Education Issues in Fairfax County
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Fairfax County Public Schools By the Numbers:
FCPS School System
- 10th largest school system
- ~75% of Fairfax County’s 1.1 million residents do not currently have children in FCPS
- 198 schools and centers
- 800+ trailers
- 27.5 million square feet of covered infrastructure facilities, plus another 1+ million square feet in temporary facilities (trailers)
- 1,630 buses, the largest school bus fleet in the United States
- 18.5 million bus miles traveled annually transporting 130,000 students daily
- 15,287 teacher positions
- 24,121 total full-time positions (includes teacher positions)
- ~14,000 additional part-time positions
FCPS School Board
- 12 Board Members – nine by Magisterial District, three at-Large; registered
- 4 total number of Board Members each voter may cast a ballot for, including one by the voter’s Magisterial District and three at-Large. The full Board is up for election in November, 2019 for the next four-year term.
FCPS Budget
- $2,870,278,776 Billion operational budget – primarily funded by Fairfax County residents (70.1 percent). The balance of the funding is from the Commonwealth of Virginia (23.1 percent), other sources (6.8 percent) and the federal government (1.6 percent)
- ~53% of the entire Fairfax County budget is transferred by the Board of Supervisors to the School Board for the FCPS Budget
- $404,874,411 of the $2.9 Billion budget is for retirement
- $155 Million in additional funds is for the Capital Improvement Plan Budget
- $15,318 average cost per student
FCPS Students
- 190,168 students – the upward trend for student population now means an increased projected estimate for fall 2018 enrollment
- 36,019 students (19%) ESOL
- 26,730 students (14.1%) Special Education
- 55,020 students (29.0%) Free and Reduced-Price Meals
- ~200 countries and territories represented in student population
- 160 languages spoken by student population
- 20,287 additional students from 2008-2017
- 2,028 average student increase every year
KEY LINKS:
- Budget Documents: https://www.fcps.edu/about-fcps/budget/budget-documents
- Budget Questions and Responses: https://www.fcps.edu/about-fcps/budget/budget-question-responses
- Capital Improvement Program: https://www.fcps.edu/about-fcps/facilities-planning-future/capital-improvement-program
- School Board: https://www.fcps.edu/school-board
- Cox Channel 21 – Televised School Board Meetings
- School Board Meetings: https://www.fcps.edu/school-board/school-board-meetings
- School Board Meeting agendas, minutes, videos and photos: https://www.fcps.edu/school-board/agenda_minutes_photos
- FCPS Livestream: https://www.fcps.edu/tv
- School Board Meetings on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLSz76NCRDYQF3hPS2qS2SGEcoO4__Yd7Z
- Archived School Board Meeting Videos: https://www.fcps.edu/node/32692
- School Board Standing Committees: https://www.fcps.edu/school-board/school-board-committees
- About FCPS: https://www.fcps.edu/about-fcps
- One Fairfax: https://www.fcps.edu/onefairfax
Video Podcast: Priscilla DeStefano for School Board
In the first of a new series of video podcasts, Fairfax GOP Vice Chairman Matt Truong interviewed at-large school board candidate Priscilla DeStefano.
Get to know this amazing candidate’s life story and vision for student-focused education reform
Laura Ramirez Drain on WMAL
School board candidate Laura Ramirez Drain (R-Hunter Mill) was on WMAL’s Larry O’Connor Show to discuss comments she made — en español — during a recent meeting of the Fairfax County Board of Education.
Since the majority of board members never really listen, Ms. Ramirez Drain figured she might as well address them in Spanish, her mother tongue. Ms. Ramirez Drain, a naturalized U.S. citizen, was born and raised in Mexico
Fairfax County Public Schools: Excellence for a Few
The average SAT score for the freshman classes at Virginia’s four top colleges are 1420 for Washington and Lee and the University of Virginia, 1400 for William and Mary, and 1380 for the University of Richmond. Only one Fairfax County public high school, Thomas Jefferson, has a higher average SAT score
Fairfax GOP Announces Slate of School Board Candidates
The Fairfax County Republican Committee officially endorsed nine candidates for the Fairfax County Board of Education by acclamation last night in Falls Church, Virginia
Maria Keffler: “Our Children Are Being Experimented On”
Maria Keffler — a mother of two and former teacher with a master’s degree in educational psychology — has a warning for Northern Virginia families: “Our children are being experimented on.”
Following news that a public school in Arlington, Virginia is teaching Kindergartners about transgenderism
Video: Elizabeth Schultz on Education
Laura Ramirez Drain recently interviewed school board member Elizabeth Schultz on Café Latino TV, regarding a variety of educational issues.
Ms. Schultz (R-Springfield) has served on the Fairfax County Board of Education since January 2012. Ms. Ramirez Drain (R-Hunter Mill) is now running to join Ms. Schultz on the board
Fairfax GOP Decries Anti-Semitic Imagery in Public School
Fairfax GOP Chairman Tim Hannigan strongly condemned the use of “vile, anti-Semitic imagery,” after it was revealed that a county high school teacher lauded her student’s drawing of a “hook-nosed” Jewish man holding a bag of money.
Hannigan: Public Schools Must Get Back to Basics
Fairfax GOP Chairman Tim Hannigan was on DC’s WMAL yesterday, discussing transgender ideology in the region’s public elementary schools. The interview focused largely on news from Arlington, where Kindergartners in Ashlawn Elementary School are now subjected to lessons about transgenderism and other highly sensitive matters.