By Maria Glod
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, October 22, 2007

Some candidates for Fairfax County School Board pledge to ferret out waste in the $2 billion budget. Some see intensified phonics instruction as a way to narrow the minority achievement gap. And some say the school system should do more for students who excel.

Twenty-one contenders are vying for 12 seats on a board that oversees the largest school system in the region and 13th-largest nationwide. Incumbents are uncontested in five races, but eight candidates are seeking three countywide seats, and eight more are seeking four contested district seats.

Those who win four-year terms Nov. 6 will make funding decisions, recommend curriculum changes, vote on school attendance zones and monitor the leadership of Superintendent Jack D. Dale. No issue has dominated the campaign, but the new board is likely to face tough policy questions right away. Dale is anticipating a need to make budget cuts because county officials predict the region's housing slump will mean stagnant funding for schools. Three-quarters of the schools' $2.2 billion annual budget comes from the county. Cuts could force schools to eliminate programs, raise class sizes or scale back plans to expand full-day kindergarten.

The 165,000-student school system also is under growing pressure from the No Child Left Behind law as schools move toward a goal of having all students proficient in reading and math by 2014. This year, 68 county schools did not make the grade under the federal law, compared with 32 last year.

Voters in Prince William and Loudoun counties also will elect school boards Nov. 6. In Prince William, two seats on the eight-member board are contested, with candidates focused on ways to relieve crowded schools and help students learning to speak English as a second language. In Loudoun, six of nine board seats are contested as candidates spar over finding land for new schools.

Under Virginia law, school boards are nonpartisan, but in Fairfax, no candidate has won election without the backing of a major political party. This year, the five unchallenged board members are Democrat-endorsed. Both major parties are endorsing full slates for other seats. Most current board members are Democrat-backed; two are GOP-endorsed. But the board has made a point of working for consensus, and few votes are along party lines.

The contest for countywide at-large seats could lead to a shift in the board's dynamics.

At-large incumbents Stephen M. Hunt, 49, backed by the GOP, and Ilryong Moon, 50, backed by the Democrats, are seeking reelection. At least one countywide seat will be filled by a newcomer because board member Janet S. Oleszek, a Democrat, is challenging state Sen. Ken Cuccinelli II (R) in Fairfax County's 37th District race.

Hunt and Christian N. Braunlich, 54, a Republican-backed candidate who served two terms on the School Board from 1995 to 2003, support more phonics instruction for struggling young readers, an effort they think would help narrow the achievement gap between black and Latino students and their white and Asian American peers.

Hunt, an analyst with Science Applications International, also said he wants to evaluate programs to ensure that the schools are spending money effectively. He advocates a back-to-basics approach, with a focus on math and reading.

Braunlich, vice president of the Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy, a conservative think tank in Fairfax, said he would advocate for more honors classes for "kids in the middle."

Moon, a South Korean-born lawyer who came to the United States as a teenager, is the only ethnic minority on the board. Moon said he would push to continue expansion of full-day kindergarten and foreign language instruction in elementary schools despite budget constraints. He also said the system needs to do more to help students who perform well do even better.

Martina A. "Tina" Hone, 45, a former Teach for America member who works for Congressional Quarterly, said she would seek to recruit more minority teachers and more teachers who have worked in troubled schools. Hone, whose mother is African American and whose father is a political refugee from Yugoslavia, said she would bring a new perspective to the board about the concerns of minorities and immigrants. She is endorsed by the Democratic Party.

James L. Raney, 60, a Defense Department analyst, supports creating an annual report card that parents could use to gauge how well the schools are educating traditional students as well as those in gifted programs, special education programs and alternative schools. He is also Democrat-endorsed.

Paul A. Costantino, 48, a probation counselor at the Fairfax County Juvenile Detention Center, is among several candidates who have vowed to seek out waste in the schools spending plan, which topped $2 billion for the first time in 2006. Costantino, who has the GOP's endorsement, also said the schools need to do more for students with mental health problems, including hiring more counselors.

Ralph M. Cooper Jr., 57, who has served on the schools' Minority Achievement Oversight Committee, also supports enhanced phonics instruction. Cooper, a system analyst at Alion Science and Technology, is among several candidates who said they would find ways to get parents more involved in education. He is not party-endorsed.

Christopher E. Volkstorf, 38, a graphic designer, is endorsed by the Independent Green Party and said he ran to help draw attention to the party's push for a high-speed rail network.

In district races, Democrat-backed Ramona W. Morrow and GOP-backed Elizabeth T. Bradsher are competing to replace retiring board member Catherine A. Belter (Springfield). GOP-backed incumbent Tessie Wilson (Braddock) faces Democrat-backed Elizabeth D. Griffith; Democrat-backed incumbent Stuart D. Gibson (Hunter Mill) faces GOP-backed Christine A. Arakelian; and Democrat-backed incumbent Kathy L. Smith (Sully) faces GOP-backed John L. Litzenberger Jr.

The uncontested, Democrat-backed incumbents seeking reelection are Daniel G. Storck (Mount Vernon), Phillip A. Niedzielski-Eichner (Providence), Kaye Kory (Mason), Jane K. Strauss (Dranesville) and Brad Center (Lee).