Can I Make a Difference?

The Problem

Is the Fairfax County School Board is on the wrong track?  If so, what can be done?

The current Board seems unanimous in its commitment to race-centric education that focuses on “privilege,” “identity,” and so-called “equity,” so the task of turning things around seems daunting.

The Board apparently assumes that since they were elected by Fairfax citizens, the public agrees with its policies.  The reality is that few voters knew how radical these people would be, but the Board may not see it that way.  Another problem is that the groups pushing for the privilege/identity/equity curriculum have been loud and persistent, while moderate voices have been relatively quiet.  The squeaky wheel gets the grease.  One recent post on this website examined the groups the School Board regards as “stakeholders.”  See “What ‘Stakeholder Groups’ Does the School Board Seek Input From,” Jan. 10, 2022.  Almost all of them are minority or left-leaning groups.

Change will only occur if the “silent majority” becomes much more involved.  This requires paying more attention to what is happening, and then taking action.

How to Be Informed

The media is slowly taking a greater interest in the growing controversies surrounding our schools.  Paying attention to stories in the press can be a trigger for getting more information.  Beyond that, several tools are available for learning the facts and keeping informed.

Websites.  Citizens can register on websites like this one to receive updates.  In addition to fairfaxschoolsmonitor.com, useful websites include:

• Parents Defending Education (defendinged.org).  It has a national scope, but information about Fairfax County and other local areas can be found by clicking on the “Map” icon on the home page, and then on the area of the map that is of interest.
•  Parents Against Critical Theory (stoplcpcrt.org).  This group is based in Loudon County, but it includes daily posts about topics relevant to other northern Virginia counties as well.
• Fairfax County Parents Association (fairfaxparents.org).  This is a nonpartisan group that advocates for quality education in Fairfax County schools.  Its interests include focusing education on quality rather than ideology.

Fairfax County School System.  Citizens can also learn a lot from the official Fairfax County Public Schools website: fcps.com.  Go to the “School Board” tab.  There, you can register to receive regular email updates about news, events and issues by clicking on the “News You Choose” tab.  Also, by navigating around the site, you can look at agendas for upcoming meetings and videos of prior meetings, examine official policies, and conduct searches for the fairly extensive body of documents that are available online.  You can even watch the live-streamed Board meetings.

How to Be Heard

This is where the most work needs to be done.  Nothing will change unless concerned citizens make their voices heard in significantly greater numbers.  Here are some suggestions.

Contact the School Board.  Send emails to the School Board members and/or call them, expressing your concerns forcefully, but respectfully.  Contact information is on the fcps.com website.  Do this often enough to reinforce your message.

Attend School Board Meetings.  The School Board meets regularly, every two weeks, on Thursday evenings at 7:00 p.m. at Luther Jackson Middle School, 3020 Gallows Road, in Falls Church (in the Merrifield area, between Lee Highway and Arlington Blvd./US 50).  The schedule is on the fcps.com website.  These meetings are attended regularly by a hard core of activist supporters of current Board policies.  Citizens with more moderate views are usually outnumbered; they need to attend in greater numbers to show that the public is concerned and paying attention.  You can demonstrate your support during the Citizen Participation portion of the meeting when citizens have voiced your concerns.

Speak Up at School Board Meetings.  A segment of every meeting is set aside for the public to address the Board directly.  Citizens can register on the fcps.com website.  Thirteen adults and up to three students are chosen by lottery to speak at each meeting, with two minutes being allocated to each speaker.  Remarks can be delivered in person or by pre-recorded video.  Activist supporters of the current Board speak regularly; opposing voices need to be heard in greater numbers.

Spread the word.  Talk to friends and neighbors about your concerns, based on what you’ve learned from the media, from sites like this one, from your kids, etc.

Urge others to get involved.  When friends and neighbors share your concerns, suggest what they might consider doing to make a difference.  Urge them to stay informed by registering on this website and others, by signing up to get information from the fcps.com website, etc.  And urge them to get involved, to make their voices heard.

Share relevant information.  If you are the parent of a Fairfax County student who is being exposed to race/identity/privilege indoctrination, please share your information with others who can help expose it.  A tab is available on this website for confidential sharing.  Likewise, if you are a teacher who is concerned about the curriculum, or about Critical Race training, or about questionable literature, or about other issues in your school, reach out to this website or to others who might be able to help.

If you find this post to be useful, please share it with others.