Letter to the Editor

To the editor,

Fairfax County voters must get educated about the candidates running for School Board, both At Large and for their particular district prior to entering the voting booth on November 8 (check out their websites). If you think it really doesn’t matter who gets elected to the School Board because you are among the 75% of County residents without school-age children, think again! While the local election of our Board of Supervisors typically overshadows School Board elections, there is more at stake this year concerning School Board elections than at any time in recent memory. 

Although the Supervisors initially approve 100% of the county budget, 54% is then ceded over to the School Board to spend as it sees fit! The School Board has control of over half of the county’s revenue!  Parents, teachers and numerous education-related organizations—both formal and grass roots—are tired of being ignored, they are tired of having their arms-length, third-party scientific data rationalized away and they are sick-to-death of a School Board that rubber stamps what the administration puts in front of them without demanding accountability. They are also tired of hearing that the board was listening to the “silent majority” justification for their egregious votes.

There is an admirable slate of “virgin” candidates running for the School Board.  Most have been “endorsed” by one political party or the other although School Board members are to remain non-partisan and you will see an “I” by their name on the ballot. However, without a political endorsement it is nearly impossible to run because these education advocates do not have the financial resources or organizational wherewithal to run a successful campaign independently.

What does that mean? It means that you must get educated about the issues and vote for the best person for the position not the party line. Having spent the past decade immersed in School Board and education-related activities and getting to know many of the candidates personally, my votes will cross party lines this year.

All voters will be selecting three At Large School Board Members. I urge voters to vote for Sheree Brown-Kaplan as one of the three. I’ve worked with Sheree for over six years and have come to admire her truthfulness and integrity. She has the backbone to not take no for an answer when she had the facts and data on her side to support her position. Sheree has been calling for transparency in decision-making, accountability and wants an independent audit of schools finances. She is the only candidate who is an expert on special education regulations at the state and federal levels and is a tireless advocate for students with disabilities. Nearly 20% of the school budget is used to support these students; Sheree will ensure that these funds are used effectively.

Please vote on Tuesday and please vote for Sheree Kaplan-Brown as one of the three At Large School Board candidates.

Patricia Wirth

Fairfax Station

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