Letter to the Fairfax County Journal

Published in April 2000

This letter contributed to the School Staff having to explain the excess.

The Fairfax County Public School system consistently claims class size is a primary educational factor, yet when they only get part of the huge requested budget increase, it is the first thing on the chopping block. Like a child repeating an argument that worked before, we hear the same threat from last budget cycle – “we might have to increase class size.” If class size were crucial, they should guard it to the very end, not sacrifice it first.

Why can’t they survive with the previous $1.27 Billion? The justification is the anticipated additional 4042 students. Using ratios from the school budget, this multiplies out to less than $32 million – well short of the $112 million demanded. Is this why they no longer teach multiplication tables – so taxpayers will not realize their figures don’t add up?

The School Board Auditor has gotten a glimpse of the school’s fiscal system. He found indications of areas 33% over-budgeted for 4 years with under-spending in the millions. Once is a mistake, twice is a trend, 4 consecutive budgets is bordering on criminal. It is no surprise they don’t want to give him open access to information.

Despite a significant increase, the superintendent is whining for more. The Board of Supervisors suggested fiscal constraint. That is an understatement. Don’t be fooled by the same old cry, it is “for the children.” If it were really for the children, more than 57% (~11,176 of 19626.5) of full-time employees would be classroom teachers and class size would be smaller!

Second letter to Fairfax County Journal regarding the School Staff's explanation:

May 2000 (unknown if published)

In their effort to explain the $41.5 million unused from the 1999 budget, the Fairfax County school staff reported $8.4 million as FY2000 Budgeted Beginning Balance. This is not a 1999 allocation. It is still unspent with respect to the 1999 budget. Combined with the $3.9 million reported remainder, that equals $12.3 million, an amount almost half of the so-called shortfall. Additionally, although the staff reported that other amounts ($21.4 million) were allocated, at no time did they state that any of those funds, from almost an entire fiscal year ago, had actually been spent.

However, the real unreported revelation of the evening was that the analysis resulting in $41.5 million was done using the final budget because the original budget was not available. In the final budget, any over-budgeted funds have been reallocated quarterly and do not appear. If the original budget had been used, the over-budgeted amount would have exceeded the $12.3 million and judging from the discussion, possibly significantly. The staff showed the checkbook was balanced; they did not compare the original budget to actual expenditures. Because you’re out of cash at the end of the month does not mean your budget was accurate. If a CFO claimed an original budget was unavailable, he would be fired.

Letter to the Fairfax County Journal

Published in February 2001

I recently attended the Fairfax County School System Minority Student Achievement Summit. Great cookies and sandwiches (you should come next year and try them, you paid for them). I was infuriated to see another meaningless feel-good event that will have little if any impact on minority student achievement. There are at-risk children missing their one opportunity for an education that could pull them from a cycle of poverty and the Fairfax County School System is having a social.

After hearing of the gap in test scores between various demographic groups, superintendent Domenech proceeded to tell the audience that the school system knows how to solve the problem and we should just give more money. This event was to collect ideas from the community to address the problem. Dr. Domenech revealed his true opinion. If he already knows how to fix the problem, then there is no need for community input. Not surprisingly, there was little opportunity for real input that evening.

The only time an individual could address the entire gathering was to ask 5 incredibly sharp minority teenagers (obviously not at-risk) questions as to how they overcame their minority status to succeed in school. Their answers revealed no surprises -- basics in reading, discipline and parents that set high standards and provide support to achieve them. Not addressed was what to do when students do not have family support and have not been taught discipline or the basics before entering the school system.

Inputs were taken from participants on the same old questions in poorly attended breakout sessions and written on butcher block. If these were given much consideration, this summit would have reported how last year's inputs had been incorporated into the program.

The committee's primary focuses are to increase the number of minority students in the Gifted & Talented program, increase the hiring of minority teachers and to reduce the number of days that minorities are suspended. The first and last tasks address symptoms, not causes. Manipulating statistics to hide symptoms will not solve the problem. All would help only a handful of students. This is why the problem, despite years of acknowledgement, has not improved.

The achievement in question is academic achievement. Were it not for the students and a handout from the Fairfax County Federation of Teachers, no one would have discussed academics at all. The Federation of Teachers handout that supported the return of basic reading and mathematical skills was lambasted by the Superintendent for comparing Fairfax County minority test scores with the score of D.C. students (D.C. being higher!!). Across the U.S., schools filled with at-risk students are getting great results using reading and math programs that emphasize basic skills. They are addressing the causes, not the symptoms.

The Virginia Standards of Learning have forced school systems to finally address the low academic achievement in low-income areas in ways that actually get results. In other states, programs similar to the SOLs have significantly reduced the minority achievement gap. Where the SOLs have been embraced, minority academic achievement has improved, often significantly. Yet the Fairfax County School System is still trying to undermine the SOLs. Those concerned about the minority achievement gap should be great supporters of the SOLs.

As long as the school system is focused on the symptoms, it will not solve the problem. It may mask some of them, but the low academic achievement revealed in test score gaps will remain. The SOLs have increased the visibility of these convicting gaps in national test scores and forced meaningful change usually in the direction of basic skills as recommended by the Federation of Teachers. With the SOLs' accurate measure of improvement, people may wish to see results before giving the superintendent more of their hard earned tax dollars.

Steve Hunt

Spokesperson

Parents and Students Supporting Standards of Learning

Fairfax Station, VA