The history of the Fairfax Education Association is one of long and proud service to the educators of Fairfax County. For over 50 years FEA has served as the voice of Fairfax teachers with our legislators at home and in Richmond, with county officials, with members of the School Board, the Superintendent and his staff. Throughout its history, FEA has stayed true to the mission of service to educators and to demanding the highest standards of education for the children of our county.

In 1886 Milton Dulany Hall began his 42-year career as School Superintendent in Fairfax County--he was 37 years old. When his administration began, there were 73 schools operating. Only six of these had more than a single room, less than 35 percent of the county's youth attended, and teachers' salaries averaged about $27 a month. Hall's salary was $420. The school system cost the taxpayers approximately $40,000. That year, Fairfax County's school population was 6,237; by 1890 it was 6,403. Fairfax received $1,984.93 from the state to educate the children or 31 cents per pupil.Hall was an innovator for his day. One change he made in 1890 that was nearly revolutionary for its time was giving teachers a six-month contract. Hall's administration also saw for the first time teachers retiring and receiving a pension. The first teacher retired in 1909, receiving a quarterly pension of $27.56, and another in 1916. Her quarterly pension was $100.

Another one of Hall's innovations was summer Peabody institutes for teachers. (These were the educational innovations of and funded by Georgia-born philanthropist George Peabody. Today these would be called in-services.) These institutes lasted five days; and in addition to the reading of essays, public addresses and a general discussion by the teachers and the county superintendent of the most approved methods of teaching, model classes were organized to demonstrate new methodology. To ensure the new methods he stressed were being employed, Colonel Hall, as he affectionately was called, wearing a top hat, traveled in his horse and buggy from school to school. Anxious teachers made sure their pupils were well scrubbed, classrooms were swept and student spelling bees conducted to impress the superintendent.

At the same time, the Virginia State Board of Education established a State Teachers Association, urging counties to establish local associations as well. Hall melded this state mandate for local associations with his institutes. This evolved into the Fairfax Education Association, recognized as an existing entity by the Virginia State Teachers Association as early as 1902. (That year the state organization noted in its Journal that forty-two jurisdictions, including Fairfax, had local teacher associations.) By 1914 annual Virginia Educational Conferences were held in Richmond, Fairfax being assigned to state district 8 along with Alexandria County (now Arlington), Culpepper, Fauquier, King George, Loudoun, Louisa, Orange and Stafford. In 1920 the state association Journal listed for the first time a president of FEA, Mary M. Snead. By that time Fairfax had 100 percent membership in the State Association. The reason for that was quite simple. Membership was a requirement for employment. The Fairfax County School Board took state and local association dues directly out of teachers' salaries.

Throughout the next half-century FEA remained essentially a company union, one in which membership is a requirement for employment, dues are taken out of paychecks by the employer, and management preapproves elected leaders. But even in this era of complacency, there were ripples. FEA members certainly read an article in the May 1928 edition of the Virginia Journal of Education, the voice of the State Association renamed the Virginia Education Association, that proclaimed that 'The teachers of Virginia have hardly realized the power [that] could be exercised if [they] chose not to endure perpetual bullying by ignoramuses. (sic.) The teachers will be slaves if they act like slaves. Weakness always tempts the bully. If they cower, they will be bullied. Nothing can excuse or explain away spinelessness.' This may have inspired Fairfax teachers meeting in Falls Church in 1930 as part of VEA's District 8 to have the courage to call for, among other things, a more adequate retirement, a nine-month school term, and free textbooks. The following year, the same group moved that sex education be included as a regular part of teacher training courses at the state teacher colleges. Individual activism also appeared. In November of 1940, one FEA member wrote to Superintendent W.T. Woodson challenging the automatic deduction of $2.10 in VEA/FEA dues from his salary. Woodson responded with surprise that anyone would challenge the practice, admitting 'to my knowledge yours is the first instance where the question has been raised.' But he did urge the writer to take the matter to the School Board.

By 1930 Fairfax teachers were doing a superb job with the children of the county. The illiteracy rate among students had fallen in just five years from some 11 to 4.3 percent. Teachers began to think outside the box. Elizabeth Minor of Baileys Cross Roads School had her students write to four Indian schools in Arizona for first-hand information concerning the Hopi and Navajo tribes. The class got a reply from one of the four. They sent pictures of Washington, D.C., and stories of their home life, while in return received a Navajo doll, a blanket, a piece of the Petrified Forest, two pieces of pottery, and colored corn. Minor proudly reported that to her pupils Indians were no longer characters found only in books but real people.

The outbreak of the Second World War saw FEA members supporting the troops. While FEA's Executive Committee set a goal of $100 for the NEA War and Peace Fund Drive, by September of 1943, members contributed a total of $130.30. But the war did not stop FEA from urging members to vote, to maintain professionalism in relations with students, principals and each other, and to continue interest in the affairs of the VEA.

In 1946, a number of educational leaders from across the county saw the need for a stronger FEA. The postwar years witnessed a flurry of activism. Veterans of the war were not as docile as those who preceded them in the classroom.Separated by wide distances with only poor rural roads to connect them and with little in the way of communication technology, teachers and administrators from the major county schools decided to get together once a month to discuss their professional concerns. A set of informal operating procedures was developed.

A revitalized FEA now severed its last ties with the school system. It was independent. It rented office space in downtown Fairfax City. In 1956, FEA leaders established the Fairfax Education Association Federal Credit Union; today known as the Apple Federal Credit Union, the institution serves over 89,000 members. In the early 1960's, teacher dissatisfaction with their professional lives grew and so did their determination to change it. To this end its leaders, including FEA President William J. Burkholder who later became Superintendent, primarily directed the activities of the organization. As a result of t he youth movement of the Sixties and its assault on authority, teachers across the country began to openly discuss their less than ideal work worlds. The way teachers thought of themselves and their roles changed, and they began a valiant effort to make certain the Fairfax Education Association was and would remain an organization for and about classroom teachers.

In 1961 FEA hired its first Executive Director, Paul Peter; this one-time radio announcer and teacher was an effective leader in desegregating the profession and having the FEA incorporated under state law. But many saw him as a 'tea and crumpets' man, one too much in the pocket of the superintendent. Thus, Allerton H. Barnes replaced him in 1968. The fact that Barnes had recently organized a strike in Denver, Colorado, caused concern among county leaders. He negotiated contracts that provided for full release time for the FEA president, a Sick Leave Bank and a joint school administration-FEA commission to work on matters of mutual concern. The most lasting success of his tenure was achieved in 1973, when along with the strong championing of association leaders such as Walt Mika and Gloria Thorpe, he successfully got the School Board to agree to a county retirement plan (ERFC) to supplement the already existing state program (VRS).

Many of the rights Teachers and Educational Support Professionals take for granted today were secured in the 1960's. FEA signed the first recognized school employee collective bargaining agreement within the state of Virginia. This agreement established a grievance procedure guaranteeing teachers due process. FEA continued to set the standard when two years later it was able to establish the position of teacher aides, win the addition of the MA +30 salary lane, and make sure that individuals with doctorates earned additional compensation. In addition to renewing and revitalizing their local organization, FEA leaders and staff worked to establish teacher control over both the Virginia Education Association and the National Education Association. According to state Association leaders, FEA leaders were also instrumental in pressing for the 1967 merger of VEA with the Virginia Teachers Association, the historically Black teacher group.

A continuing problem confronting the Association from virtually its inception was obtaining a building where staff could be housed and meetings could be held. A building fund was established in 1961 with a goal to purchase land.

In 1966 two acres were purchased in Reston. At that time, FEA was headquartered at 4002 University Drive. A larger and more appropriate location was found in the basement of what was then the Arlington-Fairfax Savings and Loan Building at 10637 Lee Highway.

Concerns quickly developed about building on the Reston land. Reston was not considered to be centrally located in the county. It was believed that building the office in that location would exclude many members from attending meetings that would be held at the facility. Cost also became a factor. FEA leadership had originally budgeted $60,000 for the total construction cost. When the architectural design was bid, however, the lowest cost was $148,000. This was considered an enormous amount at that time. It was believed that programs and services to members would have to be cut if such a debt were encumbered.

In 1970 FEA took advantage of an opportunity to buy an 8.5 acre tract on Route 236 just west of Olley Lane. This was a central location about four miles from the Capital Beltway and immediately adjacent to the City of Fairfax. On the property, formerly known as the Krausner residence, was a large home, a garage with living quarters above it, and several small outbuildings.

The original plan was to build a permanent FEA Headquarters on the site. The leadership determined that eventually a portion of the land could be sold to offset the cost of the building. The plan worked well. The property became so valuable that, in 1988, the land was sold and the present FEA office building centrally located near downtown Fairfax City was purchased as a permanent home for the Association.

Since 1988, the FEA building has served as a visible symbol of teacher and school employee strength and commitment to excellence in Fairfax County. Across the country, FEA is recognized as a pace-setting local Association with integrity, high standards and an unquestioned commitment to the welfare of teachers and school employees.

The FEA also began to become involved in the political arena in a strong and influential manner. Members of the legislature that valued teachers and education were actively supported. Eventually FEA began to encourage teachers from the county to run for office. This effort began to pay off when in 1971, James H. Dillard, a Republican, and Donald B. Henretty, a Democrat, ran for seats in the Virginia House of Delegates from what was then the 19th District. Both men were experienced teachers in Fairfax County, and both were leaders first in the FEA. Dillard served on the first FEA Board of Directors. Henretty was on the Board of Directors at the time of his campaign.

In the coming years, FEA broadened its focus to include the issues of educational support personnel, and today ESP members are guaranteed representation on the FEA Board of Directors. Jacqueline Dilley, a former ESP Department President, was the first ESP member to serve in this capacity.

Health insurance, maternity leave, retirement enhancements, a sick leave bank, duty-free lunch, guaranteed planning time, Monday early closing and many other advancements were the products of the hard work of the FEA leadership and staff in the years to follow. It is fair to say that virtually every benefit currently enjoyed by county teachers and educational support personnel today is the work of the Fairfax Education Association.

The 1980s and 1990s saw the FEA struggle with issues of pay for performance, more stringent teacher evaluation programs, changing demographics, and complacency on the part of the Reagan Me-First generation. The organization had to face these and other issues without collective bargaining, which the Virginia State Supreme Court declared unconstitutional in 1977. But even without this, the FEA got the school system to agree to a new communications procedure, gained additional salary for its members by successfully getting the School Board to improve salaries and add longevity steps to the scale, and blocked attempts to eliminate Monday Early Closing on the elementary level. With the use of newspaper advertisements, monetary contributions to political action committees and one-on-one lobbying both locally and on the state level, FEA members supported political leaders who were pro-education. In the 2003 local elections, eleven of the twelve successful candidates for School Board won with FEA endorsement.

Superintendent Hall never really envisioned back in the 1880s that the simple teachers association that he incorporated as part of his annual Institutes would one day play the role it does in the formulation of local and state education policy.

FEA has not been content simply to commemorate great achievements of the past. It is celebrating the on-going strength and vitality of the Association by expanding its ability to offer professional opportunities to its members. The Association opened the Professional Development Center, a state of the art training facility dedicated to service to members. Each year it sponsors a series of seminars and workshops featuring professional and personal topics for which members can earn salary credits, continuing education units, and recertification points. FEA has greatly expanded the community outreach programs to garner support for and understanding of the great contributions of public education to our county and our country.

The leaders of FEA believe in a future just as full of purpose, promise and challenge as it did more than a half century ago. Together, FEA can continue to achieve.

Over the years, FEA has been most fortunate to have an array of dedicated and talented leaders and staff to deliver the Association program.

 - Thanks to Dennis J. Pfennig (Summer 2004) for the information provided here.

Those who have served as FEA President since the Second World War are:

Katherine Hopper, 1947-49
W.S. Rumbough, 1949-51
Craighill S. Burks, 1951-52
Ralph Buckley, 1952-54
Phil Fuller, 1954-56
Robert Bogen, 1956-58
Evelyn Magarity, 1958-60
Roy Frye, 1960-62
William J. Burkholder, 1962-64
Roy I. Brooks, 1964-65
Walter Dowling, 1965-66
Don R. Rapier, 1966-67
Douglas Dalton, 1967-68
I. Elise Jones, 1968-69
Thomas Propps, 1968-69
Merlin G. Meadows, 1970-71
Robert F. Wilkie, 1971-72
Edward A. Anderson, Jr., 1972-73
Elizabeth Cofer, 1973-74
L. H. Mense, 1974-75
Gloria B. Thorpe, 1975-76
Edward A. Anderson, Jr., 1976-77
Victor Cornacchione, 1977-78
B.D. Hicks, 1978-79
Gerald T. Gripper, 1979-80
George W. Costello, 1980-81
Marilyn S. Rogers, 1981-83
Robert S. Starr, 1983
William B. Martin, 1982-84
Donna P. Caudill, 1984-86
Mimi Dash, 1986-88
Walter J. Mika, Jr., 1988-90
Maureen Daniels, 1990-92
Kelly Peaks Horner, 1992-94
Kathryn A. Davis, 1994-96
N. Yvonne Jukes, 1996-98
John Butterfield, 1998-2000
Richard J. Baumgartner, 2000-2002
Barbara Allen, 2002-2004
Richard J. Baumgartner, 2004-2007
Leonard Bumbaca - current

Those who have served as FEA Executive Directors are:

Paul Peter, 1961-68
Allerton Barnes, 1968-74
John Radcliffe, 1974-76
Jon White, 1976-81
Barby Halstead, 1981-85
Richard T. Willis, 1986-94
George Segna, 1994-95
Kenneth Reinshuttle, 1996-2009
JoAnn Karsh, 2010-present