“Diversity, Equity and Inclusion” programs are crumbling almost everywhere, as institutions are realizing that DEI can be costly, divisive, ineffective, and contrary to American values.  The trend began before the new administration took power in Washington on January 20, and it will surely mushroom in the coming months.

There is no visible sign, however, that the power of DEI in FCPS will decline anytime soon.  Since 2021, when then-Superintendent Scott Braband declared that “equity” would not just be “a thing” but would be “the thing” in the school system, DEI has affected almost everything FCPS has done.  Among other things, it is an integral part of the “Excellence, Equity and Opportunity” Strategic Plan for 2023-30.  A substantial bureaucracy has been established within FCPS to administer existing “equity” programs and to advocate for additional initiatives.

What is the cost of this “equity”?  The question can’t be fully answered in dollar terms.  Unquantifiable costs are incurred whenever merit gives way to preferences based on race, gender or other “identities,” as when a school hires a less-qualified teacher in preference to a more-qualified one, or when the academic requirements of a premier high school are downgraded in the name of equity, or when a school fails to discipline disruptive students because the racial “proportionality” of discipline would be affected thereby.

Nevertheless, it is important to understand what the school system spends on DEI, so Fairfax Schools Monitor submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for information.  We obtained an organization chart, salary information, and the current year budget for the Chief Equity Office at FCPS headquarters.  Here’s what we learned:

The Chief Equity Office is headed by a Chief Equity Officer (salary: $258,641).  She directly supervises an Executive Director for Equity & Student Relations ($191,634), a Chief Administrative Hearings Officer ($189,569), and a Thomas Jefferson High School Admissions Director ($122,717).

The Executive Director for Equity & Student Relations supervises a Director of Equity ($181,288), a Special Projects Administrator ($177,276), an Administrator of Equity Programs ($169,127), a Title IX Coordinator ($151,041), a Senior Manager for Equity & Student Conduct ($133,473), and a Data Specialist ($98,914).  These employees supervise other employees under them.  For example, the Director of Equity has a Senior Manager of Equity & Cultural Responsiveness ($155,921), who, in turn, supervises several Educational Specialists for Equity & Cultural Responsiveness (salaries between $121,000 and $150,000).

Altogether, there are 56 authorized full-time positions in the Chief Equity Office according to the FOIA documents.  It is important to note that this greatly understates the number of FCPS employees participating in DEI activities, because (i) other central office personnel, from the Superintendent on down, work with the Chief Equity Office and (ii) teachers and administrative staff in every elementary, middle and high school are involved in DEI training and administration.

The FOIA documents disclose that the budgeted salaries of Chief Equity Office personnel total about $5.25 million and that the total budget of the office is about $5.76 million.  Again, however, the numbers significantly understate FCPS expenditures because the office’s official budget does not include (i) any amount for rent, utilities or other overhead attributable to the DEI office, or (ii) DEI expenditures in the hundreds of schools in Fairfax County.

Every school system must have personnel who will combat discriminatory conduct.  Some money must be spent.  But in many institutions, including FCPS, DEI doesn’t just deal with discrimination.  Vast bureaucracies have been created to enforce equal outcomes rather than equal opportunity.  Is a 56-person “equity” office, with supervisors and sub-supervisors and sub-sub-supervisors, really needed? Questions like this should be addressed when FCPS formulates its ever-expanding budgets.