In her farewell message, Sandy Evans could not name a single accomplishment of the School Board during her ten-year tenure that actually improved academic achievement among students.

Instead, she highlighted the racial and social tinkering that divided our communities:

• The FCPS Portrait of a Graduate and Ignite: the Strategic Plan
• The One Fairfax policy on equity and inclusion, with the Board of Supervisors
• Revised and enhanced teacher pay scales, especially benefitting our mid-career teachers
• Parent liaisons as contracted employees with benefits
• Later high school start times (a particular passion of mine) to improve teen sleep for physical, mental and academic health
• Full-day Mondays, full-day kindergarten and more recess time at all our elementary schools
• Healthier school meals with more salad bars and more students getting breakfast and after-school snacks.
• A comprehensive Wellness Policy
• Initiation of a 1:1 laptop program to help close the digital divide
• Student discipline reform that moved toward a more tiered system, restorative justice and second chances, as well as strengthened parent notification requirements
• Adding sexual orientation and gender identity to our anti-discrimination policy
• Two new elementary schools in Mason (Mason Crest ES and Bailey’s Upper ES) and renovations at several others, with Falls Church HS in planning (finally!)
• Replacing a Confederate school name with Justice High School

The new school board will be challenged to recover from her failures.

Public schools in Fairfax County are beyond repair. Overcrowded, increasing numbers of trailers for classrooms, almost half the students unable to comprehend English, the lists go on and on.

That's why so many private and parochial schools now have extensive building and expansion plans.

The new plan to use busing to achieve racial and social equity will just accelerate the white flight.

Those are accomplisments FCP. They may not be accomplishments that you would cheer. They are certainly not ones I would applaud. To someone of Sandy Evans mindset though, that is progress. There are many in this County who would agree with her.

If you are looking to assign blame you cannot stop with Sandy Evans, like minded members of the school board and the people who voted for them. The Republican party also shares a large portion of the blame. Until too late Republicans have been more concerned with being loyal to the national Republican agenda than to recognizing the wants and needs of local voters and tailoring its candidates and messages to fit those wants and needs. Lets also remember the anemic campaigns run by many of these Republican candidates. The result was a series of Republican defeats to beatable Democratic candidates. Then there are the (usually a majority of) local voters who in state and local elections don't bother to show up to vote, or if they do they haven't done their homework.

If you aren't happy with the past efforts of the FCPS or its current agenda, the time to begin working for change is NOW. In a County where close to a majority of likely voters will be Democratic or Democratic leaning, an opposition coalition needs to be built, candidates who are acceptable to a majority of voters have to be identified and they need to be getting out and getting known now. Waiting until 2022 will be too late.

That list will read like the building of the Roman Empire compared to what's going to get done by the hen committee and Mr. cock gobbler.

Fairfax County Parents Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> In her farewell message, Sandy Evans could not
> name a single accomplishment of the School Board
> during her ten-year tenure that actually improved
> academic achievement among students.
>
> Instead, she highlighted the racial and social
> tinkering that divided our communities:
>
> • The FCPS Portrait of a Graduate and Ignite:
> the Strategic Plan
> • The One Fairfax policy on equity and
> inclusion, with the Board of Supervisors
> • Revised and enhanced teacher pay scales,
> especially benefitting our mid-career teachers
> • Parent liaisons as contracted employees with
> benefits
> • Later high school start times (a particular
> passion of mine) to improve teen sleep for
> physical, mental and academic health
> • Full-day Mondays, full-day kindergarten and
> more recess time at all our elementary schools
> • Healthier school meals with more salad bars
> and more students getting breakfast and
> after-school snacks.
> • A comprehensive Wellness Policy
> • Initiation of a 1:1 laptop program to help
> close the digital divide
> • Student discipline reform that moved toward a
> more tiered system, restorative justice and second
> chances, as well as strengthened parent
> notification requirements
> • Adding sexual orientation and gender identity
> to our anti-discrimination policy
> • Two new elementary schools in Mason (Mason
> Crest ES and Bailey’s Upper ES) and renovations
> at several others, with Falls Church HS in
> planning (finally!)
> • Replacing a Confederate school name with
> Justice High School
>
> The new school board will be challenged to recover
> from her failures.

That's a pretty long list of accomplishments. By that I mean she worked hard to get these things done. Two new schools eases overcrowding in the areas they serve and the system has moved to free and reduced lunch for ALL students even during the summer break in some areas. This program is federally funded. The school construction projects dump tons of dollars into the communities that use the schools. Sounds like sour grapes to me buddy. She got a lot of shit done but you don't like what she what she did. Fact is the new school board is even more progressive than Sandy would have ever been and there are more name changes and even bussing black and latino kids to Langley and Madison and even McLean so you'll really have something to piss and moan about then.

You may consider relocating to New Mexico?

New Mexico is turning liberal.