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
Free Online Resources for the Reluctant Homeschooler
Virginia schools have closed through the end of the school year, and work will not be graded. If you find the kids are uninspired by the remote schoolwork, help them instead explore a new topic with some free online options. Online school K12 has offered free access to more than 17,000 eBook collection called Big Universe through June. The Fairfax County library also has many e-books, magazines, and movies available online
For Those of You Who’ve Suddenly Had Homeschooling Thrust Upon You, Here Are Three Tips
I’ve been a homeschooling parent for six whole months now, after pulling two of my three kids out of public school at the end of the 2018-19 school year. But my oldest, who successfully argued for completing his final two years at public school, is now on the COVID-19 hiatus along with his sisters
Lessons from Arlington: The Public School Model Needs to Change
On March 2, 2019, five public school parents sat around a kitchen table and laid preliminary plans for defending the hill all five were prepared to die on: parents’ right to authority over their own children’s education, health, and well-being. The Arlington Parent Coalition (APC) was born.
A year later, we’ve arrived at the disturbing conclusion that public school is no longer a safe place for children
Fairfax GOP Blasts In-State Tuition for Illegal Aliens
Fairfax GOP Chairman Tim Hannigan was on ABC 7 News Friday, criticizing bills in the Virginia legislature that would grant in-state tuition to illegal aliens. Subsidizing tuition for illegal aliens invariably means higher costs for citizens and legal immigrants
LISTEN: VA School Choice Program Under Threat
Nathan Brinkman, a father of two school-aged kids in Arlington County, was recently on WMAL to discuss the latest threat to educational freedom here in Virginia. Delegate David L. Bulova (D-Fairfax) has introduced a bill that would abolish the Commonwealth’s Education Improvement Scholarships Tax Credit (EISTC)
Virginia’s Private School Choice Program Under Threat
Virginia’s only private school choice program, Education Improvement Scholarships Tax Credits (EISTC), is under threat from an elected official. Delegate David L. Bulova (D-37) has authored a bill to abolish it
Save Virginia’s Only School Choice Program!
The Education Improvement Scholarships Tax Credits (EISTC) program provides tax credits to those who donate to scholarship foundations that help low-income students and students with disabilities attend nonpublic schools. Because of this program, thousands of Virginia students receive the financial assistance they need to attend the school that best fits their needs
Daily Caller: Inside Ideologues’ Drive to Change Schools
From The Daily Caller’s Luke Rosiak: A constellation of affiliated national activist groups, many backed by George Soros and citing what an economist called “junk science,” are pushing “equity” plans