Half of all county taxes fund Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS). Hundreds of millions more pay for county services. In return: declining academic performance, closed government buildings, a road project a million dollars over budget, and public health departments that ignore chronic disease.
Only five of the 25 Fairfax County public high schools have an average SAT score above 1,240 — the minimum needed for competitive colleges.
▼ 29-point county-wide drop 2018–2025 | ▼ 82-point TJ drop in 2025
| 2025 Rank |
High School | 2025 Avg SAT Score |
Percentile* |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Thomas Jefferson ▼82 pts | 1,436 | 95 |
| 2 | Langley | 1,311 | 87 |
| 3 | McLean | 1,292 | 85 |
| 4 | Woodson | 1,253 | 82 |
| 5 | Oakton | 1,245 | 82 |
| 6 | Madison | 1,232 | 80 |
| 7 | Chantilly | 1,228 | 80 |
| 8 | Marshall | 1,206 | 77 |
| 9 | South Lakes | 1,195 | 76 |
| 10 | Robinson | 1,187 | 75 |
| 11 | Lake Braddock | 1,186 | 75 |
| FCPS Average | 1,183 | 74 | |
| 12 | West Springfield | 1,172 | 73 |
| 13 | Westfield | 1,166 | 72 |
| 14 | Centreville | 1,164 | 72 |
| 15 | Fairfax | 1,156 | 71 |
| 16 | Herndon | 1,143 | 69 |
| 17 | South County | 1,121 | 66 |
| 18 | Hayfield | 1,120 | 66 |
| Virginia Average | 1,112 | 65 | |
| 19 | Edison | 1,101 | 63 |
| 20 | Justice | 1,082 | 60 |
| 21 | West Potomac | 1,065 | 58 |
| 22 | Falls Church | 1,040 | 54 |
| National Average | 1,029 | 53 | |
| 23 | Lewis | 1,029 | 53 |
| 24 | Mount Vernon | 1,027 | 52 |
| 25 | Annandale | 1,002 | 48 |
Despite a $3.8B annual budget, FCPS average SAT scores dropped 29 points between 2018 and 2025. Thomas Jefferson — the county's crown jewel — saw an 82-point crash in 2025 alone. Only 5 of 25 high schools score above the 1,240 threshold needed for competitive colleges. Academic rigor has been replaced by social programming. Half your county taxes fund this.
The Pennino Building — a major county government office building — and the Historic Fairfax County Courthouse are closed until further notice for repairs. This is a consequence of deferred maintenance. When compensation consumes 96% of new spending, there is nothing left for transportation and building maintenance.
The Old Courthouse Road realignment project ran more than a million dollars over its original budget. When asked, the county was unable to provide the budget and schedule status of its $3 billion of capital projects. This is a failure in project management and cost control.
Despite county spending of $200 million a year on affordable housing, housing keeps getting less and less affordable. The supervisors have committed to building 10,000 (subsidized) affordable units by 2034, but the county may need 40,000. The supervisors need to work with the citizens to approve higher density zoning and so the private sector can build.
The Fairfax County Health Department Strategic Plan should address the chronic disease epidemic and its connection to ultra-processed food and the old high-carb food pyramid, which was a prescription for diabetes. The Health Department home page should promote realfood.gov.
The police department had mass resignations after the 2020 Black Lives Matter riots, where rioters were called "protestors" and 2,000 police were injured. Rehiring police has required higher salaries. Crime statistics are uneliable because the Commonowealth Attorney downgrades charges. The county is termed the "safest" of comparable counties, but safest is not the same as safe.