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Arlington County Public Schools parents push for more funding

A group of parents is concerned about teacher retention, class size, and helping those left behind the most by two years of pandemic schooling.

ARLINGTON, Va. — Like an end-of-the-year report card, some Arlington parents are watching for signs of progress in two Thursday budget meetings -  Arlington County meeting and Arlington Public Schools meeting.

Arlington County plans to "fully fund" its portion of Arlington Public Schools roughly $750 million budget - providing more than $580 million - in an increase over previous years a county spokesperson says.

But parents worry it's not enough to retain teachers and lower class sizes and have outlined their concerns in an open letter to the county board. 

"Currently the proposal that's on the table is...still kind of in the middle of the pack on teacher comp," said Miranda Turner with Arlington Parents for Education. She says another concern is helping kids catch up who have been held back the most by the past two-plus years of pandemic schooling. 

She says data from the district shows the irregular school years have hit kids with disabilities harder than most.

"We need to turn our attention to them because they deserve it and they've gone through a lot in the past two years," said Turner. 

"We have kids who are struggling to read. We have kids who are behind in math. APS is tracking this," she said. "And those are the areas where we think a lot more funding needs to be brought to bear, and it's really a joint effort from the county and the schools."

A spokesperson for APS said the school board and superintendent have studied teacher pay and it is a priority. The board is said to be ready to spend even more than the superintendent recommended. 

But parents say the county still needs to chip in another 1-1.5% to fully meet the needs of students. 

No decisions from either the school board or the county were expected Thursday but final budgets could come early next week. 

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