School board candidates say Mason schools need more resources

Three at-large school board candidates who spoke at a campaign event in Lake Barcroft May 7 – Lawrence Webb, Hamid Munir, and Ilryong Moon – said they support more resources for schools with high rates of poverty.

At-large board members represent the whole county, so the key question for them is whether they understand and support the needs in Mason District, which has a high proportion of Title I schools.

Both Webb and Munir called for FCPS to provide stipends for teachers in Title I schools as an incentive to get them to stay. Many teachers in Title I schools are trained to work with challenging populations. then leave as soon as they can find a less stressful job.

Munir, a PTA leader at the local, regional, and state level, said it’s unfair that PTAs at schools in affluent areas raise much more money than schools in poorer areas. He suggested exploring ways to redistribute some of those funds.

Moon, who has served on the Fairfax County School Board from 1996 to 2019, said he has always supported needs-based funding. High-poverty schools get more staff, but it’s not enough, he said. He also proposed housing assistance to teachers in high-need schools so they can live where they teach.

Moon, Webb, and Munir are among the five at-large candidates for the Fairfax County School Board seeking endorsement from the Fairfax County Democratic Committee. The others are Ryan McElveen and Kyle McDaniel.

School board elections are nonpartisan. The endorsement process will consist of online voting by registered Democrats May 13-20. The endorsees will be selected by ranked-choice voting.

Career and technical education

Webb, a Springfield resident who previously served on the City of Falls Church School Board and City Council, said his top priority is expanding opportunities for students who aren’t headed to college.

Students shouldn’t be stigmatized if they want to get a job and take care of their family instead of going to college, said Webb, an administrator at Bowie State University in Maryland.

He said students who earn a workforce certification would end up with no student loan debt and the potential to earn a six-figure salary right out of high school.

FCPS has great career and technical academies, he noted. “We have to make sure those are equitably spread around and bring some of those programs into more schools.”

If elected, Webb said he would bring back a climate of collegiality to Fairfax County. “People are coming to board meetings with vitriol. They’re not coming to listen and learn,” he said. “We need to work hard to not only protect our students, but make sure our teachers and administrators are heard and protected.”

Webb vowed to fight Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s proposals to take away the protections and rights of LGBTQ students and to “whitewash” the history curriculum by discouraging teachers from speaking about the struggle for civil rights and related issues.  

He also said he would fight for more state funding for Fairfax County by pushing to revise the funding formula that shortchanges Northern Virginia.

A level playing field

Moon, a lawyer based in Annandale, a Harvard graduate, and Sunday school teacher, described growing up in extreme poverty in Korea. Six or seven families lived under the same roof sharing a kitchen and outhouse. 

His family immigrated to the U.S. in 1974 when he was 17. His father didn’t graduate from high school and his mother had only a second-grade education, but they made sure all three children studied hard and went to college, Moon said.

Related story: Moon is running for the school board

If elected, Moon said he would be able to help other children from similar backgrounds achieve their own American Dream.

High school students from McLean and Vienna in his Sunday School class have parents who can afford to send them to expensive camps or trips in the summer. If elected, Moon would push to provide comparable opportunities during summers, weekends, and school breaks to the 35 percent of students in Fairfax County living in poverty. “That’s my top priority,” he said.

Expanding technology

Munir, an IT professional for a defense contractor, said his expertise in technology would be a plus on the school board. “You need diversity on the board, not only by color but by profession.”

Like Moon, Munir came to the U.S. when he was 17. A speaker of four languages, he volunteers as a translator for hospital patients, as well as serving in leadership roles with the PTA, Islamic Circle of North America, and other organizations.

Among his accomplishments, he proposed the faith-based calendar, subsequently adopted by the National PTA, that discourages teachers from scheduling tests or special activities on religious holidays.

A graduate of Justice High School, Munir said: “I know how hard it is to connect our communities with the schools. When I was growing up, school used to be the center of the community . . . We need to make sure our communities are welcomed in school.”

Munir also wants to expand career and technical programs and called for more hybrid courses that allow students to keep up with their classes online. That would reduce absenteeism among students who miss class because they need to work, help their families, or spend a week or two visiting relatives in their home countries.

Munir lauded Superintendent Michelle Reid for fighting back against the governor’s watering down of the history curriculum. “We should be standing with her,” he said. “We need to fight back.”