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Fairfax County voters should vote "no" to the $232 million school bond referendum because it subsidizes mismanagement of the school system.

Schools do have a $400 million backlog of renovations and new construction. However, since 1975 while inflation increased 207 percent, per-student spending increased 476 percent. Schools have spent $5 billion more than they would have if per-student spending had increased no faster than inflation.

If only 10 percent of the $5 billion had been spent on buildings, Annandale, Stuart, McLean, Madison and Lee high schools would already have been renovated. The proposed west county high school and the new south Centreville elementary school would be built.

Enrollment dropped, staff increased

Students would not be meeting in more than 500 temporary trailers. This would also have freed up scarce bond dollars for new fire stations and allowed us to finish the Fairfax County Parkway.

Instead of investing in buildings, the School Board hired more staff while enrollment decreased.

Between 1976 and 1990, enrollment decreased by 8,000 and full-time staff increased by 3,000. Those 3,000 staff members cost $150 million per year. Some of the extra staff was for elementary school guidance counselors, the seven-period day, "special needs schools," reduced class sizes for some first grades, Head Start, the high school International Baccalaureate program, instructional technology, and a bureaucracy that increased 500 percent faster than enrollment.

These programs cost over $100 million per year and have not been shown to be effective. The average standardized test score remains at the 75th percentile. If elementary school guidance counselors and Family Life Education are effective, why do we have to post policemen in our high schools?

By phasing out ineffective programs, the School Board can redirect $75 million a year to building renovations and use the rest to balance its budget.

Referendum supporters defend the schools by citing last April's management review of the schools by an outside consultant, MGT of America. MGT did conclude that Fairfax County has one of the "best managed school systems in the country."

However, MGT misrepresented its own findings. MGT based this conclusion on only two points. First, MGT claimed that 87 percent of administrators, principals and teachers viewed the superintendent as a strong educational leader.

In fact, only 40 percent of teachers viewed the superintendent as a strong educational leader, and a plurality of teachers (47 percent) viewed the superintendent as an ineffective educational leader. The 87 percent applies only to administrators and principals.

The second point was that the Fairfax County average SAT score is above the national average. While this is true, MGT neglected to state that the average Fairfax County SAT score is at the 65th percentile.

MGT found that schools implement new programs without evaluating them. Also, MGT found that a plurality of teachers believes that the schools are not spending tax dollars wisely and 64 percent of teachers say that there are too many administrators.

Cut administrators through attrition

Why not reduce the number of administrators through attrition and use the money saved for school renovations?

There are ways to improve achievement, but administrators will not use them. A recent example is the SuccessMaker computer program, which by drilling students in basic subjects, raised standardized test scores at Cameron Elementary School by 20 points. Administrators, claiming that drill is a ``superficial" style of teaching, refuse to install SuccessMaker labs in more schools.

The $400 million backlog in school construction is the tip of the iceberg. Fairfax County has a $300 million backlog in storm water drainage projects and at least a $200 million backlog in maintenance of county government buildings.

Also, Northern Virginia has a $10 billion backlog in transportation projects. By neglecting infrastructure in order to fund ineffective programs, Fairfax County risks becoming another Washington, D.C.