Fairfax County teachers are slated to get a 6% raise next year, and the county plans to pay for it by making cuts in other areas.
During a presentation to the school board on Thursday night, Superintendent Michelle Reid called the pay bump for members of the teachers union “a positive reflection and a note of our commitment, regardless of the budget transfer, to do everything we can to come as close to honoring that ratified agreement as possible.”
Virginia’s largest school district and the teachers’ union had initially agreed to a 7% raise for educators next year. But this week, the division learned it’s getting about $150 million less from the county Board of Supervisors than it had planned for.
Reid’s proposal would change the school staffing formula, resulting in about 275 fewer positions across the county. That’s an average of less than 1.5 positions per school, according to county documents obtained 91欧美激情, and it would save $33.3 million.
Because the division has more than 275 positions currently open, Reid said they’ll likely be able to find new jobs for those staff members.
The plan calls for delaying new social studies curriculum materials, which will save $15.3 million, and reducing central office staff to save $7.5 million. It will also restrict non-mandated professional development travel and reduce electric bus funding.
“It’s essential that we make some cuts to be able to afford the salary increases,” Reid said. “This is not where I would choose to be, but I think that given the information we have presently, this is our best attempt to provide a balanced budget for 2026 that recognizes the hard work and efforts of our staff and maintains services closest to our students and the classroom experience necessary to produce a world class education here in Fairfax County Public Schools.”
Board member Rachna Sizemore Heizer, however, suspects the changes could impact staffing ratios and class sizes, and affect support for special education students.
“While we were disappointed that the county was unable to fully fund the advertised budget, we recognize the fiscal realities faced by our county, the underfunding by the state and the change in the commercial market, uncertainties in federal landscapes and much else led to where we are,” Sizemore Heizer said.
Board member Melanie Meren, meanwhile, said she’s concerned about the precedent this could set.
“Our biggest assets are the humans that work here, and they have a limit,” Meren said. “They have a limit of energy and capacity, and I’m concerned that our experienced educators and staff will burn out, not to mention the political context and ongoing national teacher shortage.”
During a meeting Tuesday, several supervisors spoke out about school leaders’ comments regarding the budget process. Supervisor James Bierman, for one, said the rhetoric from the superintendent and school board members “has been completely off and completely unhelpful.”
Leslie Houston, the president of the Fairfax Education Association, criticized some members of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors for
“Not funding it wasn’t enough,” Houston said. “They had to degrade us. They had to drag our school board and our superintendent. Why? Not funding us wasn’t enough? Now you’re pitting teachers against each other, because we now have some hard decisions to make in FCPS.”
The school board still has to vote to approve the budget.
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