Fairfax and Loudoun County schools, both established in 1850, are two of the top school districts in the nation. The teachers and schools are award-winning. The students are bright, have exceptional test scores, and over 90% of them go on to college. The superiority of our regional schools notwithstanding, teachers and leaders aspire to be better. Some want systemic change. Some want higher teacher pay and re-prioritized county budgets. Some want different methods of instruction.

I Am Modern asked local leaders to describe their wish list for our schools. Loudoun County School Board Chair John Stevens believes our challenges don’t all stem from budget limitations, but rather from the focus of the whole system of education. “Our school system is built on over 100 years of false assumptions and false walls of our own construction. We expect that every kid, at the elementary level at least, will progress at the same rate as their peers. Our classroom teachers are asked to differentiate their instruction to kids who are at different levels of comprehension, even at the same age. We no longer tolerate leaving Johnny behind because he can’t keep up. But at the same time, we don’t tolerate letting Suzy gets bored because she’s so far ahead of the rest of the class.” Stevens believes we need to give teachers more flexibility in how they teach; principals more latitude in the structure of the school day and year; and parents more options of schools for their children to attend. Stevens’ wish list includes:

• More emphasis on science, technology, engineering and math.
• Tearing down the walls between private, public and home school.
• A new campus for the Douglas School

Alternative Program, which offers programs for kids for whom the traditional model is not working. According to Stevens, “This type of school is one of the reasons we have the highest graduations rate in the state.”

The top wish list item for Fairfax County Superintendent Dr. Jack Dale is higher teacher pay. He says, “We need to recognize that teaching is a full-time job, and we should pay it as such. We need teacher pay to be commensurate with private sector employees who are similarly trained.” Other items on Dale’s wish list include:

• 100% graduate rate with graduates fully college or quality work-force ready.
• Full day kindergarten.
• World language (foreign language) in elementary schools.
• Internet connectivity and devices outside the classroom for all students.
Loudoun County Superintendent Dr. Edgar Hatrick attributes the success of our schools to the talented people working in schools and the strong support of the community and parents. “We are not doing this in a vacuum. We’re doing it with really strong community support which gets translated into a lot of things, including the budget,” Hatrick states. He also places high priority on teacher pay, “Global competitiveness and a world class education mean we have to have the best and brightest in our classrooms teaching, and they need the support of the best and brightest principals, specialists and resources.” Hatrick’s wish list includes:

• Continued active parental involvement.
• Lengthened and reorganized school year.
• Increased teacher pay.

The top wish for Fairfax County School Board Chair Kathy Smith is to move away from standardized test scores as our measure of success and “to teach students to be more analytical, because that’s the skill-set they will need.” Other items on Smith’s wish list include:

• Full-day kindergarten.
• World language in elementary schools.
Emily Parker, Loudoun County teacher and mother of two, wants to change the method of individual instruction. She believes we should give students access to exploring and discovering their own learning, with teachers supporting them in the role of a facilitator.

“As a teacher I know my students learn the most when they are fully engaged. They learn even more when they have some ownership of that learning and the process. Students need to be taught and assessed using a variety of different methods to support all learning styles,” says Parker.

President Obama recently said, “We are not a nation that scales back its aspirations.” Clearly, the leaders of Fairfax and Loudoun schools have no plans to scale back on theirs.

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Tricia Haneghan graduated from Knox College with a B.A. in Education. After a brief stint teaching, she spent several years on the legislative staff of Illinois Senator Paul Simon. She has been a PTA officer for 3 different Loudoun County schools over the past 8 years. She lives in South Riding, VA with her husband and four daughters. This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it