Area Public School Budget Cuts

[Anonymous]

Anyone else have a problem with how Fairfax County is handling this situation?

www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/11/AR2010011103917.html

[Anonymous]

What's your alternative proposal? Apparently budget cuts need to be made -- so where do people suggestthey be made instead? It wasn't apparent from the article you posted.

[Anonymous]

I don't understand what people expect the county to do. Do you suggest they raise taxes instead? No one is giving that as an alternative. And personally, I don't like full-day K. I understand why it's necessary at Title I schools, but I don't agree with the push for it across the county. I'm happy my school is still half-day and I hope it stays like that until my youngest is though K.

[Anonymous]

Are you in Fairfax County? Where do the taxes go?

[Anonymous]

The article emphasizes that the schools are why most people live here to begin with.

The taxes are lower than most other parts of the country. I would definitely agree to pay higher taxes.

Unless someone has a better solution.

[Anonymous]

I would rather pay higher taxes, too, and preserve some of the programs and quality of education at our school. I'm sad to see some of the needed resources cut. I know the quality of my children's education will suffer. If things get too bad at our local school, we'll move to Falls Church City or Arlington, where the cuts don't seem to be as severe.

[Anonymous]

Why aren't they as severe there?

We don't even have full day K to begin with, that is why I am asking. Fairfax County is a rip off!

[Anonymous]

Amen. We pay over $10K a year in taxes, but still don't have streetlights, sewer, or full-day kindergarten. WTH?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Why aren't they as severe there?

We don't even have full day K to begin with, that is why I am asking. Fairfax County is a rip off!

Arlington County and Falls Church City spend over $18,000 per student. Fairfax County only spends about $13,000 per student. I'm all for efficiency, but you just can't do as good a job with $5,000 less per student to spend.

[Anonymous]

Fairfax County has been grossly mismanaged since I can remember.

Back in the "real estate heyday", the developers CERTAINLY could have kicked in for infrastructure and public services. Instead, all we got were developers lining politicos pockets to get whatever they wanted.

Is there no accountabillity?

Now, we're away from our friends and families - we've started our kids at these schools that aren't half of what they said they were - for what? BS.

[Anonymous]

Surely you're aware that Virginia is a strict “Dillon Rule” state, with severe legislative restrictions on its localities. Among other burdens, this prohibits counties from structuring their own tax systems.

This means that Fairfax County has limited powers in areas such as raising revenue, and it cannot take certain actions without approval from the state, which limits revenue diversification options among other things.

We send far more in taxes to the state than they send back. The downstate politicians love that, and have no intentions of changing it (and they have more representation down there than we do).

The state is hurting financially right now, and is reducing the money it gives to the county for education. The county is limited in how it can raise revenue. (remember the county's attempt to tax home sales that was declared unconstitutional last year or the year before. I don't remember the details of it, but I do remember that it was not allowed to happen.)

It's easy to b1+(h and moan about taxes, but that's a cop out. The schools need more money, and Fairfax County contributes a lower share of local tax revenue to the schools than some surrounding jurisdictions. I think they should contribute a higher share of local revenue. I don't know what they should cut (rec centers, police, fire, health department??), or if they should raise property taxes to pay for it, but I, for one, am willing to pay more in taxes to maintain the current level of services.

[Anonymous]

PP, if you are willing to pay mucho bucks so that your child can have art, music, 100 sports options, foreign language in elementary, and on and on ... perhaps you should pay to send your kids to private school rather than expect every citizen of FC to pony up more dough.

[Anonymous]

I don't want all of those things. I just want a reasonable class size, art, music, and PE. I want my child to receive an education appropriate to her needs. That can't be done on $13,000 per student. No need for foreign language or or 100 sports.

[Anonymous]

In that case, I agree with you ... at least on the wish list of basic items! I don't have an opinion on whether $13,000 per student is enough ... the county spends ALOT on administration and that fancy new administrative building they just completed ... not sure money is spent in the classrooms as much as is needed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP, if you are willing to pay mucho bucks so that your child can have art, music, 100 sports options, foreign language in elementary, and on and on ... perhaps you should pay to send your kids to private school rather than expect every citizen of FC to pony up more dough.

How about removing or scaling down CIP projects? Parents whine about the school budgets yet have paid little in user fees.