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Schools

Fairfax School Board At Large Candidates Promise Change

Five of the seven at large school board candidates answered questions about honors classes, teacher pay, and the FCPS budget.

Change, community input and fiscal transparency were common themes of all five of the at large school board candidates speaking at .  The differences came in the specifics.

Voters will choose three at large school board members on Election Day, Nov. 8, from the seven names on the ballot.  The participants at Hollin Meadows were:

   

     

     

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At large candidates and were not present.

The following are excerpts from the Q&A, with points made by the five participating at large candidates.

The first question dealt with the process of choosing a new superintendent for Fairfax County Public Schools.  Everyone agreed there needs to be more transparency and community input in the process. Sheree Brown-Kaplan
    We haven't had an open process, and it set the tone for the rest of his [Superintendent Jack Dale's] tenure.  
    Our first need is a responsive and accountable school board, because they hire the superintendent. 
    We need seven people who are in agreement and in the majority on the school board.

Lin-Dai Kendall
    One of the fundamental problems with [Superintendent] Dale and the current school board is that there is no communication accepted from parents and teachers.
    If a meeting is opened, the input doesn't get transferred into action.  Knowledge without action is ineffective.
    Our new superintendent needs to have excellent people and communication skills on top of the professional qualifications.

Lolita Mancheno-Smoak
    First we need to make sure we have clear qualifications in the initial process to attract viable candidates.  
    The final top candidates should go through a very open process.  Once they're in, it's very difficult to get them out. 

Ryan McElveen
    Dr. Dale exemplifies why we need to have an open process.  We did have that kind of process back in the 1990's.  
    We should hold meetings for input in various parts of the county [so it's convenient for everyone to participate]. 

Ted Velkoff
    Parents and community members should be on the selection committee.
    The names of finalists should be made public.

Project Excel, which added more instruction time to the day at 22 county elementary schools with high-risk populations—including Hollin Meadows—was cut from the budget by the school board in 2010.   Sheree Brown-Kaplan
    When we have something that works, I don’t understand why we want to cut that.
    I’d rather see money put into these programs than into surveillance cameras.

Lin-Dai Kendall
    The number one thing we need to realize is demographics do not define your child's destiny.  We need to raise the expectations of parents, teachers and students.
    We should teach to enhance basic knowledge and enrich with the arts.  This is the path to closing the achievement gap.
    It's very important that we know how we're going to fund these programs.  There should be an independent audit authority overseeing FCPS, to tell us where the money is going so that we can decide to reallocate where necessary.

Lolita Mancheno-Smoak
    Every child should have the same level of opportunity. We will never get there if we don’t establish oversight in the current budget.
    We need an internal audit function for program by program evaluation.  There is money to be reallocated. 

Ryan McElveen
    These programs save the county money because they prevent us having to remediate students.

Ted Velkoff
    We should target resources to schools where they are needed.
    We should consider longer school days and a longer school year at the schools where intervention is needed to improve achievement.

Fairfax County subsidizes preschool for some 2000 children.  However, there are a disproportionate number of children from the West Potomac and Mt. Vernon pyramids supported.  What should be done? Sheree Brown-Kaplan
    Head Start is required by the Federal government.  Preschool for children with disabilities is federally mandated.  These two programs are vital, and they should be funded.  Right now we're spending 20 percent of the school budget on 14 percent of the students [for these programs].  The Federal government should be giving us 40 percent, not 15 percent, to fund these.  But I think we're stuck with what we've got.  You can't get blood out of a turnip.
    Many of our students are not reading on grade level by 3rd grade.  We should focus on this.

Lin-Dai Kendall
    The Fairfax County Public School budget is $2.2 billion.  We spend $12,500 per pupil.  Our first priority is to manage this money and prioritize programs.  We can take everyone's educational needs into consideration, but we need to say yes to some [programs] and no to others. 
    Let's be realistic.  Let's think outside the box.  We can incorporate partnerships with private sector and parochial organizations that are more than willing to help educate our children.
    I taught my four children how to read by age four.  You can teach your children so much and prepare them on your own for kindergarten.

Lolita Mancheno-Smoak
    Funding from the state is based on gross revenues, which are based on real estate values.  Because of this, Fairfax County is seen as affluent.  But overall factors are not included.  Fairfax County is experiencing exponential growth in immigrant populations.  FCPS has needs we've never had before.  A paradigm shift is needed.  The school board needs to get on board and lobby the state on the impact of the changing demographic of Fairfax County.

Ryan McElveen
    Elect school board members who will maintain the funding for full-day kindergarten.
    In addition, school board members need to lobby at the state level.
    
Ted Velkoff
    Unfortunately funding for pre-K throughout the Commonwealth was a casualty of the recession.    
    School board members should act as lobbyists with the Board of Supervisors [on this issue].  The school board needs to have a strong and collaborative relationship with the Board of Supervisors.

FCPS eliminated Honors programs at schools where AP courses are offered, eliminating a three-tiered curricula.  The elimination forces students to choose between an Advanced Placement (AP) class and a General Education (GE) class; the latter often includes underachieving students.  Should FCPS reinstate honors courses for all students?  Sheree Brown-Kaplan
    It’s pretty clear that we need a third choice. Twenty to 40 percent of kids are failing the tests in AP.
    A lot of confusion was created by the whole process.  We need to re-open the discussion with the community.

Lin-Dai Kendall
    We need to reinstate the three-tiered system.

Lolita Mancheno-Smoak
    FCPS should have multi-tiers, and not pin it down to only three.
    With [a budget of] $2.2 billion, we should have customization to every child.

Ryan McElveen
    We should have three-tiers so that in our system all students can achieve their potential.

Ted Velkoff
    I have an open mind on this.  If elected, I will gather information on this issue.  What is the difference in honors, AP and IB classes?
    Rigor is needed for everyone.  We need to differentiate.

The candidates were told that Fairfax County teacher salaries rank 35th in the nation.  The candidates were asked to comment on teacher compensation. Sheree Brown-Kaplan
    Our teachers should be making the most of all the surrounding jurisdictions.

Lin-Dai Kendall
    In the last decade the FCPS budget has increased from $1.5 billion to $2.2 billion.  Spending has increased from $8,500 per student to $12,500 per student.  Those are increases of more than 47 percent.  Staffing and enrollment have only increased a little over six percent each.  There is room for adjustment [in teacher salaries].  We need to prioritize and reallocate the budget.

Lolita Mancheno-Smoak
    Internal and external equity is needed in teacher salaries in Fairfax County.  We do have an issue. 
    We’re constrained by how the money is used in the system.  Let's take a precise look at the internal workings of the administration, and cut there first.
    Our core competency is our teachers.

Ryan McElveen
    Fairfax teachers make $10,000 on average less than Montgomery County teachers. My fiancé is paid twice as much in New York as what she would be paid here. Budgeting is about prioritization. Once on the school board, I will prioritize teachers.

Ted Velkoff
    We have to have some compassion on the school board that's finishing right now [due to the recession].  The school board should have directed Dr. Dale to make teacher compensation the highest priority of the budget.
We need to support their professional development and provide the best working conditions possible.

Mount Vernon and West Potomac High Schools are under-represented at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology.   Why is this, and how would you change it? Sheree Brown-Kaplan
    Let me share some statistics to give you perspective.  Fifty-percent of every class drops-out of TJ.  It's tough.  So it's an issue of leadership. We have to be committed to helping our students get in and stay. [Burke Patch is checking on this statistic.]

Lin-Dai Kendall
    Strengthen the basics and increase enrichment.  Make sure parents are doing what we need to do to support our kids.

Lolita Mancheno-Smoak
    Parents are paying for their kids to go to TJ prep schools.  It's the haves and the have-nots.

Ryan McElveen
    I reject this question because it puts TJ at the pinnacle.  The broader point is that we need to focus [in all schools] on STEM education: Science, Technology, English and Math.  We need to teach kids that it's okay to be nerds.

Ted Velkoff
    Where are the applications coming from?  What are the patterns and trends?  Let's replicate the best practices from other parts of the county.  And let's have the students participate in the Young Scholars Program.

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