Reply to Tired of Name Changes/Bad Planning

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Reply to "Tired of Name Changes/Bad Planning - Vote NO on School Bonds"

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[quote=Anonymous]by "clearinghouse" I meant to suggest a repository/library of documents and analyses to clarify School Board initiatives.  Very few people have the time and energy to sift through the Audit Committee reports and note the conflicts that restrict the independence of the Auditor General; or review the contracts database and note that certain contracts are not being reported appropriately or that the Chairman of the School Board campaign manager has been granted a non-compete contract; or that the assertions about teacher pay are simply wrong; or that the pension fund is mismanaged.  It takes real time and effort and expertise to ferret out these examples of mis-management.

As for presenting a petition - good idea!  Draft up something and pass it around here and elsewhere for input.

I suggest a few points for advocacy: 
(1) statements from Board members and Staff to be accompanied by references/links to prepared materials/data  e.g. teacher compensation - share the data - no more baseless assertions
(2) resolve the independence of the Auditor General - this position should have authority and resources to investigate any and all programs, expenditures, and control practices, and report directly to the Board.  The reports should be public unless restricted by law 
(3) all contracts must be disclosed/reported in the County database and sole-source (non-compete contracts) greater than $100,000 (initially or by extension) shall be reported quarterly to the Board along with all open contracts of value greater than $250,000 
(4) the supplemental pension ERFC will reduce investment management costs to below the average for similar sized public pension plans and an estimate of the cost of this benefit will be included in all compensation reports to the Board
(5) the cost of living adjustment in the pension plan will be changed to mirror inflation (CPI) for all participants (as in the County and State plans)
(6) Special education program - including transportation - to be assessed by an outside consultant (preferably Gibson) with the objective of bringing expenditures on SpecEd into line with FCPS regional peers 
(7) disclose contributions/ors to Board members' campaigns
(8) consider establishing an independent Ombudsman to facilitate and promote public awareness and communication with the public
(9) adopt as an objective to reduce class size and teacher work loads - maximum class size of 24-26 students as a target
(10) defend against grade inflation - an honest and rigorous assessment of student achievement and shortfalls is necessary to promote effort and diligence and achievement.
(11) adopt a resolution of the Board that explicitly acknowledges the importance of adhering to governance process and reinforces the role of the Board members as representatives of the people of Fairfax County

my 2 cents...[/quote]

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