This is also false. ESL and Special Education account for about a quarter of the increase. Since 1978 school administration has increased five times faster than enrollment. Also the number of guidance counselors, social workers, and psychologists has increased ten times faster than enrollment. Two decades of tax increases have not made Fairfax County schools any better.
Buildings are overcrowded and deteriorating.
The county's average SAT score of 1096 is only at the 65th percentile. The county's average score on college board achievement tests is only at the 50th percentile. There has been no improvement in the minority student achievement gap. One wonders if the small increase in SAT scores is due to SAT prep classes rather than higher standards in the classroom. When I served on the Fairfax Framework Advisory Committee, I suggested that the committee state that its vision should include raising standardized test scores.