The Washington Area Boards of Education FY 2010 Guide indicates that 8 out of 9 area school districts cut per-pupil spending this year – a trend that is likely to continue in FY 2011 as the economy remains weak and there is strong support for lower taxes.  Advocates for more school spending have criticized the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors for a slight decrease in school funding this year, but Loudoun is not an anomaly and other WABE Guide statistics show that Loudoun County Public Schools remains competitive with other DC area school districts.

LCPS offers teachers a very competitive compensation package.  The total compensation package (salary and benefits) for beginning teachers is $64,733, which ranks 6th out of 9.  The maximum salary of $96,195 ranks 5th and the benefits package ranks 4th.  Loudoun teachers work the 3rd lowest number of scheduled work days (194) per year and the lowest hours per day (7.0).  LCPS pays the 2nd highest amount for employee health insurance at $12,164.

Among adjacent county school districts, Loudoun is the 2nd highest in per-pupil spending.  Note that the WABE Guide does not include neighboring Fauquier and Clarke counties - both of which spend considerably less per pupil and offer much lower teacher compensation packages.

LCPS also has a low percentage of students with special needs.  The percentage of English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) is by far the lowest of the 9 school districts at 5.7%.  The percentage of Special Education students is the lowest of the 7 Virginia school districts.

The WABE Guide is an excellent source of information about DC area school districts.  We do caution that there are vast differences amongst many of the school districts and some comparisons may not be relevant.  For example, a small school district like Falls Church (2,021 students) or Manassas City (6,828 students) does not have the economies of scale that a large school district like Loudoun does and will cost more per pupil to operate.  Urban school districts like Arlington and Alexandria have a higher cost of operations than a suburban county like Loudoun, mainly because the higher cost of living requires them to offer higher compensation.  They also have a large commercial tax base; thus can afford to spend more without placing a high tax burden on homeowners.  Even a school district like Fairfax has many urban areas inside the Beltway and must offer higher compensation than Loudoun.