Fairfax County teachers’ elation at securing a collective bargaining agreement, the first of its kind in nearly 50 years for the district, has proven short-lived.
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors is set to adopt a budget for fiscal year 2026 that transfers $2.93 billion to Fairfax County Public Schools — up $119 million from the current fiscal year, but well short of the $248 million increase that Superintendent Michelle Reid requested primarily to cover employee pay raises promised by the union contract.
When voting to support the budget yesterday (Tuesday), supervisors said they couldn’t justify approving a 7% increase to FCPS employees while county government employees took a more modest increase.
Braddock District Supervisor James Walkinshaw blamed FCPS leaders for making unrealistic promises during collective bargaining with the Fairfax Education Unions.
However, the Fairfax County Federation of Teachers (FCFT), which partnered with the Fairfax Education Association (FEA) to jointly represent FCPS employees in contract negotiations, directed most of its ire at the Board of Supervisors in a lengthy statement released today (Wednesday):
Members of the Board repeatedly told Fairfax County Federation of Teachers membership that FCPS, Superintendent Dr. Reid, and the School Board refused to collaborate with them during the negotiations and appropriations phases of our contracts. We question the integrity of this claim. However, if this assertion holds true, it shows clear incompetence of fulfilling basic job responsibilities and demonstrates a lack of foresight by the Supervisors. Our contracts were not a surprise. Supervisors knew that FCPS would enter collective bargaining negotiations, and our campaign was frequently referenced during the FY 2025 budget process.
Rather than take responsibility or muster political courage, they sought to divide a coalition that continously urged them to fully fund FCPS. Upon their unwillingness to stimulate adequate revenue, Supervisors then pointed the finger elsewhere.
Elected to represent 27,500 FCPS employees during the collective bargaining agreements last summer, the Fairfax Education Unions announced in October that they had secured tentative agreements with the school system that included a 7% pay raise starting on July 1, 2025, better hours, guaranteed planning time and more.
The Fairfax County School Board approved the three-year contract on Jan. 9, but even at the time of the vote, School Board Chair Karl Frisch acknowledged that funding hinged on the county government providing sufficient funding to FCPS.
“Teacher pay is always a top priority for both the Board of Supervisors and the School Board, and I look forward to working with my colleagues on both boards this year to fund our community’s priorities,” Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay told FFXnow at the time.
When it came time to finalize this year’s budget, though, the county board opted to use revenue from a new 4% food and beverage tax to reduce the real estate tax rate by a quarter of a cent — a decision that the FCFT suggested serves “wealthy donor interests” over the needs of constituents.
“In an era of soaring wealth and income inequality, Supervisors are willfully siding with real estate developers, business executives, and wealthy property owners over working-class parents, educational workers, and Fairfax County’s future — our kids,” the union said.
FCFT learned that our contracts will not be funded and we are being forced back to the bargaining table. The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors failed us and the students and communities we serve.
Here’s our statement on the Board of Supervisors’ failure to fund our contracts: pic.twitter.com/RwUkLW4dUA
— Fairfax County Federation of Teachers (@FCFTunion) May 7, 2025
The school board had advocated for revenue from the proposed meals tax to go to FCPS, which is also facing threats of losing federal funding. A 4% meals tax rejected by voters in 2016 would’ve generated an estimated $99 million per year, 70% of which county leaders had promised to direct to public schools.
According to county staff, the new meals tax, which is set to take effect on Jan. 1, 2026, is projected to generate $65.1 million for the last six months of the fiscal year. The tax will require an estimated $2.8 million in annual administrative costs, and for the first two years, a 3% “dealer discount” will go back to restaurants to offset their costs.
In a statement to FFXnow, McKay contended that Virginia leaders are primarily responsible for FCPS’ budget shortfall:
“Our Board provides substantial and ongoing support to our schools—not only through the annual transfer, which we increase every single year, but also by directly funding critical services through the County budget, including school debt service, school nurses, School Resource Officers, crossing guards and middle school after-school programs, SACC, and more. In addition to funding these essential services, more than 51% of the County’s total budget goes directly to the schools. This year, FCPS staff were told they would receive 7% raises as part of a collective bargaining agreement signed in October. Neither the Board nor County staff were involved in any way in those negotiations.
Just one month later, in November, the County informed schools of a projected $300 million shortfall. Even in the face of these challenges, the County Board delivered a $119 million increase to FCPS — more than enough to provide substantial raises if allocated strategically by the School Board. Let me be clear: without the consistent and constantly growing support from our Board, FCPS would be a shell of the excellent school system it is today. If there is any party underfunding our schools, it is the state — by their own analysis — not this Board who increased school funding in the midst of a very difficult budget by over $119 million.”
But FCFT said the county board’s habit of blaming the state government is wearing thin, given that the state’s underfunding of education has been a reality in every budget cycle for the last 15 years.
“Blame game politics and rudderless problem-solving is what voters in Fairfax County — and around the country — are fed up with,” FCFT said.
The federation joined other labor unions in supporting legislation that would make Fairfax County eligible for a casino, arguing that the entertainment complex envisioned by the developer Comstock Companies would lead to well-paying union jobs and give the county and state a new revenue source.
The bill ultimately stalled in the House of Delegates after many neighborhood associations and local and state elected officials rallied against it, though Comstock said it plans to revive the fight in the next General Assembly session.
A range of county government programs also faced budget cuts this year, though the Board of Supervisors managed to stave off the elimination of some key services, including popular middle-school after school programs.
The FY 2026 budget, which is slated for formal adoption next Tuesday (May 13), fully funds pay raises promised to police and fire workers under three-year collective bargaining agreements that were approved in 2023.
In response to a request for comment from FFXnow, an FCPS spokesperson said Superintendent Reid “is working on the budget and preparing remarks on it” that will be presented to the school board tomorrow (Thursday)
FCPS will invite community input at a public hearing at 6 p.m. next Tuesday (May 13), and the school board is scheduled to approve a final budget on May 22.
This story was updated with a statement from Chairman Jeff McKay and to correct the date of the school board’s budget public hearing.
