Sacred Texts — Part 2 — Rachna Sizemore Heizer

A previous article on this site noted that a member of the Fairfax County School Board, Karl Frisch, took his oath of office in December on a stack of controversial, sex-themed books, thereby sending an in-your-face message to the community about his ideology and priorities.  See “Karl Frisch’s Sacred Texts.“ Mr. Frisch was not the only…

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Karl Frisch’s Sacred Texts

On December 13 the recently elected members of the Fairfax County School Board were sworn into office.  The incoming Chair, Karl Frisch, is pictured above as he took his oath. What are the texts Frisch’s left hand rests on?  They don’t include the Bible, the Torah, the Koran or other sacred books commonly used when…

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FCPS Spins the Decline in SAT Scores

Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) posted a misleading article last week entitled “Fairfax County Students Continue to Outperform SAT State and Global Averages.”  The school Superintendent, Michelle Reid, touted the same data at the October 12 meeting of the School Board, using a chart labeled “Fairfax seniors have consistently outperformed state and global SAT outcomes.” The…

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I Spoke Too Soon ….

Six months ago, I posted an article praising an action of the Fairfax County School Board.  See “Fairfax School Board Acts to Streamline Its Meetings.”  As it turns out, I was too quick to find a silver lining in the Board’s pattern of making its meetings unfriendly to the public.  At its recent meeting on…

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Appeals Court Overturns District Court Ruling in TJ Case

In a 2-1 split decision today, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit reversed the lower court’s ruling in Coalition for TJ v. Fairfax County School Board.  The district court had ruled in February 2022 that the Fairfax County School Board’s revision of admissions criteria for the elite Thomas Jefferson High School for…

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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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Fairfax County SAT Scores Have Seriously Declined

I encourage everyone to read this short article.  Fairfax SAT Scores Fall 27 Points.  According to the statistics compiled by the Fairfax County Taxpayers Association (FCTA), the average SAT score of Fairfax County high schools students fell by a shocking 27 points between 2018 and 2022.  Only two schools (Thomas Jefferson and Lake Braddock) showed…

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Lawsuit Against Fairfax County Schools Is Resolved.

Freedom of Information

Background about the Case As previously reported, I filed a lawsuit against the Fairfax County School Board in May, challenging its withholding of information I had requested under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).  See “Fairfax Schools Monitor Sues Fairfax Schools, Round 2,” May 27, 2002.   My FOIA request was for documents relating to the…

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The June 16 School Board Meeting: A Small Turning Point?

Introduction Several proposals to amend the student conduct handbook were on the agenda for the June 16 meeting of the Fairfax County School Board.  What mostly drew the attention of parents was a provision making it an offense for any student, from the 4th grade on, to maliciously “deadname” or “misgender” another student, with punishment…

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The Ibram Kendi Videotape … Finally Revealed

Ibram X. Kendi

Introduction As reported in several prior posts on this site, the Fairfax County School Board paid Ibram X. Kendi $20,000 for a one-hour Zoom appearance in August 2020 at the kick-off session for the school year.  Fairfax County schools spent an additional $44,000 to purchase his books. Fairfax Schools Monitor wanted to see what the…

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