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Vanessa Hall
Nov 24, 20241 min read
A Superior Superintendent Remains at the Helm
In today’s divided world, it was a pleasure to see agreement in a school board meeting, as the Fairfax County School Board (FCSB)...
Vanessa Hall
Oct 17, 202412 min read
When Anti-Immigrant Rhetoric Seeps into Public School Discussions
Combatting Disinformation is Harder than Sharing It There is so much disinformation floating around these days that it is hard to do much...
Robert Rigby and Vanessa Hall
Aug 10, 20249 min read
A Complex (and Expensive!) Legal Showdown about Student Rights Continues
Theocratic Veto versus School Policy This is part 2 of coverage on Jane Doe v. Fairfax County School Board (FCSB) (CL-2024-0003171), a...
Vanessa Hall
May 14, 20242 min read
Focus on Equity, Literacy, and Excellence
2025 FCPS Budget Public Input At the May 14, 2024 Public Hearing in front of the Fairfax County School Board on the 2025 Budget, the...
Vanessa Hall
May 1, 20243 min read
College Decisions Delayed. Thanks, FAFSA!
Today is May 1st. In an alternate reality where the U.S. Department of Education hadn’t completely botched the FAFSA form update,...
Marianne Burke, PhD
Mar 14, 20243 min read
Governor, Show Your Commitment to Education by Funding our Schools
End of Session Update: Budget Amendments The 2024 General Assembly session ended on March 9th with 12 of the 4 Public Education priority...
Vanessa Hall
Mar 7, 20243 min read
A Big Win for Students at the Supreme Court
TJ and FCPS Win in Court after Three Years of Litigation Fairfax County and Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) are celebrating a...
Vanessa Hall
Dec 14, 20234 min read
Parents Feel Doubly Violated by a Privacy Breach
Like tens of thousands of parents, I received a letter this week indicating that FCPS inadvertently released my child’s private...
Holly Hazard
Nov 8, 20232 min read
Tuesday’s Elections Send Message: Parents Want Robust Libraries, Inclusiveness, Truthful History
Pundits cast Virginia’s Tuesday general elections as a referendum on abortion rights. It was more than that. Further down the ballot...
Marianne Burke (PhD) and Vanessa Hall
Oct 30, 20234 min read
Op-ed: Northern Virginia in the Crosshairs
Even before he was elected, Virginia Gov. [Glenn] Youngkin focused his attention on harmful, fabricated fibs about public education. He...
Marianne Burke, PhD
Oct 11, 20233 min read
Gaslighting the Public: Misinterpreting Student Performance and NAEP Scores (3 of 3)
Although Governor Youngkin was lambasted 18 months ago for his inaccurate conclusions about the current state of Virginia Public...
Vanessa Hall
Oct 10, 20233 min read
Book Bans by any other Name Smell like Censorship
After a recent school board meeting, I was distracted by a Fairfax GOP-endorsed school board candidate yelling at me, when her friend...
Marianne Burke (PhD) and Vanessa Hall
Sep 19, 20235 min read
Gaslighting the Public: Manufactured Crisis over SOL Scores (2 of 3)
For two years in a row, Governor Youngkin has blamed slow growth and recovery of SOL test scores on his predecessors and pandemic school...
4PE Team
Jul 27, 20231 min read
Speaking out Against Hate at the VA BOE
Although it was nowhere on the Virginia Board of Education agenda, nearly all public input today, July 27, 2023, was about Youngkin's...
Marianne Burke, PhD
Jul 11, 20235 min read
Will the Supreme Court Affirmative Action Rulings affect TJ High School?
Supreme Court protests. https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/03/us/affirmative-action-asian-americans-qa-cec/index.html
Cheryl Binkley
Jun 28, 20232 min read
Did We Win? It depends on who you ask.
On Tuesday June 20, Virginians went to the polls in the preliminary stage of electing a new legislature. There are 140 seats in the...
Marianne Burke (PhD) and Vanessa Hall
Mar 22, 20232 min read
Education or Indoctrination? Review of the Virginia History Standards Hearings
By the time you read this blog, public input will be closed for the Virginia History and Social Studies Standards of Learning (History...
Vanessa Hall
Mar 16, 20232 min read
Our Schools are not Your Battleground: CNN Town Hall Review
CNN did no one any favors by framing the Youngkin Town Hall as “The War Over Education with Glenn Youngkin,” yet to many watching, it...
Holly Hazard
Jan 9, 20231 min read
Thomas Jefferson's late National Merit notice is not a catastrophe
As printed in the Washington Post Opinion Section on Sunday, January 8th, 2023. Regarding the Jan. 5 Metro article “Va. AG will start...
Marianne Burke, PhD
May 26, 20222 min read
Co-Ed Sex Education: Good for ALL Students
Speech on comprehensive sex education given by Marianne Burke to the Fairfax County Public School Board, May 26, 2022. Text slightly...
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At the Statehouse: End of General Assembly Session
The 2025 General Assembly Session ended on February 22. Sadly, bills that called for improved funding for public education were defeated...
At the Statehouse: Few Priority Education Bills Remain and Budget Negotiations are Impending
February 4th was Crossover, which is the last day for each chamber to act on its own bills. After that date, all bills that passed in...
Eliminating the US Department of Education will do more Damage than You Realize
More than ever we must recognize and protect the U.S Department of Education. Don't let them dismantle our students' future.
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