Just a few days remain until the special election Tuesday, Feb. 26, to fill former Sully District representative Gary Reese's seat on the Fairfax County School Board. Hoping to win favor from the voters are candidates Kathy Smith, Ellyn Soefer and Al White.
Smith, of Poplar Tree Estates, has been PTA president at three local schools — Poplar Tree Elementary, Rocky Run Middle and Chantilly High. She's also a former teacher and has served as the county school system's Parent Advisory Services coordinator. She believes parents should not only be involved in the school system, but should also be advocates for their children. She's endorsed by both the Sully District Democratic Committee and the Government Relations Council of the Fairfax Education Association.
Soefer, of Fair Oaks, was the assistant principal of Franklin Middle School for 17 years. She's also been a health and P.E. teacher and has worked at the Area III office as a placement specialist. She believes the basics must be balanced with critical-thinking skills, and she focused on her students and on helping all of them achieve. She also believes children are the most important commodity and teaching is the most important job there is.
Al White, of Virginia Run, oversees Department of Defense criminal investigations. He is endorsed by the Sully District Republican Committee, as well as by Reese, himself. He's a Vietnam veteran and a member of the federal government's elite Senior Executive Service. He's a firm believer in accountability, program budgets and performance measurement, fiscal restraint and setting and meeting strategic targets and goals.
Below — in alphabetical order — the candidates tell why they believe they are the most qualified for the job:
<mh>Kathy Smith
<bt>"I come at this from many facets," said Smith. "I have the experience of an educator and of a parent — with four children in the system right now — so I'm living this."
She also stresses that she's educated about the issues because of her experience being on school-plan committees at all levels, as well as serving on various advisory committees. She's currently on Superintendent Daniel A. Domenech's Accountability Advisory Committee.
Said Smith: "I think, of all the candidates, I understand the complexities of the classroom — not just from the parents' standpoint, but also from the teachers' and students' and because of my communication with so many people."
Saying that she's always been a true advocate for parents, she noted that she also has the time necessary to commit to this job. "It's what I've done for many years," she said. "It was the next logical step to take it to the School Board."
Smith said she comes equipped with a broad range of knowledge and experience in school issues as diverse as GT programs, school security and IEPs (Individual Educational Placements) that will allow her to hit the ground running from day one: "I feel like I have the best experience to do this, and I believe I'd be a good representative for the community."
<mh>Ellyn Soefer
<bt>She believes she's the only candidate with experience in all aspects of education — from teaching, to administration, to conflict resolution, to launching new curriculum, to personnel issues, to budgets. Said Soefer: "I've lived it, I know it and I've done it — education."
Describing education as "the great equalizer" for children, she says it's vitally important and that the school system needs to do all it can to attract and retain quality teachers for the students.
"In my 30 years of experience, all the issues before us I've, at one time or another, dealt with — and that's where experience counts," she said. "I think, if people took the time to come to the candidates' forum or read the [newspaper] articles, they'll speak for themselves in demonstrating the respect I have from the community and the knowledge of the issues that I possess."
Soefer said she's extremely gratified and appreciative of the tremendous support she's received from parents, teachers and former colleagues, encouraging her to "win this race and get on the School Board and continue to work for their children."
<mh>Al White
<bt>He believes he should be elected because of "the credentials I bring to the table as far as my 27 years of public service, my education and my ability to actively engage in macro issues — such as addressing the significant budget issues and demanding accountability."
White also wants to tackle classroom size instituting a reduction in class size as a strategic target to make sure it's accomplished. He believes doing so would allow teachers to have more time to plan for their current and subsequent days' work. "If I heard this from one teacher, I heard it from 100 of them," he said.
"Hopefully, as compared to my opponents, I've been able to demonstrate that I can get results in dealing with all the board members — by securing girls varsity volleyball and addressing the athletic directors' support-personnel, pay-equity issue," said White. "And I've also dealt with a wide variety of issues as the Sully District's representative on the Human Relations Advisory Committee."