Julie Perry, a high school history teacher in Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS), told IW Features that she spends thousands of dollars each year on her students’ school supplies, classroom essentials, and decorations. Perry, who is running for the U.S. House of Representatives in Virginia’s 10th Congressional District, argues, “Education leaders across this nation are not spending the money properly that they receive in federal, state, and local tax dollars.”
“They are spending the money on administrative bloat, DEI curricula that do not enhance student learning, and expensive lawyers from white shoe law firms,” Perry continued. “They are constantly having to defend themselves against lawsuits because they continue to knowingly break the law.”
Perry is right on all counts. Fairfax County, in particular, has spent more than $52 million on legal costs since 2020, according to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request obtained by IW Features.
| Fiscal Year | Legal Fees |
| FY 2020 | $6,401,077.94 |
| FY 2021 | $5,066,049.47 |
| FY 2022 | $6,312,989.17 |
| FY 2023 | $6,925,475.29 |
| FY 2024 | $11,619,332.03 |
| FY 2025 | $7,656,968.09 |
| FY 2026 (July–Dec 2025) | $8,047,874.69 |
| Total | $52,029,766.68 |
It’s no wonder, then, that many other teachers in Virginia’s largest public school district share Perry’s frustration regarding its out-of-control spending and dysfunctional priorities. Debra Tisler, who ran for school board in 2023, was an FCPS special education teacher when the Gatehouse Administration Center was built in 2002. At that time, she was surprised that district leaders allocated millions of dollars for a state-of-the-art administration building when she was spending her own money on school supplies and toilet paper for her classroom’s bathroom.
More recently, the county invested millions in constructing the brand new Willow Oaks Administrative Center, complete with car vacuums and EV chargers reserved for administrators.
“Meanwhile, teachers like me have purchased their own supplies, endured toilet paper rationing, and managed incompetent decision-making by upper leadership,” Tisler told IW Features. “Despite this administrative bloat, student literacy outcomes have not improved, revealing a system that has drifted far from its core mission of education.”
At the same time, district administrators’ job titles and salaries in Fairfax County have increased beyond recognition. IW Features learned from a FOIA request that FCPS currently employs 1,572 district administrators with annual salaries totaling more than $187 million in the 2025-2026 academic year. Adding insult to injury, 44 of those administrators are paid more than $200,000 per year. The district’s other top-paid administrators are also listed in the table below.
Fairfax County Public Schools — Senior Leadership’s $200K+ Club
| Name | Position | Salary |
| Michelle Reid | Division Superintendent | $445,353 |
| Haynie, Suzanne E | Assistant Division Counsel | $208,140 |
| Jones, Franklin C | Assistant Superintendent, Human Resources | $237,976 |
| Resendiz, Pablo | Assistant Superintendent, Region | $228,735 |
| Lonnett, Raymond | Assistant Superintendent, Region | $233,309 |
| Vroman, Megan R | Assistant Superintendent, Region | $228,735 |
| Choice, Jameile | Assistant Superintendent, Region | $233,309 |
| Baenig, Rebecca G | Assistant Superintendent, Region | $233,309 |
| Boyd, Michelle | Assistant Superintendent, Region | $237,976 |
| Kneale, Marcy G | Assistant Superintendent, Strategy, Planning, & Learning | $233,309 |
| Ko, Yee Chung | Auditor General | $257,593 |
| King, Nardos E | Chief Equity Officer | $272,867 |
| Hall, Lisa Y | Chief Experience & Engagement Officer | $268,000 |
| Burden, Edwina L | Chief Financial Officer | $289,565 |
| Solomon, William S | Chief Human Resources Officer | $278,323 |
| Gordon, Erik T | Chief of Facilities Services & Capital Programs | $272,867 |
| Ponce, Geovanny J | Chief of Schools | $289,565 |
| Smith, Marty K | Chief of Staff | $306,154 |
| Mueck, Andrew B | Chief Operating Officer | $272,867 |
| Lambert, Brian S | Chief Safety & Security Officer | $272,867 |
| Kennedy, Ellen D | Deputy Division Counsel | $207,297 |
| Edmonds, Lisa L | Director IV, Benefits | $207,298 |
| Ajrawat, Seema | Director IV, Comptroller | $204,234 |
| Russell, Melissa O | Director IV, Payroll Management | $204,234 |
| Foster, John E | Division Counsel | $276,061 |
| Wigington, Alice D | Executive Director, Budget Services | $226,668 |
| Visioli, Elizabeth L | Executive Director, Communications | $226,668 |
| Morgan, Ryan W | Executive Director, Safety & Security | $226,668 |
| Bonitatibus, Ann N | Executive Director, Talent Acquisition & Management | $226,668 |
| Trout, Lindsay | Executive Principal | $213,563 |
| Menuey, Brendan P | Executive Principal | $207,297 |
| Barnes, Margaret F | Executive Principal | $207,297 |
| Kraft, Jesse | Executive Principal | $213,563 |
| Bynum, Ingrid F | Executive Principal | $213,563 |
| Erbrecht, Adam W | Executive Principal | $226,668 |
| Greer, Kimberly P | Executive Principal | $223,318 |
| Stokes, Gordon K | Executive Principal | $207,297 |
| Lehman, Chad R | Executive Principal | $223,318 |
| Rogers, Jovon F | Executive Principal | $226,668 |
| Cage, April L | Executive Principal | $210,407 |
| Presidio, Sloan J | Chief Academic Officer | $272,867 |
| Huffman, Bettrys J | Executive Director, Student Assessment, Research & Accountability | $216,766 |
| Hewan, Tara P | Executive Director, Equity & Student Relations | $210,407 |
| Jerauld, Stephanie A | Executive Director, School Improvement | $204,234 |
Michelle Reid, the division superintendent, who is ironically notorious for her stated commitment to equity, enjoys an annual salary of $445,353. Her chief of staff, Marty Smith, will earn $306,154 this academic year.
The district’s egregiously high administrative salaries stand in glaring contrast to FCPS’s $61,747 starting annual salary for teachers—the very people tasked with educating students day to day.
The irony deepens when one considers that FCPS’s Chief Equity Officer, Nardos King, earns $272,867 annually. The message is difficult to miss: equity in pay for thee, but not for me—even when “equity” is literally in the job title.
Indeed, FCPS will spend $187 million on district-level administrators this year after eliminating 275 teaching positions in fiscal year 2026. If these tradeoffs were producing outstanding academic outcomes, perhaps they could be defended. But they are not. FCPS students failed the Standards of Learning (SOL) assessments at alarming rates, and at higher rates than those of students in neighboring Loudoun County Public Schools. These failure rates are detailed in the table below.
Failure Rate of FCPS SOLs 2024-2025
| Subject | FCPS Failure Rate | LCPS Failure Rate | Virginia Failure Rate |
| English Reading | 21% | 18% | 26% |
| English Writing | 84% | 10% | 24% |
| Math | 22% | 18% | 28% |
| Science | 25% | 20% | 29% |
| History | 58% | 14% | 34% |
As FCPS leaders hold a public hearing this week on the district’s proposed $4.1 billion fiscal year 2027 budget—a $197 million (5 %) increase over fiscal year 2026—taxpayers should demand fiscal accountability and an independent audit to rein in the leadership’s out-of-control, self-serving spending. While administrators rake in exorbitant salaries, teachers are forced to pay for their own classroom supplies, and the district continues to cut teaching positions and shortchange students—proof that their priorities are bureaucracy over classrooms.
