Incumbent Voting History

Fairfax FLAGS supporters asked if we could provide voting records and other pertinent info of past public support of the incumbents who are running for re-election. You can see from the information below that the incumbents, especially Moon, Smith, Strauss and Storck, have demonstrated strong support and commitment to FCPS Goal 1.2 and to our elementary foreign language programs even through the extremely tough budgets of the past few years.

History of Voting and Support from Incumbents

Of the school board members running for re-election, Moon, Smith, Strauss and Storck all voted in 2006 to adopt the current student achievement goals which include Goal 1.2 – communicate in at least two languages. Implementation of the FLES program over a 7-year period was recommended to accomplish this goal.

During the FY2009 budget process, funding for FLES expansion was cut from 16 schools in the initial proposed budget, down to 8 schools, then to zero new schools. The budget that was voted on May 2008, restored $0.2 M funding for 4 new FLES schools. An amendment was proposed to cut this funding, but did not pass. Board members Moon, Smith, Strauss and Storck voted against that amendment (along with others not running for re-election) and expanded the program to 4 new schools – there has been no other expansion to new schools since FY2009. Board members Reed and Evans were not on the board at this time.

In January, 2010, Dr. Dale did not include funding for the FLES program in the FY2011 budget. Over 100 people provided testimony in support of early language learning at the FY 2011 budget public hearings. Board member Smith put forth the amendment to restore the $2.2M for the FLES teacher and instructional services support positions. All but one board member (Wilson) voted in favor of the amendment including Moon, Strauss, Storck, and Reed who are running for re-election. The Mason seat occupied by Evans now was vacant at the time.

In February of 2011, board member Hone, proposed an amendment to cut FLES funding from the current FY2012 budget to use the funds elsewhere. This proposal failed unanimously with support from Board members Moon, Smith, Strauss, Storck, Evans, and Reed who are all running for re-election.

At the October 17, 2011 budget work session, the current School Board discussed priorities and reached a consensus to raise the level of priority for Goal 1.2 (from a 6 to a 7 on a 10 point scale.) Moon, Smith and Strauss offered very strong statements of support, including the desire to raise the priority to a 9 or 10 and expand our elementary programs.

NOTE: Additionally, during the critical FY2011 budget year, Strauss and Smith, in particular, were extremely accessible to Fairfax FLAGS. They both also attended multiple FLAGS meetings with more than 100 attendees present to provide budget support and answer questions from our group.