Virginia PTA and our partners in the Virginia Education Coalition will rally in Richmond on Saturday, Feb. 27 at 11am in support of K-12 funding. The rally is sponsored by the VEA. I am certain the press will be there. Here is the new action alert on VA PTA's web site.

Forward it on. We are expecting a great turn out! Let's get this to every VA PTA member we can. Folks can go to our web site, click on the action alert and forward it out directly from our web site.

ATTENTION: A message from FCPS (posted 2/2/2010)

Interested in learning more about the Fairfax County School Board’s advertised budget scheduled to be adopted on February 4? If so, please attend a Budget Forum hosted by the School Board on Saturday, February 6, at Marshall High School from 9 a.m. to noon (snow date, Saturday, February 20). Participants will learn more the budget process as well as how to communicate effectively for change. In addition, two breakout sessions will feature principals who will share the budget impact on their schools. Other session topics include how central office staff supports schools from the principals’ perspective; budget realities and misconceptions; and working on behalf of all children from PTA leaders’ perspective. There will be ample opportunity for questions and answers. If you are planning to attend, please e-mail budgetforum@fcps.edu or call 571-423-1075.

Parent Advocates & Teachers Unite to Form “Fairfax Education Coalition - FEC” (updated Jan 25 2010)

Coalition Focused on Improving Community Engagement with FCPS

Fairfax County, VA – Wednesday, January 20, 2010 – Leaders from respected and influential parent advocacy groups announced today they have officially joined forces with Fairfax County teachers and community members to form the “Fairfax Education Coalition” – a new coalition that will use its collective influence to advocate for improved accountability, transparency and community participation in the Fairfax County Public Schools’ decision-making process.

Coalition group members include representatives from: The Fairfax Coalition of Advocates for Public Schools (FairfaxCAPS), the Fairfax County Association for the Gifted (FCAG), The Fairfax County Federation of Teachers (FCFT), The Fairfax Education Association (FEA), FAIRGRADE, SLEEP, and Zero Tolerance Reform.

“FEC members are really excited about this new partnership between parents and teachers. Although we represent different interests and constituencies, we share many common interests and positions,” said current FEC President Megan McLaughlin who also serves as President for FAIRGRADE. “Primarily, we’re sharing information, pooling resources and exchanging valuable viewpoints for improving our public schools and the educational process. And in addition, we hope to serve as a resource for our overworked and understaffed School Board members,” McLaughlin said.

FEC’s main goals are to monitor and report on the actions of the FCPS administration and School Board and increase public awareness. FEC members rotate responsibilities in covering School Board work sessions and regular meetings, taking detailed notes and sharing information with fellow FEC members, the public and the media.

FEC Vice President and long time parent advocate Walt Carlson said FEC is already up and running. “We’ve launched our website at www.fairfaxeducationcoalition.org. We’ll be posting our notes from FCPS School Board meetings on important issues like the FY 2011 budget as well as valuable research data FEC members are collecting on countywide class size comparisons, FCPS program cost considerations, staffing ratios and others.” Carlson added, “We hope to fulfill a need for parents and the media who want to stay current with specific issues affecting FCPS but who may not have the time or ability to attend the many FCPS meetings where these issues are discussed.”

Although FEC is relatively new, McLaughlin said the organization has gotten off to an active start. FEC members recently participated in discussions with School Board members for improving community relations. And several FEC members were recently interviewed by Channel 7 WJLA news regarding Superintendent Dale’s proposed FY2011 budget. The Connection newspaper also recently cited classroom size data provided by another FEC member for a recent story on current FCPS class sizes.

For more information contact:
Catherine Lorenze, FEC Communications Director
Home: 703.448.1026 – Cell: 202.744.2758 – Email: clorenze@verizon.net

Fairfax County School Board Resolution On the Local Composite Index (updated Jan 22 2010)

WHEREAS,
the composite index of local ability-to-pay (LCI) is the state-adopted formula used to determine the state and local shares of K-12 education costs and is based on data measuring local sources of wealth (the true value of real property, adjusted gross income, and taxable retail sales);

WHEREAS,
the LCI is routinely updated every two years as part of Virginia's biennial budget "re-benchmarking" process to reflect changes in the costs of local education service delivery and changes in local economic conditions;

WHEREAS,
because the LCI is calculated by comparing all Virginia jurisdictions to all others and is used to divide state education funding shares among localities, regardless of overall economic conditions, every biennium some divisions receive a greater percentage of state aid than they did in the previous biennium and some divisions receive less;

WHEREAS,
while the LCI formula is flawed and is by no means a perfect measurement of wealth or of ability to pay, it has at least been consistently implemented, and local governments and school divisions rely upon this consistency every two years in planning their budgets;

WHEREAS, the LCI for Fairfax County Public Schools will drop from .7650 for the 2008-2010 biennium to .7126 for the 2010-2012 biennium
to reflect the County's continued difficult economic times and therefore decreased "ability to pay" for K-12 education when compared to other jurisdictions across the Virginia;

WHEREAS,
in his proposed budget, Governor Kaine has recommended deferring the routine composite index update for one year, freezing the previous LCI in place for all jurisdictions in the first year of the upcoming biennium's budget;

WHEREAS,
while the stated intent of this decision is to protect local school divisions who would lose state funds under the new calculation, this single action severely penalizes Fairfax County and the other jurisdictions whose LCI has declined, costing Fairfax County alone over $61 million in state K-12 funding;

WHEREAS,
this action would contradict the very premise of the LCI formula by forcing jurisdictions with a reduced ability to pay to contribute more locally, while allowing jurisdictions with an improved ability to pay to contribute less;

WHEREAS,
as an issue of fairness and consistency, suspending the LCI even temporarily is a breach of faith to everyone who has lived with the effects of the formula, undermines the purpose of having a formula in the first place by politicizing budget allocation decisions, and would be the first time in memory that the state will have failed to "fully re-benchmark" the Virginia Standards of Quality,

NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED
that The Fairfax County School Board strongly opposes the arbitrary delayed implementation of the routine biennial re-benchmark update to the 2010-2012 Local Composite Index (LCI) contained in the executive budget. While imperfect, the Local Composite Index has been the Commonwealth’s accepted measure of local ability to pay for K-12 education. State K-12 funding formulas must be implemented consistently, fairly, and equitably, so all localities benefit from their partnership with the Commonwealth. Though this proposal disproportionately penalizes many Northern Virginia localities in the current year, this breach of trust will be felt by urban, suburban, and rural localities throughout the Commonwealth both now and into the future.

What You Can Do! (updated Jan 12 2010)

The continuing national economic crisis has affected Americans in many aspects of their day to day lives, and has created dire circumstances for many.  This crisis is also creating revenue shortfalls at all levels of government, forcing our elected officials to make difficult decisions about issues critical to our Armstrong community.   

Fairfax County and Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) are projecting a nearly $500 million budget deficit for FY 2011 (beginning July 1, 2010), resulting from decreased revenues (higher unemployment, reduced consumer spending, declining residential and commercial real estate values and state funding cuts) and increased demands for services (higher school enrollment, increased demands on the social safety net).  Additionally, state revenue shortfalls mean there will surely be more cuts in state spending, and one area of particular concern is funding for K-12 education.

The Virginia General Assembly will begin work in January on the state budget, and the County and FCPS will soon begin making budget decisions as well.  It is important that all of us in the Armstrong community to make our voices heard, so this is the time to begin contacting our State legislators, County supervisors and School Board members, to share our thoughts about what cuts we can live with, and which things we can’t live without. 

To make our points most effectively, it is important to understand what our elected officials at each level of government do:

Virginia State Legislators
The General Assembly and the Governor determine state funding and requirements (maximum allowable class sizes, for example) for K-12. 

The Issue:  FCPS receives 19% of its funding from the state, which is significantly less than the average 48% share other Virginia school divisions receive (this is due to our higher “wealth” index).

Possible comments that you can make to our state legislators: 
1.  Do not make structural cuts – cuts should be one-time, in order to get through the economic crisis.
2.  Do not make cuts that disproportionately hurt Fairfax County and Northern Virginia.

Contacts:
1.  Senator Janet Howell,  (703) 709-8283,  district32@senate.virginia.gov
2.  Delegate Ken Plum,  (703) 758-9733,  DelKPlum@house.virginia.gov 

Fairfax County Board of Supervisors
The County Board determines how much total funding will be provided to FCPS.  The Board also has the ability to raise or lower the property tax rate, in addition to funding all non-school County services (public safety, libraries, health services).

The Issue: The Board of Supervisors needs to determine how to allocate funds among schools, public safety, etc.

 Possible comments that you can make to our Board of Supervisors:
1.  Do not reduce funding for Fairfax County Public Schools.

Contacts:
1.  Chairman Sharon Bulova (at-large), 703-324-2321, chairman@fairfaxcounty.gov
2.  Hunter Mill Supervisor Cathy Hudgins, 703-478-0283, hntrmill@fairfaxcounty.gov

Fairfax County School Board
The School Board allocates funding for individual programs and determines staffing levels, within state and federal requirements.  The School Board makes determinations about issues including class size, full-day kindergarten, foreign language programs, athletic fees, school bus routes and many others.

Possible comments to make to our School Board members
(Please decide which issue you feel is important to you): 
1.  Do not eliminate Assistant Principals
2.  Do not eliminate or scale back full day kindergarten.
3.  Do not eliminate ---- (whichever program you care about – band & strings, IT, administration).

Contacts:
1.  School Board Chairman Kathy L. Smith, 571-423-1085, Kathy.L.Smith@fcps.edu
2.  Hunter Mill School Board Member Stuart D. Gibson,  571-423-1082,  stuart.gibson@fcps.edu
3.  Dranesville School Board Member Jane K. Strauss, 571-423-1087, jane.strauss@fcps.edu
4.  School Board Member at-large Martina A. Hone, 571-423-1089, Martina.Hone@fcps.edu
5.  School Board Member at-large Ilryong Moon, 571-423-1090, ilryong.moon@fcps.edu
6.  School Board Member at-large James L. Raney, 571-423-1091, james.raney@fcps.edu

The Superintendent has already released a list of potential program reductions and eliminations that may be considered as the FCPS FY 2011 budget is being developed, which can be found at: http://www.fcps.edu/news/fy2011/possiblecuts1119.pdf .  This list of options includes increasing class sizes, eliminating full-day kindergarten at non-Title I schools, eliminating Assistant Principal position and eliminating elementary school band and strings, among others. While no decisions have been made, this is the time to share our thoughts, concerns and opinions with the elected officials who make these critical decisions.  Make sure your voice is heard!!

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Web Pages:

Fairfax Arts Coalition for Education
http://www.faceadvocacy.org/