Schools

FCFT Backs Ratnam, Reed In School Board Race

Teachers union does not support two incumbents

The Fairfax County Federation of Teachers announced their support for five Democrat-endorsed candidates, six Republican-endorsed candidates and one Independent in the Fairfax County School Board Race. 

The teachers union did not endorse incumbents Kathy Smith (Sully) or Janie Strauss (Dranesville).

Members of the union voted on the endorsements after reviewing the candidates’ answers to an 11-question survey, said President Steven Greenburg. The questions focused on "big picture" issues like retirement, salary, minority students and the teacher voice in the classroom.

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Of not endorsing two incumbents but giving the nod to several others, Greenburg, who said he couldn’t speak for why his members voted the way they did, said being an incumbent was “a double edged-sword.”

Obviously if you’re an incumbent, both the advantage or disadvantage is you have a record,” Greenburg said. “You have a voting record, you have a track record."

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In the case of Strauss, Greenburg said, he suspected it was the last issue — listening to the teacher voice — that steered members away from the

“When you’re very experienced you have a lot of knowledge and a lot of institutional history, but the problem with being very experienced is that you can sometimes become very confident in your position or your perspective, you may feel like you already know what the answer is,” Greenburg said.

“[With other candidates], their first questions is did you talk to the teacher? Did you ask them for input on this,” Greenburg said. “We don’t get that type of solicitation from the Dranesville seat.”

All endorsed candidates:

Braddock District

Megan McLaughlin

Dranesville District

Louise Epstein

Hunter Mill District

Pat Hynes

Lee District

Tamara Derenak Kaufax

Mason District

Sandy Evans

Mount Vernon District

Dan Storck

Providence District

Patty Reed

Springfield District

Elizabeth Schultz

Sully District

Sheila Ratnam

At-Large Candidates

Sheree Brown-Kaplan


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