Our Mission

The Fairfax Education Coalition is a network of parents, teachers, and community members dedicated to strengthening public involvement with Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS). The coalition will monitor and report on the actions of the FCPS administration and school board to increase public awareness. The coalition will advocate for improved accountability, transparency, and community participation in the FCPS decisionmaking process.

Our Goals

Monitoring click to open / close

Evaluate and recommend improvements to FCPS budget process, operational expectations, monitoring criteria (including measures), reporting, and strategic governance approach.
Review adequacy and effectiveness of activities covered in school board monitoring reports, focusing in 2009/2010 on the following:
- Budget and financial management
- Community relations
- Facilities and transportation
- Instructional program
Provide reports and evaluation to community.

Communicationclick to open

Increase community awareness and encourage public communication with the school board and FCPS administration via email updates, a comprehensive website, and other means. B.
Establish collaborative relationship between school board/staff and stakeholders.
Improve access to FCPS data and information by promoting an FCPS data bank.
Provide data on the FEC website.
Inform media of activities and issues via press releases, letters to the editor, and interviews.

FCPS Watchclick to open

Attend and record board and staff meetings.
Report on board and staff meetings.

FEC News

FEC Urges School Board to Defer Vote on “Priority Schools Initiative”

Says FCPS School Board & Public Need More Data, Details & Debate Before Voting Fairfax County

(printable version)

Wednesday, May 19, 2010 – The Fairfax Education Coalition (FEC) said today it is strongly urging members of the Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) School Board to defer a vote on the “Priority Schools Initiative” that is currently scheduled for Thursday, May 20th as part of the FCPS FY 2011 Budget Adoption.

FEC is in agreement with the many Parent/Teacher Associations and Organizations (PTAs/PTOs), community leaders, concerned Fairfax citizens and those members of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors who have publicly expressed concern that the proposed “Priority Schools Initiative” was proposed too late in the FY2011 FCPS budget process to receive a thorough evaluation and, therefore, a vote on the issue should be deferred until the School Board and public’s concerns are thoroughly addressed.

FEC’s specific concerns related to the “Priority Schools Initiative”’ include:

1. Lack of Information: FCPS School Board Members and the public lack sufficient information about the “Priority Schools Initiative” to determine if this is a responsible and cost-efficient program. Several members of the community have stated that it remains unclear how schools were chosen for this program (FCPS Budget Hearings – May 11th). At least one FCPS School Board Member questioned the proposed program’s fairness - asking about equitable resources for needy schools that do not make the cut for inclusion in the proposed “Priority Schools Initiative” (FCPS School Board Work Session (May 13th). Several parents whose children are potential participants in the program have stated there has been little to no dialogue on this issue and they feel “ambushed” by the proposed changes (The Connection Newspapers, May 12-18th & The Fairfax County Times, May 12th). At the moment, there is no data about how parents with students in the “Extended Learning” program feels about FCPS’ decision to pull this opportunity away from their community schools.

2. Lack of Cost Justifications: The “Priority Schools Initiative” relies heavily on oversight provided by Central Administration Staff. FEC shares the public’s concerns that funds for this proposed program may be disproportionately used for keeping Central Staffers employed rather than putting resources directly into FCPS’ neediest schools and letting teachers do what they do best – teach. Furthermore, a projected $800,000 expenditure has been proposed for a “Priority Schools Initiative” training program at UVA in Charlottesville without providing any authentication of this training program’s success.

3. Lack of Monitoring & Oversight: Superintendent Dale has stated there was no compelling evidence that previous programs for needy students like Excel, Focus or year-round schooling – were boosting student achievement (The Connection Newspaper, May 12-18th). Conversely, in submitting the $1.3 to $4.3 million (per year) “Priority Schools Initiative”, the Superintendent has not publicly presented any evidence or detailed plans about how the “Priority Schools Initiative” would boost student achievement. Importantly too, the Superintendent has not presented any defined guidelines for determining if the millions spent per year on the proposed “Priority Schools Initiative” will have worked effectively and as intended.

4. Lack of Defined Process: During these difficult budgetary times, FEC joins the community in expressing concern about the rush for a vote on this significant and costly proposal. FEC has consistently advocated for a policy-making process that includes the preparation and presentation of data, a full review of details and an open debate among the School Board with shared input and dialogue from the community.

In proposing a rushed vote for the “Priority Schools Initiative”, FCPS is ignoring important policy-making processes that should include the public. This is an example of how policy decisions should be separated from budget decisions. School Board members and the public should be given more time to evaluate the newly proposed “Priority Schools Initiative” prior to any School Board vote for this $1.3 to $4.3 million program.

FEC also believes community concern surrounding this issue is another demonstration of why FCPS School Board members need their own staff in order to properly vet and evaluate all new FCPS proposals and policy-changes presented by Superintendent Dale and Central Administration staff –especially when new programs like the “Priority Schools Initiative” are presented on relatively short notice.

FEC members include individual leaders from: FAIRGRADE, The Fairfax Coalition of Advocates for Public Schools (FairfaxCAPS), The Fairfax County Federation of Teachers (FCFT), The Fairfax Education Association (FEA), SLEEP, Fairfax County Association for the Gifted, and Fairfax Zero Tolerance Reform. Between all FEC participating organizations, FEC has a collective reach of approximately 40,000 supporters.

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For more information contact: Catherine Lorenze

FEC Communications Director