Conventional wisdom says that high-performing schools increase quality of life for residents in the local community - either directly, or indirectly. That said, recent political events suggest conventional wisdom is vastly overrated. To that end, I'd rather poll my neighbors.

If FCPS took it down a notch - that is to say, lowered it's educational standards to what are closer to the national average - what do you imagine the impact be on your quality of life?

If you grew up here, would a dip in educational quality force you to reconsider where you live? If so, would you consider somewhere locally or leave the DC metro area altogether.

If you moved here from somewhere else, to what extent did the school system figure in to your decision to move here?

I'd be particularly interested in hearing from business owners in Fairfax. To what extent was starting your business in Fairfax precipitated on the local commitment to education?

What you don't know is it is already taken down a notch. Why does FCPS give out so many different diploma's on graduation day? Then toot their horn on how many students graduate from the system

I'll bet if they did, there would be a lot less kids ending their lives.

No.

N/A

I'm not a business owner.

Good post, OP!

So Teacher Wrote:
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> What you don't know is it is already taken down a
> notch. Why does FCPS give out so many different
> diploma's on graduation day? Then toot their horn
> on how many students graduate from the system


So many different diplomas? The county doesn't give out diplomas, only the Commnwealth does. There's a standard and the advanced (and the modified, which is a standard modified for students with disabilities). But they all are given and announced the same on graduation day, so I don't know what you're talking about.

FCPS is responding to political realities (like everyone else). The result is that expenditures on ESOL and particularly SpecEd are very large relative to the spending on the 75% of the students who don't use these special services.

I've noted before that FCPS spends less on these 75% students every year, and now spends less than Loudoun does. The FCPS spend per pupil has declined by more than 5% in real terms (adjusted for inflation) over the past 5 years. This has to impact the quality of teaching and student performance.

So, as a local businessman, it depends on who you want to employ. Spending on SpecEd and ESOL kids is high relative to our surrounding jurisdictions - and FCPS gets high marks for these services, increasing the demand for them. If you have a SpecEd kid, FCPS is the best choice in the area. More than 4,000 unaccompanied minors were resettled into Fairfax in the past 4 years and they are well cared for in the ESOL system (at a cost to FCPS of more than $70M per year).

As a local businessman, I'm concerned with relative tax rates, regulation, congestion and the 'attractiveness' of the County for hiring employees. Relatively high tax burdens, congestion and high housing prices are discouraging potential workers and businesses from locating here. Last year there was no growth in the population of Fairfax County. Out of 9,600 Business and Professional Services jobs created in NoVA, only 1,600 were located in Fairfax - the rest were in Loudoun and Arlington! Spending on 'Regular Kids' is higher in Loudoun - so where do young families want to relocate? (Loudoun and Prince William).

This risks what I refer to as a 'death spiral'. As costs increase (see Metro funding requirement next year for $100M from Fairfax), tax rates have to increase. This reduces demand for housing and house prices fall (see flat to declining appraisals for much of the County in 2016). Businesses don't like the increased taxes and can't attract workers who have to pay higher taxes as well. Retirees and millenials can 'vote with their feet' and walk away from the taxes needed to fund pension shortfalls and address congestion etc. Suddenly, businesses leave and locate nearby or far away - leaving office space vacant (currently more than 17% in Fairfax is vacant), and paying no taxes...

How does this relate to FCPS? FCPS must educate students who can stay here and work and PAY TAXES. And it must provide services EFFICIENTLY. It claims to do this (of course) but there are many opportunities to improve operations. The business community must come together to ensure that the tax burden is equitable, and that tax receipts are spent efficiently, to ensure that Fairfax County remains attractive to businesses seeking educated workers.

Long winded response but this is important to our future. Otherwise, we'll all be moving to North Carolina...

FCPS has already "dimuned" the quality of life in FFXCo. Where do you think all the trolls and other jackasses (and jennies) who don't read posts but just comment on them on FFXU came from?