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THE OVERBLOWN REACTION to the news that Fairfax County Schools Superintendent Daniel Domenech is leaving next March is hardly surprising. After all, during the six years the handsome, Cuban-born Domenech headed the Washington area's largest school system, mastery of local politics became his signature accomplishment.

How else did he manage to convince Democrats on the School Board he was so indispensible they secretly negotiated a $20,000 raise for him - months before his contract expired?

To his credit, Domenech's legacy includes other successes, most notably his Project Excel program, which poured extra resources into 22 low-performing schools. And FCPS maintained its overall high level of achievement on his watch, but you don't get a driving medal for not wrecking the car.

Domenech could have left a more lasting mark by shaking up the system's moribund central staff, but instead he opted for the safety of the status quo. His administration refused to provide a state-of-the-art program for autistic children until disgruntled parents decided to open their own charter school.

He allowed chief academic officer Nancy Sprague, who died suddenly last month, to continue her vendetta against intensive phonics - even after the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development concluded in 1999 that a quarter of all children needed it to master reading.

Domenech increased the number of nonschool-based personnel by 44 percent while raising class size - but not teacher salaries. He admitted padding the payroll with grant and construction money, but threatened to suspend a teachers union's dues deduction privileges for complaining about it.

Three years ago, he had the head of the Fairfax Taxpayers Alliance arrested for attending one of his press conferences, and this year, Domenech tried to block the media (except sports reporters) from access to students and school personnel.

Don't forget the $60,000 sex survey, or the fact that Loudoun County's schools are 100 percent accredited - not Fairfax County's. In short, Domenech won't be that hard to replace.

(Emphasis added.)