School Division’s Legal Bills Continue to Swell
Stephanie Lundquist-Arora | December 30, 2025
(EdNews Virginia) — Even Sen. Louise Lucas (D-18), Virginia Senate president pro tempore, knows the last thing Fairfax County needs is more money. Earlier this month, Sen. Lucas posted on X, “I’m getting sick and tired of localities in Northern Virginia (especially Fairfax) spreading misinformation about being underfunded by the Commonwealth of Virginia. It’s time to correct the record and stop these lies.”
Sen. Lucas explains that Fairfax County commissioned a study with the Weldon Cooper Center at the University of Virginia, which inaccurately found that Virginia’s largest county only gets 50 cents back on each tax dollar raised by the Commonwealth. The liberal senator continues, “This is false and is a number derived by only counting money we send the county directly, not services used by all.”
In the X thread, Lucas points to the irony that the center Fairfax County is paying to conduct the “study” finds exactly what is most convenient for the argument that they are entitled to more money from the state. She concludes the thread by stating, “We will not be bullied or lied to by the richest community in the Commonwealth that is constantly begging us for more funding.”
While the county’s leaders ask state officials for more money, they continue to tax many Fairfax residents, particularly seniors on a fixed income, out of the county. As property taxes have increased by about 65% in the last decade, and an incredibly unpopular 4% food tax will be implemented in January, county leaders continue to increase their own salaries. The Board of Supervisors chairman, Jeff McKay, also enjoys a taxpayer-funded car. Fairfax County’s residents further cover Chairman McKay’s car tax, gas, auto insurance, E-ZPass, oil changes, and car washes.
And now, to the great surprise of many, members of the Fairfax County Republican Committee and Sen. Louise Lucas have found something on which they can agree. Fairfax County is not short on resources — rather, it has a problem of irresponsible leadership.
Setting aside for a moment that Fairfax County is a sanctuary county incurring exorbitant costs to support illegal aliens, some of them criminals with long rap sheets, let’s consider the public school system.
Fairfax County’s public schools get more than 50% of the county’s total funds. While student enrollment increased by only 44% between 1985 and 2025, total school employees nearly doubled during the same period, and administration — the number of assistant principals in particular — tripled.
Meanwhile, the district’s superintendent, Michelle Reid, enjoys an annual salary of $424,146 plus a $12,000 car allowance.
There was a drop in student enrollment from last school year to the present while the district’s budget increased by $102 million. Ironically, the student to teacher ratio increased (to the children’s detriment), in order to meet the district’s other spending priorities. And yet, even with the decrease in students and the increase in funding, Fairfax County Public Schools’ leaders still cried foul that they didn’t get as much money as they wanted.
While they were whining about being underfunded, I discovered in a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request that the district had spent $44 million on legal fees from fiscal year 2019 to fiscal year 2025. In the first months of fiscal year 2026, the district has paid one single law firm, King & Spalding, $2.68 million. A FOIA request for that vendor contract revealed that Fairfax County Public Schools pays those lawyers up to $1,850 per hour for their services.
| Department Name | Fund | Month | Payments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Superintendent’s Office | Operations | August | $292,482.78 |
| Superintendent’s Office | Operations | September | $688,032.36 |
| Superintendent’s Office | Operations | November | $1,699,068.68 |
| Total Payments Year to Date | $2,679,583.82 | ||
Sen. Louise Lucas is right. Fairfax County isn’t underfunded. Rather, it’s clearly facing multiple leadership and corruption problems in both the local governing council and among the school board members and district administrators. District leaders need to start prioritizing funding based on student outcomes, and the local and school budgets must undergo a thorough external, independent audit.
Ms. Lundquist-Arora is a Fairfax parent and leads the county’s Independent Women’s Network chapter.