Posts by Mark Spooner
Fairfax County Hires New School Superintendent
The Fairfax County School Board selected a new Superintendent at a marathon session on April 14. Michelle Reid, who has been the superintendent of a school district in the State of Washington, was hired to replace Scott Braband, who has been Superintendent since 2017. The selection of Reid was not without controversy. Rationale for Selecting…
Read MoreUpdate on Suit Against Fairfax Schools re Kendi Videotape
As previously reported, we sued the Fairfax County public school system back in January, challenging its refusal to disclose a videotape of a presentation made by Critical Race Theory guru Ibram X. Kendi to school principals and administrators in August 2020. See “Fairfax Schools Monitor Sues Fairfax Schools,” Jan. 13, 2022. We had requested the video…
Read MoreThe School Board Is Intentionally Violating Established Policy
Introduction This is the 4th post in a series about the Controversial Issues Policy of the Fairfax County School Board. As outlined earlier, the Board undertook a program in 2020 to implement significant changes in its curricula. The intent was to put “equity” at the center of everything. The Board recognized at the outset that…
Read MoreSaga of the “Controversial Issues Policy — Part 3
Introduction As explained in the previous two posts, the Fairfax County School Board decided eighteen months ago, in September 2020, to revise its long-standing Controversial Issues Policy. This was deemed necessary so that teachers could indoctrinate their students with “anti-racist” ideas about “power,” “privilege,” “systemic racism,” “identity,” and “equity.” This post discusses the development of…
Read MoreSaga of the “Controversial Issues Policy” — Part 2
Introduction This post is a continuation of the analysis begun in “Saga of the ‘Controversial Issues Policy’” — Part 1,” March 23, 2022. This post demonstrates that in 2020-21, when the School Board was considering its new race-centric curricula, it was aware that its plans would violate the school system’s long-standing Controversial Issues Policy, and,…
Read MoreSaga of the “Controversial Issues Policy” — Part 1
The Fairfax County School Board has had a Controversial Issues Policy for many years. It requires teachers to be objective and nonpartisan if controversial issues arise in their classrooms. The text of the Policy is HERE. It seems sensible to have such a policy; right? Otherwise, our schools could be a means by which those…
Read MoreUpdate on Suit Against Fairfax Schools re Kendi Videotape
As previously reported, we filed suit against the Fairfax County school system on January 13, 2022, challenging its refusal to give us a copy of a videotape of a presentation by Critical Race Theory guru Ibram X. Kendi. See “Fairfax Schools Monitor Sues Fairfax Schools,” Jan. 13, 2022. The presentation, for which…
Read MoreSchool Board Meeting — March 10
Last night’s meeting of the Fairfax County School Board was noteworthy in that most of the speakers during the Community Participation segment, as well as most others in the audience, were critics of School Board policies and actions. This isn’t always the case. Activists on the left often make their presence felt to a greater…
Read MoreCourt Nixes School Board’s “Social Justice” Admissions Policy
Introduction The Fairfax County School Board implemented a new admissions policy last year for the elite Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (“TJ”), designed to increase the percentage of African American and Hispanic students in the school at the expense of Asian Americans. Yesterday, the federal district court in Alexandria struck down…
Read MoreIf It Can Happen in San Fran ….
The citizens of San Francisco overwhelming voted this week to throw three members of the local school board out of office. Only three of the seven members were eligible for recall. All three were ousted by more than 70 percent of the voters. The San Francisco School Board incurred the wrath of parents and other…
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