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Updated June 19, 2001
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Updated June 19, 2001 |
From the Fairfax Journal, April 30, 1998
Arthur Purves (``Spending spree robbed Fairfax of school construction money," April 2) argues that Fairfax County Public Schools could have met the construction and renovation needs of its 232 schools and centers in its annual operating budget if only personnel growth had not outpaced student population growth over the past 24 years. It is unreasonable to expect Fairfax County taxpayers to fund school construction through their local property tax, as Mr. Purves suggested.
The sale of bonds for school construction and renewal spreads the funding responsibility among all residents benefiting from the use of the facility over its life span (20 years or more). A policy to fund school construction costs in one year would prompt a substantial tax rate increase and would cause today's taxpayers to subsidize benefits enjoyed by future residents.
Much of the growth in the teaching staff over the past 25 years - beyond the teachers needed to match our growth in student membership - can be attributed to the following factors:
A quadrupling of the percentage of children requiring placement in special education self-contained programs.
A tripling of the percentage of children needing other types of special education support.
An increase by a factor of 10 in the percentage of students enrolled in the English as a Second Language (ESL) program.
An increase by a factor of seven in the percentage of the student population involved with the Family and Early Childhood Education Program.
Meeting these student needs over 25 years has required an additional 1,640 teachers, 1,072 instructional assistants and 77 attendants.
Over this same period, an additional 1,331 teachers have been added to reduce elementary class size by an average of four students, to implement the grade one reduced-ratio program (15:1), to initiate the seven-period day in the secondary schools, and to staff the foreign language partial-immersion program.
The growth in clerical staff and administrative positions dovetails the growth in teaching staff. Most of the growth in guidance positions stems from a state law, passed in 1988, which requires that elementary schools be staffed with guidance counselors (188 guidance counselors in Fairfax).
What is not well known is that, on average, a high school guidance counselor works with over 220 students, 90 percent of whom will be going on to post-secondary education. The typical caseload for a psychologist or a social worker is over 1,600 students.
How have Fairfax students benefited from these teachers, administrators and support staff members? Our staff is the reason that FCPS can provide one of the best educations anywhere in the nation.
MGT of America concluded in a detailed, independent management review (April 1997): ``FCPS is one of the most highly respected school divisions in the nation;" ``FCPS students are some of the highest performing in the nation"; ``FCPS has one of the most dedicated groups of employees encountered by MGT in their many studies of school systems and organizations."
Mr. Purves didn't mention that 82 percent of Fairfax at-risk students were reading on grade level at the end of second grade after one year in reduced-ratio classes, while 67 percent of the non-program students were able to read on grade level.
He also failed to note that, upon graduation, 91.4 percent of our special education students were employed or enrolled in secondary education (twice the national average).
Since the implementation of the seven-period day in fiscal 1992, student achievement has soared. Between 1991 and 1997, the number of advanced placement (AP) exams taken by Fairfax students has increased from 4,055 to 10,269 (an increase of 153 percent compared to 16 percent population growth) while the mean score of 3.28 remained the same.
Over these years Fairfax students scored at least a 3 on 75 percent of the AP exams they took, compared to 64.5 percent nationally. FCPS has about 0.3 percent of the school population in the country but accounted for 1.1 percent of the AP exams taken in the nation. At a value of $500 per college course, the exams passed had a cumulative value of $3.8 million to the benefiting students.
In 1997 the average Fairfax SAT score was 72 points above the national average, a remarkable achievement considering that 13 percent of our students receive special education services, 8 percent require ESL services, 18 percent qualify for free and reduced-price lunches, and 89 percent of our students take the SAT - over twice the national average.
Ethnic minority students represented 35 percent of the test takers - twice the percentage of 10 years ago - indicating that despite significant changes in demographics, Fairfax County students are excelling academically.
According to the Educational Testing Service (the creators of the SAT), the most significant factor in interpreting SAT scores is the percentage of eligible students taking the exam. In general, the higher the percentage of students taking the test, the lower the average score.
The average SAT score in FCPS is higher than the average test score of every state in which more than 22 percent of students take the exam. (Mr. Purves' claim that only half of all FCPS high school graduates who go to four-year colleges graduate from college cannot be substantiated.)
Mr. Purves decries the rise in student discipline cases. Much of the sudden increase in student discipline cases between 1991 and 1992 can be attributed to a change in school policy that now considers disciplinary action for any, and all, students (even observers) involved in a physical confrontation between more than two students. In the last three years, the increase in incidents of suspension has been substantially less than the rate of student growth.
The assignment of school resource officers in the high schools stemmed from a cooperative agreement with the county government and is one of the major reasons that Fairfax County schools are some of the safest in the nation. These officers prevent growing numbers of societal ills, like violence and gang activity, from entering the schoolhouse doors.
MGT of America concluded, ``FCPS is an efficient, well-run, exemplary school system," and ``MGT did not find administrative bloat or poor financial practices. .. FCPS has already tightened its belt significantly through downsizing and restructuring."
In nine years FCPS has reduced its non-school-based positions by 17.3 percent - a savings of $12.5 million annually. Educational Research Service found that FCPS spends only $50 per student on central administration, nearly half the $95 spent by comparable systems.
The bottom line is our per-pupil costs. Over the past nine years in Fairfax County, these costs have risen less than 2 percent annually, less than the rate of inflation.
Today, Fairfax County boasts schools that are among the best in the country. It is the excellence of this public education system that is the fuel that drives the economic engine of this county. Our excellent public schools bring families and businesses to Fairfax County.
But we cannot rest. We need to provide the highest quality education to 150,000 children in our community in order to educate our county's most precious resource to be productive citizens and successful participants in the 21st century.
The School Board's fiscal 1999 budget is prudent. It focuses the community's resources in the classroom. It is a budget built to support academic achievement. This budget is an investment in the future economic health and viability of our community.
We must make it a future marked by high academic challenge; efficiency, effectiveness and accountability throughout the system; and, above all, creativity and excellence in the classroom. We can do no less.
Mark H. Emery chairs the Fairfax County School Board. He was elected at-large.