Letter to the Editor

Fairfax County has a long and great history of hiring quality teachers. I am proud to have been one of those teachers. As a retired Fairfax County teacher who spent 25 years teaching at Hutchison Elementary in Herndon, I truly believe that one of the most important issues facing our schools is recruiting and retaining the best teachers. Our county offers an outstanding school system for students to excel and maintains a great reputation largely as a result of the hard work and efforts of those on the “front lines” - the teachers in the classroom. I support Ted Velkoff for School Board - At Large, because he understands that investing in our teachers should be a top priority of the school board.

Our teachers, who give more hours to their job than is required, need to receive a salary that is competitive with the surrounding counties. In order to attract new hires and retain those great teachers who already work in Fairfax, we need to pay our teachers a salary that allows them to live in the county where they teach - right here in Fairfax. Ted Velkoff agrees that to attract and retain quality teachers Fairfax County needs to offer fair and competitive compensation.

While there has been a spirited School Board campaign this year, few candidates have talked about the issue of teacher compensation with the level of clarity and understanding as at-large candidate Ted Velkoff. I believe he would be a welcome addition to the School Board as an advocate for teachers, parents and students alike. I urge my friends, neighbors, former and current teachers to vote for Ted Velkoff on November 8th.

Norma Pace

Fairfax, VA

Letters to the editor may be submitted to mary.stachyra@patch.com. Include your full name, town of residence and also a phone number for verification purposes. Patch reserves the right to edit all letters before publication.