we nurture them  Regardless of their racial, ethnic, Economic status, or Intellectual heritage and abilities.  We must provide an open and welcoming education for our children to become their most effective and best selves. It is both what has long been legally required, and what is morally required. Equity, means fairness. It’s that plain, and that critical to our ability to safely survive the wildly changing future.  Children know what fairness is from the time they are toddlers, and they are unwilling to embrace a culture which is unfair. How many times have I heard a 3 year old shout, “That’s not fair!”?  If we do not practice fairness to all, we will be creating schools which alienate  children, not just from one another, but from their local and national communities. Many won’t be willing participants in whatever we teach or the world we create if we are not fair. Some will drop out, others will rage at the feelings of inequity. So, DEI, or saying the other way around Inclusion, Equity, and Diversity are not something we can turn off or just stop doing.  DEI is integral to who we are, woven into the fabric of each little burg and waystation, in whatever town or state we are from, Equity, Inclusion, and Diversity are what it means to be American, to be human, and threatening loss of funds or prosecution will not change that.

Get Involved in the Finances of Your County Although local government budgets seem complicated, every person should care about the finances of their county or city, because it is through local budgets that most of our services are funded and implemented. Local governments are required each year to offer public engagement and listen to public feedback on government and school district finances so this is your opportunity to provide feedback to the County Administration.  In Fairfax County, budget discussions are going on now , and big changes are afoot that should concern county residents. Below is a summary of some of the main issues in the FY2026 Fairfax County Budget  and Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) Budget , and why they are important. If you are short on time, these summaries should get you up to speed: the Fairfax County Budget Presentation  and the FCPS Budget handout . Fairfax County has been holding public town hall meetings around the county. I attended one at West Springfield where staff and families were out in force asking Fairfax County to uphold their obligations to the FCPS contracts to staff. Students and parents shared why after school programming should not be ended in middle school. Students gave amazing testimony, as they coordinated their speeches to cover academic, mental health, and social benefits of the after school middle school programs. Unfortunately, due to “uncertainty” in the national government and failure of the Governor  to properly fund  our schools, Fairfax residents will see small tax increases. However, due to the Dillon rule , localities are limited in their funding sources.  Please consider signing up to speak at the public hearings  on 4/22-24, or by sending input to the Chairman of the Board, your Board of Supervisor , and maybe even your state representatives to offer feedback (find your representative here ) . Property Taxes Although many of the social media discussions about property taxes feel like listening to Abe Simpson shouting at clouds (“My taxes are going up because my home value is going up!”), we still need to have conversations about property taxes, including the fact that home values are increasing, the personal property tax rate increased due to reductions in commercial tax obligations, and why tax increases are necessary for services and citizens.  The average increase in real estate assessments  for Fairfax county was 6.65% in 2025, with the average assessment for all homes at $794,235. For homeowners, this increase was shocking, but not unexpected in the hot Northern Virginia real estate market. However, for those whose property taxes are not rolled into an escrow and paid as part of monthly mortgage payments, this assessment increase is more apparent as they pay yearly property taxes. Nevertheless, these assessments mean that if one were to sell one’s house, one would see greater returns on the investment.  Unfortunately, commercial property assessments  remain fairly flat, and continue to struggle with high vacancies and other challenges to meeting their debt obligations. The amount of empty office space has continued to increase to nearly 20%. Due to shortfalls based on commercial properties, Fairfax County is suggesting a 1.5 cent increase on the property tax rate, bringing the rate up to $1.14 per $100 property value, which will result in an annual increase for the average tax bill of  just over $638 . County Service Cuts and Reductions Even with modest proposed tax increases, there are still cuts county-wide that will affect services. Due to decreased revenue caused by commercial property tax shortfalls, Fairfax County has recommended $60 million in spending reductions. In fact, these cuts are the highest level of reduction since FY2010 based on the county’s presentation. The following are the biggest concerns shared by Fairfax County residents: Cutting after school programming in Middle School  which affects 23,000 students “[E]limination of a General Relief for Disabled Adults  program that helps people apply for financial assistance, reduced funding for at-risk youth services, and the loss of four human services workers involved in programs that provide employment in the community for seniors and help connect children to medical and dental care.” Other services to seniors and children are on the cutting block , including: senior support services, Head Start, Department of Neighborhood and Community Services, Bridge to Kindergarten, and SNAP benefits (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program). Increased staffing shortages in areas that are already understaffed. Close to 40% of the cuts  will be to fire and police services; however, police and firefighters will still receive their negotiated raises based on their new contracts. Fairfax County Public School Funding   FCPS asked for a net increase of $297.1 million (7.9 %) over FY2025  to cover negotiated contract compensation adjustments for all employees of 7%, retirement rate increases, inclusive preschools, more school-based family liaisons, safety and security investments, addition of certified trainers at high schools, and support for inclusive and multilingual learner initiatives. The county is responsible for 70% of FCPS budget , while state and federal aid comes to 19% and 1.2%, respectively. FCPS has done a good job of addressing persistent myths about funding in our schools:  Instruction-focussed budget : More than 85% of the FCPS budget is dedicated to instruction.  School-based Employees : 92.7% of FCPS employees are school-based. Teacher Pay: FCPS teachers are paid less than they would be in surrounding school districts. Cost-per-pupil: FCPS has kept the cost per pupil lower than most surrounding school districts. People and businesses move to Fairfax County and remain in Fairfax County for the excellent schools. FCPS trains the next generation of doctors, lawyers, nurses, teachers, medical technicians, electricians, and police. Funding our schools and students, means we are funding the future of our county. It is important that we advocate for fully funding our staff, students, and schools. Consider joining parents, staff, and citizens at the rally to support our schools before the April 22nd hearing at 4pm .  Prepared Meals and Beverage Tax (4% or less) In 2024, Virginia passed a law  permitting counties to establish meals taxes without a referendum. As a result, this year the board of supervisors announced a potential new meals tax to offset cuts at no more than 4%. It is likely to be finalized after the May 6-13 budget votes. Nearly every county in and around Fairfax County has a meals tax, except for Loudoun County. None have seen a drop in visits due to the meals tax on restaurants, and Fairfax County estimates that more than 30% of the taxes will be paid by visitors. More information can be found here . The public hearing  on the proposed food and beverage tax will be held on Tuesday, April 22, aligning with the regular budget public hearings, which continue through Thursday, April 24. Act Now Your Board of Supervisors, the Chairman, and elected officials want to hear your views on the proposed budget. Please consider speaking at the public hearings or contact your elected officials directly . Sign up to speak at the public hearings  on 4/22-24, or send input to the Chairman of the Board, your Board of Supervisor , and maybe even your state representatives to offer feedback (find your representative here ) . Following public hearings, the board will mark up (make changes to) the FY 2026 Budget proposal on Tuesday, May 6, with adoption set for Tuesday, May 13. More information is available from the Department of Management and Budget.