Pricetag of "equity" in Fairfax County Schools: $6.4 million - Red Virginia News - The Greatest Republican Leaning Newspaper in Virginia

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:

Nardos King, Chief Equity Officer: $258,641
Kathleen S. Watts, Executive Director, Equity and Student Relations: $191,634
Lisa S. Forrest, Hearings Office: $189,569
Tara P. Hewan, Director III, Equity: $181,288
Linda A. Ferguson, Special Projects Administrator: $177,276
Joseph Berret, Assistant Administrative Hearing Officer: $171,664
Alisha K. Martinez, Administrator, Equity Programs: $169,127
Gina S. Brooks, Assistant Administrative Hearing Officer: $164,165
Mark T. Holbrook, Assistant Administrative Hearing Officer: $164,165
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

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

Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology Admissions

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

Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion

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

Equity & Student Relations

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