If you know me, then you know that I love our public schools in Alexandria. I have always appreciated the variety of programs available to everyone who lives here, as well as the wonderful teachers and support staff, who make us better everyday. And while I am graduating this year, my younger sister just started her freshman year at Alexandria City High School, so I hope that she will also have an amazing experience. Unfortunately, she and all the other students of Alexandria City Public Schools, are at risk of losing some of the resources that helped me to thrive, including the staff that dedicate themselves to us everyday. 

As you may know, the City Manager, James F. Parajon, must present the operating budget for the whole city every year. This is the money that goes to ensuring day-to-day operations in the city stay efficient. The operating budget also includes the money that the city gives to ACPS. For this fiscal year, the city manager has only proposed a 1.5% increase (about $8.2 million more), which brings the ACPS operating budget to a total of $281.2 million. While this may seem like a lot, we have to keep in mind that ACPS proposed a $288.6 million operating budget (a 5.6% increase), leaving a gap of $7 million. That should worry us.

The sad truth is that the city’s budget is fiscally unsustainable. While I understand the city is operating under tight budget constraints and balancing numerous priorities, I also recognize that this increase does not reflect the actual cost facing our schools. This includes the collective bargaining agreement being negotiated to raise staff pay and to have them continue working in ACPS. If we choose to fund below the threshold needed, the impact will be felt by students, and that is more expensive than anything else. 

When ACPS is not funded correctly, we risk losing experienced educators to neighboring districts that offer more competitive pay. We know that high-performing divisions invest in retention because stability improves student outcomes. More than 14,000 students rely on ACPS for consistent instruction, manageable class sizes, specialized services, and staff who are not stretched thin. If we do not invest accordingly, we will lose teachers, counselors, staff, mentors. We will lose the adults who know our names, write our recommendation letters, and stay after school to help us. Once they are gone, it’s not just a vacancy. It means a loss of relationships, trust, and stability. To underfund ACPS would mean even more difficult tradeoffs. 

Students cannot afford to be disengaged from this budget process. We are stakeholders. If we do not advocate for full funding, decisions will be made without the urgency and accuracy that this moment requires. This is about us—about the students who need extra help in math or the non-native English speakers. This is about the senior applying to college who needs a counselor that actually has time to meet. It is about every classroom that depends on having a consistent, qualified teacher in front of them. Again, we cannot sit this one out. 

I urge all my peers to please submit comments to the city council budget input form that can be found here. If you’d like to do more, I encourage you to show up to the joint budget work session between the Alexandria City Council and the School Board on March 4th. There are also public hearings on March 9th and March 14th. Let’s show our officials that students are paying attention, and that our priorities are clear. Let’s show them that we care about our staff staying, about programs surviving, about ourselves thriving. We must fund our schools because our education is not just another line item, it is our future. We must advocate for it. 

Alexandria cannot claim to value education while underfunding the very system that serves its children. At the end of the day, this is about my sister and every student that walks the halls of any ACPS school. We cannot let them start the next year with fewer supports, larger classes, or fewer teachers. If we care about education, our funding should reflect it. I urge our politicians to fully fund our district. Let’s do it for the children. 

With love for public schools, 

Darwin Salazar 

President of Latinos4Latinos+Allies

Host of the “NOT Controversial” podcast