EDITOR’S NOTE: This report previously stated that the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved the pay hike. The correct agency was the Fairfax County School Board. This article has been updated to reflect the accurate information.
Fairfax County Public Schools employees will get a 4% pay raise — not the 6% initially proposed by the school system superintendent. This means a teacher’s beginning salary goes from $61,612 to $64,076 in Fairfax County, Virginia.
Thursday night, the school board voted to approve the budget for fiscal year 2025, which will go into effect on July 1.
“I trust our teachers associations, I trust the folks who have made this budget, I trust our superintendent,” said board member Kyle McDaniel.
“Is this budget everything I want? No,” he added. But it’s also not everything that everybody else wants.”
Mount Vernon District Rep. Mateo Dunne proposed several amendments to eliminate the 4% across-the-board salary increases for all FCPS employees. Instead, he advocated to decrease that amount to 3%, and increase the salaries for specific school-based employees.
He said he wanted “to put every dollar toward the people who are underpaid the most, the people who need it the most — and those are our teachers and support staff in our public schools.”
In Virginia, school boards are not allowed to raise their own revenue. Several board members expressed frustration over what they described as underfunding by the state every year.
“If you remember any number … it’s $568.7 million. That is half a billion dollars,” said Vice Chair and Hunter Mill District Rep. Melanie Meren. “Think of what FCPS does with what we have now. What could we do if we had half a billion dollars more? I am ready to go and get the money. That has become my mantra. Get the money.”
Sully District Rep. Seema Dixit, who is a new board member, also pointed to the issue of state funding.
“When the funds are not in your hands, there’s not much you can do,” she said. “You’re depending on the state government and the local government. Fairfax County, one of the wealthiest, sends the most amount of taxes to the state. And we get a fraction of that. That is unacceptable.”
Mason District Representative Dr. Ricardy Anderson said, in addition to competitive compensation, the board also examined school safety, expanded preschool options and access to enrichment. She expressed disappointment their requests were not fully met.
“I’m very grateful for the work that has gone into this budget,” she said. “Unfortunately, for me, this budget is too far apart from where I was hoping we could land, so I would not be in support.”
Fairfax County Public Schools Superintendent Michelle Reid originally proposed a 6% raise for school employees. However, earlier this month, she pared that proposal down to 3% because of a state budget shortfall.
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