Bob Levey Todd Cross/TWP

Tuesday, May 5, 1998

Good afternoon and welcome to "Levey Live." I’m Washington Post columnist Bob Levey, your host.

"Levey Live" appears each Tuesday from noon to 1 p.m. Eastern time. It’s your chance to talk directly to major newsmakers and to key Washington Post reporters and editors.

Our guest today is the superintendent of schools for Fairfax County, Va. -- Daniel A. Domenech.

Daniel Domenech (File photo)

Dr. Domenech assumed his current position on Jan. 1, 1998. He heads the nation’s 12th largest public school system and the largest in the Washington metropolitan area. Dr. Domenech has already taken aim at test scores and ways to improve them. He asked for increased spending, especially on technology, and has run into resistance from the county’s Board of Supervisors.

Meanwhile, he has proposed experiments in year-round schools and bilingual education.

Your questions and comments for Daniel Domenech are welcome throughout the hour.

Clifton, Va.: Fairfax County schools spend a lot of money fund[ing] gifted and special education students. Aren't the average students' needs being neglected? Can you say you spend as much on an average student as a gifted or special ed. student?

Daniel Domenech: It is true that we do not spend as much money on the average student as we do on our special ed and gifted students. Because of that, we are attempting to focus on the needs of the "average student." The Success By 8 program I am proposing would individualize education to meet the needs of all students, without neglecting any. This program will start with the K-2 primary grades in a non-graded, multi-age format. We would expand it to future grades in a few years.

Centreville, Va.: You state that Fairfax has an excellent school system; you want it to be great. Is this for the students or for your reputation? You seem to want to push teachers and students too much and too hard to meet a goal of excellence, as opposed to caring about the students enjoying learning.

Daniel Domenech: I come to Fairfax after 30 years in education and being what might be considered at the pinnacle of success. What I do, I do for the children. We cannot talk about raising standards and having higher expectations without raising the achievement bar. I know from experience that students will deliver if we raise our expectations. They will require support and nurturing in order to succeed. We are prepared to do that.

Alexandria, Va.: As a person in my mid-20s, I have given some thought to the idea of becoming a teacher. However, I have heard from people in education that it is an underpaid, thankless, never-ending job, and a job that does not have the level of gratification one would expect in the profession. What would you say to prospective teachers to encourage them to join the rank of educators?

Daniel Domenech: Those of us [who] become educators do so because we love children and we want to work with them. The only reward we should expect is the knowledge that we have made a positive contribution to a child's life. If you can't handle that, stay away, you won't like it. The pay is lousy and the hours long!

Vienna, Va.: As a 15-year-old sophomore at Oakton High School, I am curious as to what you think can be improved at the high schools in this area. In your opinion, are the high schools in this area going above and beyond, with regards to academics and activities? What can I do to make learning in an overcrowded class easier? And finally, are you going to be visiting every school in the Fairfax County School system as soon as possible?
Thank you.

Daniel Domenech: I have already visited over 65 schools in Fairfax. I hope to get to all of them by the end of next year (all 246). I do think we can make all our schools better. We need to focus on providing programs that will allow students the time they need to succeed (more than a semester or a school year) and the resources (teachers) and methodology that students need.

Alexandria, Va.: I am concerned about mixing grades, i.e., K-2 for "average students." Peer pressure is incredible at any age, and to mix maturity levels [and] physical stature levels, to me, seem to be ingredients for more behavorial problems. My son, who is 4, is extremely small for his age and yet smart beyond his years. I would be afraid that this environment might make him the object of others' teasing. How can this be avoided?

Daniel Domenech: It is interesting to note that age-level groupings tend to occur primarily in schools. Children [who] play on their own or belong to community teams and organizations are usually multi-aged. There is nothing in child development that prescribes the way we currently organize for learning, other than that it is convenient for the adults. Children do fine and have no problem interacting with children of various ages. We do try to limit the age span to no more than three years.

Springfield, Va.: You just stated that the teacher pay is lousy and the hours are long. Excuse me, but the school year is 10 months in comparison to the normal 12 months, and pay is about $50K. The school day runs about 6 hours and even if a teacher does correct papers or in rare cases, make up lesson plans, that seldom takes over 2 hours. Teachers have it fairly easy when compared to a real job. I doubt if this will get on the system.

Daniel Domenech: Obviously, you have never spent much time in a classroom. It is an exausting job, physically and mentally. Try getting together with 25 kids some time and spend six hours with them, and then let me know what you think. By the way, a teacher will make $50,000 after about 20 years on the job and many dollars spent on their own education. Beginning teachers make about $26,000.

Bob Levey: About dress codes: How do you find a middle ground that allows a teenager to express his or her taste and also allows the school to function without distractions? It's easy to rule out see-through bras and gang regalia. But what about hats, bare midriffs, torn jeans?

Daniel Domenech: The rule of thumb is clothing that causes a distraction for other children. If it's bound to attract attention, it will likely lead to discipline problems. Beyond that, there is the issue of creating and maintaining an environment that is conducive to learning and projects a certain amount of respect. These two are the primary motivators behind the recent popularity of uniforms in many inner-city school systems.

Alexandria, Va.: What do you think about violence in our schools? My son, in 3rd grade, has witnessed a multitude of classroom violence this year -- from kids punching each other to throwing desks at the teacher. The principal has removed two of the students from his classroom, but yet there still seems to be weekly disruptions. I do NOT want my child exposed to this and have since considered placing him in a private school. What can we do about these sorts of problems?

Daniel Domenech: Recent studies show that there is a direct relationship between the violent behavior of students and their home life. Apparently, children from single-parent homes where the father is absent are more prone to violence. Unfortunately, part of the problem we have with disciplline in the schools is the lack of parental support when the parent(s) is brought in to discuss the issue. Nevertheless, the fact is that for most children, the school is the safest environment they have.

Bob Levey: When you were a candidate for the superintendent's job in New York City, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani certainly roasted your marshmallows. He said you were "not a candidate of change," that you represented "the business-as-usual bureaucracy." Do you have any comment about this? Are you an agent of change in Fairfax?

Daniel Domenech: Unfortunately, the mayor must have mistaken me for someone else. My reputation in New York was very much that of a change agent and innovator. My record there speaks for itself. I believe the real issue had more to do with my unwillingness to allow the mayor to exert fiscal control over the schools and to allow the police department to take over school security.

Bob Levey: Half an hour remaining with our guest, Fairfax County Schools Superintendent Daniel Domenech.

Fairfax, Va.: There is a rumor circulating that kindergarten classes will be full days next year, instead of half or partial days as they are conducted now. Is this rumor accurate??

Daniel Domenech: The rumor has to do with our proposed Success By 8 program. We will be selecting six pilot schools for the program and those schools will have full-day kindergarten. If the pilot is successful, we hope to quickly expand the program to many other schools in Fairfax as soon as September '99.

Bob Levey: There was an absurd incident last winter aboard a Fairfax school bus. A 12-year-old gave an Advil to a fellow student. She was formally charged with violating school drug policy. Can't there be a way to differentiate a pain pill from heroin and cocaine?

Daniel Domenech: Unfortunately, the Advil incident took on a life of its own. With 150,000 students in the system, many children bring non-prescription drugs to school with parental authority and without any mishaps. In the Advil case, the young lady was actually never suspended, nor was any comment placed in her file. The administration responded accordingly and dismissed the case. By then, however, the "facts" in the media exceeded reality and the event became the "cause celebre" of individuals looking for a more permissive policy.

Burke, Va.: What ever happened to desks lined up in rows? My 2nd grade daughter is easily distracted, so it doesn't help that her desk is grouped with five other students, some who can sit still for a minute. We've been told that such an arrangement makes it possible for kids to learn how to cooperate. I say it's more important to learn the basics.

Daniel Domenech: Desks lined up in rows went the way of the covered wagon and the stage coach. Children today need to learn to function as part of a team. Cooperation today, which we use to call cheating in my days, is now encouraged. Many employers criticize our schools for not turning out employees [who] know how to work and get along with others. We are trying to correct that.

Bob Levey: You were chosen by an 8-to-4 vote of the school board. All the Democrats voted for you. All the Republicans opposed you. Then all the Republicans changed their votes to make your selection unanimous. I can think of better ways to begin a relationship. Have you and the entire board gotten along so far?

Daniel Domenech: The board and I are getting along just fine. I happen to think that they are all very committed to excellence and supportive of our educational system. I am trying to mediate certain issues that do have political overtones and attempting to maintain the focus on what is best for children.

Fairfax, Va.: Taxpayers in the county pay a high price for good education. What if my child needs or prefers to go to a private school? How do you feel about "waivers" that a taxpayer could use to pay for private school?

Daniel Domenech: Fairfax County does not pay a high price [$7,600] for the excellent education provided. You might be surprised to know that on Long Island, the per pupil cost is twice as high as it is here and the quality of education is not better. Our public schools here offer excellent programs and a great deal of choice. Parents also have the choice of sending their child to a private school if they wish to.

Bob Levey: Thomas Jefferson High School is the jewel of the Fairfax system -- great kids, great curriculum, extremely high standards. But Jefferson is able to attract direct support from the business community because its students are so gifted. Shouldn't the same support go to children at other schools who aren't as gifted?

Daniel Domenech: Actually, many of our schools enjoy a great deal of support from the business community. We have 168 active partnerships in as many schools in the county. I am delighted by the amount of support, and involvement, that our schools receive. Scholarships, tutoring programs, jobs for kids and much more.

Burke, Va.: What is the goal for Fairfax County in the next few years in bringing girls' high school sports equal to boys high school sports?

Will the sports budgets be split evenly between girls and boys?

Daniel Domenech: We have currently placed $200,000 in the budget for the lighting of some of our fields where the girls' softball leagues play. We are currently offering many teams in our athletic program and are planning to provide more in the future for girls to have athletic parity with boys.

Bob Levey: The Montgomery County, Md., schools are embroiled in a controversy about when to begin the high school day. What's your feeling about this? Do teenagers really need more sleep, or do they need a kick in the pants?

Daniel Domenech: We currently have a committee examining this issue. [Members] will be preparing recommendations to our board. In the process, we have learned a great deal about sleep deprivation. Certainly, our high school students would benefit from more hours of sleep. The current schedule has them out of the house earlier than we would like (6 a.m. to catch the bus). It is likely that one of the recommendations will be to move the schedule up by about 20 minutes.

Fairfax, Va.: What is your thought on partnering with HomeSchooling parents in sharing public school resources in exchange for some services from these extraordinarily devoted and energetic parents?

Daniel Domenech: We are certainly open to discussing ways of working together with parents to allow them to provide the best education possible in the home. If the same parents are also willing to volunteer their time to work in the schools, it sounds like a great deal to me!

Bob Levey: You're on record as opposing merit pay for teachers. Why?

Daniel Domenech: Merit pay often gets embroiled in politics and contractual language. The results are never what we would like them to be. I would rather emphasize a system of rewarding top performing schools -- teachers, administrators and students.

Bob Levey: There's an unspoken issue in state education circles. Students from Fairfax County schools are much better prepared for college than students from elsewhere in Virginia. Fairfax kids could fill up each class at Virginia Tech or The University of Virginia if they were allowed to. Of course, they aren't allowed to, because state schools have to include students from all over. Are Fairfax students being shortchanged by Tech and UVa in this way?

Daniel Domenech: Fairfax is shortchanged in many ways. Our excellent students do not get accepted to all the schools they should because of quotas, and our region does not receive its fair share of the state's tax dollars. We intend to lobby harder on behalf of our students and our taxpayers.

Bob Levey: That's it for today. Our thanks to Fairfax schools superintendent Daniel Domenech. Be sure to join us next Tuesday, May 12, when our guest will be Abigail Trafford, editor of The Washington Post's Health section. On May 19, our guest will be Washington Post ombudsman Geneva Overholser.