Fairfax County Public Schools claims to have students ’ best interests in mind — or at least that’s what the eleventh-largest school district in America tells the public. But evidence streaming from FCPS’s smoky backrooms tells a different story, and Virginia parents are slowly learning how they’ve been betrayed by administrators.

In 2022, school officials overseeing Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, formerly the top-ranked magnet school in America, delayed releasing students’ National Merit awards, which many in the community interpreted as an effort to spare the feelings of students who performed poorly on the PSAT exam. Perceptive parents demanded an investigation into the matter, calling out the stunt as a thinly-veiled attempt to further shove “equity,” as in “equal outcomes,” down the throats of hardworking students.

In addition to Thomas Jefferson, district administrators withheld test results in eight other Virginia high schools, a problem that FCPS Superintendent Michelle Reid claimed was merely the result of a one-time clerical mistake. “We’re a really large division, and we’re an imperfect people,” Reid said. “And human error does happen and mistakes are made.”

FCPS commissioned an investigation into the scandal (at a rate of more than $2,000 per hour in legal fees), yet curiously now refuses to announce the full results of the investigation into its activities — all but confirming families’ worst suspicions. Rather than providing the transparency of the complete report, FCPS chose to release a “ Key Findings ” document that attributed the administration’s failures to logistical problems.

If the attorneys’ investigation was indeed a vindication, then why not release it in its entirety? If FCPS staff did in fact make an innocent mistake, purely by coincidence, in eight separate institutions, there would be no reason to withhold the full report findings.

Although it may be cold comfort to Fairfax County parents, it turns out that FCPS isn’t just unaccountable to its constituents. It’s also given the cold shoulder to state officials with direct jurisdiction over its operations.

In early June, Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares was forced to file a subpoena in order for the state to gain access to the report, noting that he and his office were unable to perform their proper oversight role without complete information. The district, unsurprisingly, has chosen to fight the request. Actions speak louder than words, and FCPS would rather spend its finite resources on lawyers to fight transparency rather than invest in academic achievement.

Superintendent Reid claims that “providing this information would likely result in a risk to staff safety, a waiver of privilege, and public disclosure of confidential information relating to individual FCPS students, teachers, and administrators.” This is a slap in the face to parents who know that staff names and identifications can be (and regularly are) easily protected through simple redaction.

It's little wonder that parental trust in educational institutions has plummeted to a near-record low of 28% . In Fairfax, enrollment has decreased significantly over the past three years, and the district’s ongoing scandals are sure to increase the pace of families fleeing this banana republic. After all, the district has a long history of undermining families.

From altering the admissions policy in a deliberate attempt to change the racial makeup of Thomas Jefferson High School to paying for social media surveillance of the community, transitioning students’ gender behind families’ backs to changing its “controversial issues” policy in order to encourage teachers to inject their personal opinions into classrooms without reprisal, FCPS has revealed its utter disregard for the rights of parents and students alike.

Parents have every reason to be skeptical of a school district known for waging a war on merit, and they deserve to know the true motives behind FCPS’s decision to delay National Merit results. The American education system must rebuild its relationship with the families that it has been undermining, and the first step in doing so is to restore accountability. No public school official is above the law, and if laws were broken, then there must be consequences. Students, and taxpayers, deserve more from FCPS.

Nicole Neily is the president and founder of Parents Defending Education.