This article originally appeared here, at fairfaxtimes.com

The Fairfax County school board held a public hearing on a $4 billion proposed budget for the upcoming school year, and community members responded with strong views on both sides.

The proposed budget for Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) for the 2026 fiscal year includes a 7.9% percent increase over the 2025 fiscal year approved budget, with a net increase of $297.1 million.

Community members debated many topics at the public hearing. Collective bargaining was a hot topic, with many voices speaking on the controversial issue, which requires workers and unions to negotiate employment terms with employers. 

In 2020, the Virginia General Assembly passed a new law that allows school boards and municipalities to engage in collective bargaining with their employees for the first time since 1977.

“We’ve been waiting 50 years for collective bargaining to be a reality. This is going to be the opportunity to show if Fairfax County actually does support collective bargaining,” said David Walrod, president of the Fairfax County Federation of Teachers, the local union affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers. Walrod is also a Learning Disabilities teacher at Lake Braddock Secondary School.

“It’s one thing to say we will ratify a contract, and then it’s another to actually put forward the money for it,” he said.

“Finding a path to collective bargaining has been an issue,” said Norman Hall, chair of the Fairfax County Employees Advisory Council, which represents all Fairfax County employees in the “merit system.” “There is general consensus that collective bargaining is essential for long-term employee retention and satisfaction.”

Emily VanDerhoff, a second-grade teacher and president-elect of the Fairfax County Federation of Teachers, pushed for legislators to support as much public school funding as possible in the final budget, especially because of “threats” to public funding at the “national level.” 

Other speakers emphatically rejected the proposed budget.

Nancy Trainer, co-chair of the Education Committee of the Fairfax County Federation of Citizens Associations, objected to the proposed budget. She said that the school board is not taking its “public responsibility” seriously. She said that the school board should have a “crucial” role in representing the public in creating a budget that reflects the community’s “priorities” and “values.” 

Trainer said Bryan Hill, the county executive, will present the county’s advertised budget before the school board, so the full school board will have no “meaningful role” in the county’s budget process. She also said that public input into the budget has been “performative.” 

“You can, and you must do better,” she said as she left the podium.

A local mother, Stephanie Lundquist-Arora, said that the budget doesn’t reflect “responsible leadership.” Rather, she said that it resembles a “child’s wishlist” to “Santa Claus.” She called budget makers “tone deaf,” considering the school system’s student population has decreased, and the county faces a $300 million deficit.

She said that taxpayers are financially suffering already and that the revenue base that would presumably fund the budget is “far from certain.” She called for the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors to “execute an external audit” of the proposed budget. 

Rosie Oakley, a resident of Fairfax County, said that FCPS has a school board and superintendent who have “lost their way.” She noted that FCPS has abandoned its mission of weighing “academic achievement” over “politics,” specifically reflected in a policy of “equity over success.” She said that academic results have plummeted, enrollment has declined, mental health has become a crisis, and there has been an “explosion” in spending. 

“The board needs to understand that more money does not correlate to better results,” Oakley said, adding that the board needs to focus on academic excellence, merit, parent input, and budget cuts.

Arthur Purves, president of the Fairfax County Taxpayers Alliance, brought up the issue of the FCPS minority student achievement gap. “There should be no spending increase for FCPS until this gap is closed,” he said. “Your strategic goal to wait until 2030 for 90% of all 3rd graders to read at grade level radiates indifference.”

More community participants expressed their opinions at the podium, calling on the school board to fund the elimination of disparity in the quality of schools in the county, do away with inflated budgets in favor of transparent and honest ones, not normalize underpaid teachers, follow through with proposed staff pay increases, and ratify collective bargaining.

In an earlier statement posted on the FCPS website, FCPS Superintendent Michelle Reid said the proposed budget “helps anchor FCPS as our nation’s education destination by keeping the needs of students, families, and taxpayers top of mind.”

“These needs include recognizing taxpayer fatigue, acknowledging chronic state underfunding, meeting the expectations of our families, and meeting the changing needs of today’s students,” said Reid. She added that the budget is “fiscally responsible and invests in excellence, not just for FCPS, but for all of us in Fairfax County who want a strong community with successful young people, dedicated educators and support staff, and a thriving economy.”