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Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS)
Paul Bartkowski School Board Candidate Forum
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Anonymous
https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2023/10/07/fairfax-county-school-board-election-guide/ Dranesville District Paul Bartkowski, 46 Party: Republican endorsed Bartkowski said he’s running for school board because he feels that the board has failed to prioritize the education of all students over ideological policy agendas. The biggest issue facing the school district, he said, is the decline in test scores. He said he wants to move the board away from promoting “controversial, ideological causes under the guise of education.” Specifically, he said he does not believe in policies that allow gender-fluid students to use locker rooms and restrooms. |
Anonymous
+1 |
Anonymous
Paul’s sole claim to fame is suing on behalf of right wing parents to repeal mask mandates at the point in the pandemic when kids couldn’t even get vaccinated. He’s a Covid denying right winger masquerading as Mr Little League. I’ll pass. |
Anonymous
As I understand he was not suing to repeal a mask mandate, but suing to require FCPS to comply with an existing state directive. The case became moot when FCPS opted to comply rather than get sanctioned by the courts. FCPS functions poorly enough as it is. It can’t really take on the additional burden of defying state mandates as if it’s an independent state of its own. That’s not how counties are set up to function here. As for Paul’s opponent she was a long time FCPS employee who is now retired and apparently wants to supplement her pension with $50K more from FCPS by also serving on the School Board. I admire her financial ambition but she brings absolutely nothing new to the table in terms of ideas or priorities. |
Anonymous
I’m not sure I understand. Are you saying only people who don’t draw pensions or those who don’t have an income should serve on the SB? Couldn’t you say that about anyone who currently holds a job and serves on the school board? You could say they only want to supplement their salary. |
Anonymous
| I’d like to see more parents on the School Board. Voting for Paul. |
Anonymous
I have no issue compensating school board. But I just don't think Robyn is a good fit, at least for now. I went to two candidate forums recently. Robyn stands with the current school board on every policy/item the hosts and audience asked about. She failed to convince me that she would make any improvement. |
Anonymous
+1. Robyn is pleasant enough and I understand why someone who has retired in their early 60s might feel they still can make a contribution. But she has no sense of urgency about addressing any of the challenges within Dranesville. After Strauss and Tholen, we need someone who’ll fight for our district. Lady won’t; it will just be like having another at-large member who doesn’t rock the boat. |
Anonymous
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I didn't know anything about PB before reading this forum, and as a moderate Herndon parent of 3 current students, I was undecided about the Dranesville SB race until now. Here are the reasons that I will NOT be voting for you on election day:
1. I am turned off by your lack of knowledge base on statements that you claim as truth. Case in point, you mention that SEL questions asked of 8th graders include questions about number of sexual partners. This was incorrect and when it was shown to you, you admitted that the list of questions was provided to you by a "concerned parent." Instead of confirming this information and learning that that set of questions is part of the Monitoring the Future study which has been conducted through Federal grants since 1975 with 8th, 10th and 12th graders to assess attitudes, behaviors and trends of risk behaviors among our nations' teens, you just blindly accepted what you are told. Bad form. 2. Your push on the renovation at McLean. You come off as a candidate who has one personal agenda to get what you want for your own kids and neighbors. Your comments about the SB taking McLean residents' copious tax dollars to spend elsewhere reeks of entitlement. BTW, despite overcrowding and an old building McLean still ranks as one of the best high schools in the state. They are clearly not suffering that much. 3. Speaking of entitlement, your positions on book banning, trans students and just getting back to reading writing and math also reek of wealthy entitlement. The reason that it is necessary for our schools to do so much work outside of traditional subject matters is that we have students who face significant barriers to learning that must be overcome before they can achieve their best. Not every student has a stable home life, or parents who have the capacity to support them, or strong English language skills, or the ability to pay for tutors to help them pass a class or take the SAT. Some struggle with identity issues, mental health issues, anxiety, stress, and more and these issues bleed into the classroom. Assuming that all children have the home resources to solve these issues is elitist. It is not as simple as "that stuff should be taught at home," or "parental rights." For many kids, this doesn't exist. So thank you for opening this forum and sharing who you are. You have helped this voter make up my mind. |
Anonymous
So Herndon HS is now fully renovated and half the elementary schools in the pyramid are getting major renovations, but Paul should be criticized for pointing out that McLean HS has been neglected and has an inferior and inadequate facility? There’s also an inconsistency between claim king he has “one personal agenda” but then criticizing his position on other, unrelated issues. I can understand someone from Herndon wanting a Herndon resident (Lady) on the School Board after representatives from McLean and Great Falls, but your post sounds like something written by an FCDC insider who is just pretending to characterize themselves as a “moderate” to try and appeal to swing voters. Lady will be just another rubber-stamp, business-as-usual Democrat who’ll allow other School Board members to run roughshod over most Dranesville schools because of some positive schools rankings that they spend the rest of their time trying to discredit. |
Anonymous
+1 Happy with the status quo? Vote for Robyn Lady. I will be voting for Paul Bartkowski. |
Anonymous
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2. Your push on the renovation at McLean. You come off as a candidate who has one personal agenda to get what you want for your own kids and neighbors. Your comments about the SB taking McLean residents' copious tax dollars to spend elsewhere reeks of entitlement. BTW, despite overcrowding and an old building McLean still ranks as one of the best high schools in the state. They are clearly not suffering that much. This hypocritical post is almost enough to make me vote for Bartkowski despite substantial reservations about his stance on academic freedom. Why is it equitable that McLean has horrible facilities and is routinely excluded from the renovation queue? Why do people like you think McLean students should be treated worse than everyone else? |
Anonymous
And you have helped this voter make up my mind. In no way will I vote for someone who represents all of things you list. We already have 12 people on the SB who are laser focused on all of your pet social issues. No thank you. Enough. I'll be voting for Bartkowski. |
Anonymous
| Why didn't you respond to the questions sent to all the candidates by SEPTA? It is a very involved group that represents and assists many students, teachers and parents. Not responding at all really shows a disinterest in special needs kids. |
Anonymous
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Complaining that rich people pay a lot of taxes and somehow are more deserving of a renovated building than other neighborhoods in the county is frankly tone deaf and gross.
You can advocate for a school to be moved up in the renovation queue because it desperately needs renovations (whether it needs them more than other schools, I have no idea). Tying renovations to McLean's tax base is unnecessary and makes you seem really out of touch. |