School Board Rubber Stamps “Equity Policy” in Wee Hours

In a bizarre meeting that sometimes proved the “Law of Triviality,” the Fairfax County School Board unanimously approved a controversial “Equity Policy” at 12:30 a.m. on June 27. How the Meeting Unfolded The School Board’s meetings are user-unfriendly.  They begin at 7:00 p.m., but the discussion of pending business often doesn’t begin until 9:00 p.m.…

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Rhetoric v. Reality in the New “Equity” Policy

After a working session of the Fairfax County School Board a couple of days ago, a new draft of the proposed Equity Policy was hurriedly drafted, and then posted on the FCPS website at 3:30 Friday afternoon.  A meeting will be held Monday evening, June 26, to stamp it with the Board’s final approval.  It…

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National Merit Awards Controversy — Update

As previously reported, a controversy erupted in December of last year regarding delays by administrators in the Fairfax County Public School system (FCPS) in notifying students and families about prestigious National Merit “commended student” awards.  In response, the FCPS Superintendent announced that a law firm was being hired to conduct an independent investigation into the…

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Coalition for TJ v. School Board — Further Analysis

The two-judge majority in Coalition for TJ v. Fairfax County School Board concluded that the School Board’s revised admissions policy did not have a disparate, adverse impact on Asian American applicants to the high school; indeed, according to the court, this group was helped, not hurt, by the new admissions criteria. Having parsed through the…

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FCPS Consideration of “Equity Policy” Coming Soon

A proposed “Equity Policy” for the Fairfax County Public School system (FCPS) will be considered by the county School Board at a work session on June 20 and will come up for final approval at the Board’s June 26 meeting, just five weeks from now.  This is despite the fact that a draft of the…

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Did Fairfax Schools Hide Academic Awards from Families — Update

On March 29, 2023, Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) published the “Key Findings” of a hired law firm’s investigation into allegations that school officials had failed to inform students and parents of National Merit “commended student” awards.  The document is HERE.   “Key Findings” concedes that students in several FCPS high schools didn’t receive timely notices…

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Strategic Plan and “Equity Policy,” Part 3

The last post reported on the drafting of a new Strategic Plan for Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS); this one summarizes the status of a separate, but related, “Equity Policy.” Background The “equity policy” process dates back to September 2020, when the  FCPS equity team made a presentation to the School Board, proposing an “anti-racism,…

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