Last week, we met to discuss the financial challenges facing both Fairfax County and the Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS). We acknowledge that all involved care very deeply about our community, our young people, our schools, and our political futures.

Over the past five years, the Board of Supervisors has consistently increased funding to our schools. We both acknowledge, however, the financial strain on FCPS as the system is faced with significant cost drivers such as enrollment growth, required increases to the state retirement system, unabated influx of illegals and other English language learners, and inequitable state funding formulas for education.

We discussed the unprecedented fiscal challenges facing both the County and FCPS in Fiscal Year 2017 (school year 2016-17). Both of our organizations are projecting significant budget shortfalls that must be addressed in the coming months.

We recognize that it is critical for FCPS and the County Board of Supervisors to continue to work together to find viable financial solutions that are in the best interest of our children and the community as a whole.

We have agreed that we need to move forward as a team to find solutions to these funding challenges. We welcome the opportunity to work together to protect Fairfax County's quality of life and enable Fairfax County Public Schools to maintain the high quality educational programs that educate and nurture future Fairfax County citizens and employees.


Sincerely,

Karen Garza
Fairfax County Public Schools Superintendent

Sharon Bulova
Fairfax County Board of Supervisors



P.S. I already sent you bitchez a note earlier needing more money. Time to pay up. This time I mean it. Otherwise I'll get Ryan on your ass. XOXO Karen.

I cannot believe we pay taxes to two different parts of Fairfax County government for them to fight with each other.

I cannot believe the school boards plays the same old song every year, "We need more money", and the board dances to it

what they don't realize is the same pool of people that pay the property tax, support the families that can't pay fees, and pay for their own children, and have not gotten raises

why do teachers think everyone else is getting a raise? they have gotten the most raises

it is a finite pool, schools act like there is an untapped resource, stop spending already for pete's sake

Correct. The pool of money is quite finite. FCPS needs to look at things like scaling back sports, the use of consultants, conferences, and so on. The taxpayers are fed up the BoS knows it. BoS is happy to throw school board under the bus to keep their jobs. Frankly, the likes of Kaufax and McElveen are little more than joke material anyway.

BoS will, of course, have to dump things like the Fire and Police Games.

none of them are getting voted, the whole school board is getting tossed, bos is on the line

)(*(*&^ Wrote:
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> what they don't realize is the same pool of people
> that pay the property tax, support the families
> that can't pay fees, and pay for their own
> children, and have not gotten raises
>
> why do teachers think everyone else is getting a
> raise? they have gotten the most raises
>
> it is a finite pool, schools act like there is an
> untapped resource, stop spending already for
> pete's sake

Totally. Our teachers are vastly overpaid. That's why they all live in $1 million McMansions and drive Lexus SUVs to their beach homes ... oh wait. FCPS teachers commute long distances in shitty cars because they cannot afford to live in Fx Co, which pays them less than any other local school district even though most of them have masters' degrees in their chosen fields. (For those of you playing anti-intellectual bingo at home, that means they went to college and then kept going, on purpose-like. Also, since we're bound to get around to this one any minute now: instead of summers off, most of them are taking continuing education classes to maximize the potential of your knuckle-dragging mouth-breathing spawn. Yeah, I agree, they're wasting their time, but what can you do, some people never learn, amiright?)

Carry on, folks. Loudoun will enjoy the bump in property values as FCPS schools starve to death.

You're pretty much full of shit. Many of my neighbors are teachers or work for schools. They have a fairly nice house like me the only difference being they maintain that life style on a 9 month year with summers off with the rest of us working 50 weeks a year. You are either delusional or a teacher, quite possibly a delusional teacher.

Hey gimme. Do some homework on salaries of FCPS compared to the rest of the DC area school systems. Most experienced FCPS school teachers have the second lowest average salaries in the region. The lowest? PG County in Maryland. Also, your "teacher" friends probably are the beneficiaries of second incomes in the family so it "looks" like they're not struggling. Every story has more than one side to it.

That's a real shame both have to work, oh ya like most of the rest of us in Fairfax. I do believe the salaries of all Fairfax County jobs including teachers are not a secret before you apply for them.

If money is tight or facing cuts, then why are we funding all the gender nonsense.Guys use guys bathrooms and girls use girl bathrooms. Look between your legs if you need a clue.

vote Wrote:
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> none of them are getting voted, the whole school
> board is getting tossed, bos is on the line

One cannot but hope that you are correct. It would be a day for celebration.

Realitycheck Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hey gimme. Do some homework on salaries of FCPS
> compared to the rest of the DC area school
> systems. Most experienced FCPS school teachers
> have the second lowest average salaries in the
> region. The lowest? PG County in Maryland. Also,
> your "teacher" friends probably are the
> beneficiaries of second incomes in the family so
> it "looks" like they're not struggling. Every
> story has more than one side to it.

That would be wrong for the most part:

http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/mealstax/fairfax-county-public-schools-schools-salary-data.pdf


Arlington County $76,982
Montgomery County $75,452
Alexandria City $73,612
Falls Church City $70,625
Fairfax County $66,782
Prince George's County $65,063
Loudoun County $63.013
Prince William County $61,525
Manassas Park City $59,638

Even where lower salaried, the loaded cost for a teacher in Fairfax with a median salary of $65K counting benefits is second only to Alexandria at $96,402 and $98,097, respectively. i.e., Even where we pay them less, they cost us more.

I used to think Fairfax was full of all good government types, then I read crap like this. Time for the executive to take over the schools directly like in NYC or DC. This pissing back and forth is useless.

gimme a break Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> You're pretty much full of shit. Many of my
> neighbors are teachers or work for schools. They
> have a fairly nice house like me the only
> difference being they maintain that life style on
> a 9 month year with summers off with the rest of
> us working 50 weeks a year. You are either
> delusional or a teacher, quite possibly a
> delusional teacher.


what do you all think of the people who work year round and make $65K? what about people who work year round and make $45K? are they whining? do you care when they got the last raise? are they also college grads with masters? problem is teachers think every non-teacher is a CEO and they feel sorry for themselves