Facebook: Aucoin for School Board
Twitter: @Aucoin4Schools

1. School and student academic performance. The Fairfax County Public School System has lost its way. The 200+ schools in FCPS have vastly different reading and math proficiency levels, and the already present achievement gaps between Black and Latino children and other racial/ethnic groups are widening. A dysfunctional educational system is being supported by billions of dollars paid by Fairfax County. To get back to the original purpose of education, which was academic success, the political ideology that has crept into our schools must be eliminated from the curricula and instructional procedures.

2. Parental Rights. FCPS and the School Board have turned parents into adversaries of the administration and school board through their policies and decisions, which fail to recognize parents' rights in their children's education. In order to rebuild the partnership between parents, teachers, administration, and the school board, we must give parents and guardians the freedom to participate in all facets of their children's education.

1. Learning loss and student achievement performance. On the first day, I would call for students who are underperforming in reading, math, and science to be identified and given customized improvement plans. I would also require that the $3.5 billion dollar budget be thoroughly examined, and that money from programs and offices that do not expressly serve students, have grown disproportionately, or in excess be reallocated as a matter of priority to support students' education, safety, and wellbeing. We need to get back to the fundamentals of reading, math, and writing. We need to improve student scientific knowledge.

2. Failing to recognize the rights of parents in the education of their children. On the first day, I would call for the affirmation of parental involvement in their children’s education in accordance with Virginia law, that school policies be reviewed to include parent engagement and notification, (such as in Student Roles and Responsibilities), and that the school board work with parents to find ways to rebuild trust with the school administration and school board.

Yes. Parents should have the freedom to select where they want to educate their children (e.g., private, religious, homeschool, public) because they are in charge of their children’s upbringing and education. Children and families should not be forced to stay with failing schools. I am open to a variety of innovative strategies to make this happen, including Education Spending Accounts, tax credit, vouchers, educational scholarships, and charter schools, which do not take away from public education. Additionally, I think that because they will encourage competition, these paths for education can strengthen our public education system.

Parents.

I do not agree. While some people may have racist sentiments, there are no institutional racial barriers in our government, healthcare, or educational systems. Successful efforts to break down barriers can be traced to the United States Constitution's writing, with the adoption of the Northwest Ordinance, and landmark civil rights rulings such as Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka and Loving v. Virginia. Although our nation has come a long way, in recent years, the issue of race has dominated political discourse and permeated our educational system to the point where barriers are being created, affecting primarily Asian and Caucasian students.

The DEI idea that is being taught is unnecessary, in my opinion, and therefore should not be a part of the public education curriculum or a supplemental learning material. Our nation, Fairfax County, and its schools, where 200 languages are spoken, diversity is the norm. Both a sense of belonging and inclusivity are taking place. Because equity goes against the idea that everyone should have an equal opportunity to succeed, there have been instances where a person's race played a significant part in a hiring decision but later resulted in disastrous and/or unsatisfactory results. We should be promoting basic human respect and merit through role modeling, action, and teaching.

Sex Education has been around for a while and should be taught from a health and scientific perspective. Comprehensive Sex Education is not a fundamental academic subject and should be addressed as such with its material evaluated for age and school appropriateness. Even if treated as supplemental learning, schools shouldn't engage in sexuality-related conversations with children without their parents expressed, informed consent. Parents' and family members' religious, moral, and ethical lessons must be respected.

Social Emotional Learning. SEL, SEL concepts, or related modules by other names should not be part of the academic curriculum. Schools should not force children to take assessments that violate their family religious or ethical values. Children's social and emotional well-being can be naturally supported in schools through activity planning, on-the-spot coaching, effective praise, modeling of acceptable behavior, and giving cues. Where behavioral or emotional difficulties arise, the school should act and must involve parents immediately in the process.

Please refer to my response to question 2, which would be an immediate response. Longer term, I would urge an evaluation of the ways in which these courses are taught and the search for innovative solutions to improve student instruction in these and other disciplines.

Girls today need to be conscious of their physical space, whether it's in a girl’s restroom, a locker room, a hallway, on a bus, or going to and from school. Unfortunately, there are more cases of girls bullying other girls. Additionally, there are instances where boys who claim to be girls will attempt to enter areas reserved for girls. As a member of the school board, I would advocate for anti-bullying policies and regulations and, via training, encourage both girls and boys to report bullying to a teacher, administrator, or parent. I would advocate for a rule that prohibits boys from using facilities designated for girls.

I do, regrettably, and especially for girls. Girls have made great progress in competitive sports since Title IX was originally introduced, offering them possibilities to obtain collegiate scholarships that will open doors for their future. A false narrative persists today that a biological boy who identifies as a girl can fairly compete with biological girls. With the most recent Department of Education plan, which would force schools to create sport-specific standards and possibly permit biological boys to play on girls' teams and use girls' locker rooms, we have entered an unfair and unsafe scenario. I do not want to abandon the years of effort that went into enabling females to participate in and succeed in sports. I want to make sure they are safe. We need to reverse course and keep Title IX as it was originally intended.

My search for endorsements has just started. I started with Moms for America because I believe in your purpose and vision, and I wanted to get more traction as a candidate before beginning the endorsement request process.