This article originally appeared here, at fairfaxtimes.com

With the Trump administration axing “diversity, equity, and inclusion” jobs throughout the federal bureaucracy, Mark Spooner, a 79-year-old retired attorney in Fairfax County, unearthed startling documents through a public records request, detailing the price tag for salaries of 52 employees in the “Chief Equity Office” of Fairfax County Public Schools: $6.4 million, or enough to pay about 125 new teachers.

According to documents, Nardos King, the “Chief Equity Officer” at FCPS, makes the highest salary in the department, earning $258,641 annually – more than the salary of U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, U.S. Rep. Gerry Connolly, and other top lawmakers. King reports to FCPS Superintendent Michelle Reid, who just got a pay raise to $424,146, which is more than the salary of the president of the United States.

Some of the information from the documents is conflicting but, nonetheless, paints the picture of a bloated bureaucracy. The Fairfax County Times has published the documents online.

An organization chart said the Chief Equity Office comprises 56 full-time authorized positions. Currently, the department has four vacancies.

While the salaries in one document total $6.4 million for the 52 employees in the Chief Equity Office, another document details that the total budget for the Chief Equity Office is $5.76 million, with $5.25 million going to salaries and compensation.

Whatever the discrepancies, the scope of the Chief Equity Office floors area residents. The size of the office ballooned after racial politics in 2020 elevated the concept of “equity” in school systems.

In mid-December, Spooner submitted a simple request under the Freedom of Information Act, asking for the most recent organization chart for the FCPS “Chief Equity Office,” a list of employees with their current salaries, and the office’s budget for the current fiscal year.

After paying $140 for four hours of research time by FCPS staffers, Spooner discovered the immense scope and budget of the school district’s Chief Equity Office – a revelation that raises essential questions about the bureaucracy in one of the nation’s largest school systems. He published his analysis on Saturday on his website, Fairfax Schools Monitor.

At the center of controversies

The Chief Equity Office has been at the center of several controversial initiatives that have sparked local and national debate among parents, educators, and community members.

The office oversaw the rollout of the “Privilege Bingo” card, which was criticized for dividing students based on perceived advantages, such as race and socioeconomic status, rather than fostering unity. Educational materials, including content from “Woke Kindergarten,” have been included in parent resources, raising concerns about the politicization of early childhood education.

The office implements changes to the admissions process at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, eliminating merit admissions in 2020 and replacing them with “holistic” admissions aimed at achieving greater racial “representation.” The change led to the school’s fall from the No. 1 to the No. 14 spot in national rankings, drawing criticism from policymakers, parents, staff, and alumni.

The office oversees the district’s policy that ensures students who turn in homework receive at least 50% on assignments – and cannot score below that threshold, raising questions about academic rigor and accountability.

The office has incorporated books by controversial author Ibram X. Kendi, a Prince William County Public Schools graduate, into school curriculums, with critics arguing that his teachings on “antiracism” and critical race theory promote divisive ideologies rather than constructive solutions.

Data points in a sprawling bureaucracy

The findings paint the picture of sprawling bureaucracy with titles like “Senior Manager II, Professional Learning and Cultural Responsiveness,” “Educational Specialist, Equity & Cultural Responsiveness,” and “Restorative Justice Practices Specialist I.” (In a departure from the typical editorial style, the titles in this article have been capitalized to identify the titles clearly for readers.)

• Total budget: The Chief Equity Office has a total budget of $5,764,129.67, according to budget documents
• Total salaries add up to $5,327,328.70, or 92% of the total budget.
• Salaries over $100,000: There are 34 employees who make more than $100,000, with teachers earning much less.

Highest paid salaries:

1. Nardos King, Chief Equity Officer: $258,641
2. Kathleen S. Watts, Executive Director, Equity and Student Relations: $191,634
3. Lisa S. Forrest, Hearings Office: $189,569
4. Tara P. Hewan, Director III, Equity: $181,288
5. Linda A. Ferguson, Special Projects Administrator: $177,276
6. Joseph Berret, Assistant Administrative Hearing Officer: $171,664
7. Alisha K. Martinez, Administrator, Equity Programs: $169,127
8. Gina S. Brooks, Assistant Administrative Hearing Officer: $164,165
9. Mark T. Holbrook, Assistant Administrative Hearing Officer: $164,165
10. Junena A. Thomas, Senior Manager II, Professional Learning and Cultural Responsiveness: $157,941

These figures only scratch the surface. Teachers, administrators, and staff throughout FCPS participate in DEI training and administration, further inflating the actual cost of these programs.

“Although I knew that Fairfax County Public Schools has an ‘equity’ office, I was taken aback to learn how massive it is,” Spooner told the Fairfax County Times.

“It is difficult to believe that 56 full-time employees would be needed at headquarters to deal with actual discrimination,” he said. “FCPS spends far too much time and resources in wasteful activities, like creating curricula that teach kids that they are victims, policing student discipline to prevent so-called ‘discipline proportionality,’ policing pronouns, and downgrading admissions standards for Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology to achieve racial parity in the student body. That’s why they think a big bureaucracy is needed.

“If they focused on real discrimination rather than on this sort of ‘equity,’ the bureaucracy could be much smaller,” Spooner said.

Broader implications

FCPS’s equity initiatives have extended their reach into nearly every facet of the school system. Since 2020, then-superintendent Scott Brabrand declared equity was at the “heart” of FCPS, and the district has integrated it into policies, curricula, and even student discipline practices.

For example, the district’s focus on “discipline proportionality” aims to balance disciplinary actions across demographic groups, even when such efforts may compromise classroom order and teacher autonomy.

Similarly, the admissions process at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, one of the nation’s top-ranked high schools, has been overhauled to prioritize racial and socioeconomic diversity. Critics argue this downgrades academic standards and undermines the school’s merit-based ethos.

While some oversight is necessary to address genuine instances of discrimination, Spooner said his findings reveal a system that prioritizes enforcing “equal outcomes” over equal opportunities.

“Vast bureaucracies have been created to enforce equal outcomes rather than equal opportunity,” Spooner noted. “Is a 56-person ‘equity’ office, with supervisors and sub-supervisors and sub-sub-supervisors, really needed?”

National conversation

The revelations about FCPS come at a pivotal moment. Across the country, institutions from Target to NASA are reassessing the efficacy and cost of DEI programs, which critics claim often create division and fail to deliver meaningful results. Proponents argue these programs are essential for fostering inclusivity, but the ballooning budgets and bureaucracies–as seen in FCPS–are sparking widespread skepticism.

As local governments and school boards formulate future budgets, Spooner said he hopes his findings serve as a clarion call for greater transparency and accountability. He said that taxpayers and parents must ask: are these initiatives truly serving students or perpetuating a costly and ineffective system?

FCPS Chief Equity Office, 4 departments, and 52 salaries totaling $6.4 million

The Chief Equity Office

1. Nardos King, Chief Equity Officer: $258,641
2. Michelle M. Claude, Senior Business Operations Specialist: $117,589
3. M.S. Vigen, Senior Executive Administrative Assistant: $99,375

Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology Admissions

4. Linda S. Sperling, TJHSST Admissions Director: $122,717
5. Nancy H. Rowland, TJHSST Admissions Outreach Specialist: $105,958
6. Cherri M. Firaben, Administrative Assistant III: $74,275

Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion

7. Tara P. Hewan, Director III, Equity: $181,288
8. Junena A. Thomas, Senior Manager II, Professional Learning and Cultural Responsiveness: $157,941
9. Darnessia H. Semper, Senior Manager I, Equity and Cultural Responsiveness: $155,921
10. Qia V. Craig, Educational Specialist, Equity & Cultural Responsiveness: $149,779
11. Shannon E. Merriweather, Equity & Cultural Responsiveness: $149,779
12. Manuel D. Gomez Portillo, Educational Specialist, Equity & Cultural Responsiveness: $141,140
13. Raven A. Compton, Educational Specialist, Equity & Cultural Responsiveness: $131,705
14. Kristen Haynor, Educational Specialist, Neurodiversity: $128,493
15. Michelle Cottrell-Williams, Educational Specialist, Equity & Cultural Responsiveness: $124,751
16. Adrienne C. Glenn, Curriculum Resource Teacher: $123,613
17. Robert J. Kerr, Educational Specialist, Equity & Cultural Responsiveness: $121,117
18. Engy M. Fanos, Administrative Assistant III: $76,875

Equity & Student Relations

19. Kathleen S. Watts, Executive Director, Equity and Student Relations: $191,634
20. Linda A. Ferguson, Special Projects Administrator: $177,276
21. Alisha K. Martinez, Administrator, Equity Programs: $169,127
22. Colby Bruno, Title IX Coordinator: $151,041
23. Jessica L. Greis Edwardson, Title IX Investigator: $149,779
24. Mary A. Jakso, Title IX Investigator: $143,963
25. Dionna Y. Shinn, Senior Manager II, Equity & Student Conduct: $133,473
26. Beauregard S. Buchanan, Title IX Investigator: $114,160
27. Zachary Friedman, Title IX Investigator: $114,164
28. Maria-Christina B. Draper, Resource Teacher, High School/Nonschool Based: $113,412
29. Anna Laura Grant, Restorative Justice Practices Specialist II: $112,958
30. Solomon Melson, Educational Specialist, Behavior Intervention: $110,304
31. Calvin C. Umezurike, Title IX Investigator: $106,574
32. Siew Poh Lee, Data Specialist, Instructional Support: $98,914
33. Joel Gaines, Title IX Investigator: $91,540
34. Riya R. Mehta, Resource Teacher, High School/Nonschool Based: $91,257
35. Roberta C. Hellman, Resource Teacher, High School/Nonschool Based: $89,829
36. Alexander L. Hunter, Resource Teacher, High School/Nonschool Based: $88,599
37. Christopher S. Tsang, Restorative Justice Practices Specialist I: $85,802
38. Sequoyah S. Cotton, Resource Teacher, High School/Nonschool Based: $77,209
39. Jill Hendelman, Business Operations Assistant I/II/III: $76,325
40. Deborah A. Phillips, Administrative Assistant III: $66,992

Hearings Office

41. Lisa S. Forrest, Hearings Officer: $189,569
42. Joseph Berret, Assistant Administrative Hearing Officer: $171,664
43. Gina S. Brooks, Assistant Administrative Hearing Officer: $164,165
44. Mark T. Holbrook, Assistant Administrative Hearing Officer: $164,165
45. Shante Freeman, Assistant Administrative Hearing Officer: $150,898
46. Kelly Ross, Assistant Administrative Hearing Officer: $132,731
47. Yolanda Villanueva, Administrative Assistant III: $92,724
48. Claudia E. Limache, Hearing & Legal Technician I/II/III: $89,634
49. Sheena S. Cox, Hearing & Legal Technician I/II/III: $88,256
50. Stefany E. Ramno, Administrative Assistant I: $65,840
51. Ester Rose A. Dela Paz, Administrative Assistant I: $61,462
52. Claudia M. Limache, Administrative Assistant I: $57,100