New “Equity” Policy — FCPS Schedules Key Vote with No Time for Public Engagement!

By Mark Spooner | June 16, 2023

Two days ago, on June 14, the Fairfax County School System quietly posted its proposed “Equity Policy” on its website. The School Board is scheduled to consider it just four days from now, on June 20, and to approve it the following week, on June 20. The notice on the FCPS website says the policy will be approved.

What about public engagement? No need for it, apparently, in the eyes of the bureaucrats who took a year to develop it in a largely secret process. No draft was ever circulated to the public before Wednesday of this week, and yet the school system currently plans to ram it through quickly, without giving the citizens of Fairfax County any time for constructive input, much less — heaven forbid — time to voice objections.

The text of the proposed policy is HERE. It is problematical for many reasons. It is a word salad of verbiage that doesn’t clearly identify what the bureaucrats intend to use it for. To the extent that its intent can be gleaned, it is terrible. It commits FCPS to make “equity” the number one objective of everything it does. And what does “equity” mean? According to the proposal, it means doing whatever is necessary to eliminate “disproportionate” educational outcomes among different identity groups. What does “disproportionate” mean? That’s not explained, but the “equity” mavens in FCPS probably mean that any difference in outcomes is disproportionate, even though socioeconomic factors, over which FCPS has no control, are largely responsible for producing the unequal outcomes. So, how can the “disproportionate outcomes” be eliminated? Again, the policy is very vague. We already know, however, that the plans include such things as revising how grades are awarded to students (e.g., making the lowest possible score 50%, even if a student’s actual score was 0%). Nice, huh?

The proposed policy is problematical for many additional reasons, which will be addressed in subsequent postings on this site. The immediate issue, however, is the timetable. The School Board can postpone the current schedule, if it is at all interested in taking account of public opinion. In that regard, a group of 33 Fairfax citizens wrote to all Board members yesterday, urging them to set aside the current schedule and to set up a plan for comprehensive public engagement. That letter is HERE.

Please review the letter, and if you agree with it, take a few minutes to contact the School Board members to express your agreement. Contact information is on the FCPS website.