Peter Gabor

This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.

Peter Gabor

Nonpartisan

Elections and appointments

Last election

November 7, 2023

Education

Bachelor's

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1984

Ph.D

Princeton University, 1990

Personal

Religion

Catholic

Profession

Teacher

Contact

Campaign website

Peter Gabor ran for election for an at-large seat of the Fairfax County Public Schools in Virginia. He lost in the general election on November 7, 2023.

Gabor completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2023. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Peter Gabor was born in Montreal, Canada. He earned a bachelor's degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1984 and a Ph.D. from Princeton University in 1990. His career experience includes working as a teacher and software engineer. He has been affiliated with the US Chess Federation.

Elections

2023

See also: Fairfax County Public Schools, Virginia, elections (2023)

General election

General election for Fairfax County Public Schools, At-large (3 seats)

The following candidates ran in the general election for Fairfax County Public Schools, At-large on November 7, 2023.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Ryan McElveen (Nonpartisan)	19.9	169,203
✔		Ilryong Moon (Nonpartisan)	19.6	166,706
✔	Submit photo	Kyle McDaniel (Nonpartisan)	19.2	163,884
		Saundra Davis (Nonpartisan)	11.5	97,906
		Maureen Brody (Nonpartisan)	10.6	90,288
		Cassandra Aucoin (Nonpartisan)	10.4	88,478
		Linda Ann Pellegrino (Nonpartisan)	3.2	27,136
		Ahmed Hussein (Nonpartisan)	2.8	23,916
		Peter Gabor (Nonpartisan)	2.5	21,516
		Other/Write-in votes	0.4	3,064

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 852,097
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Hamid Munir (Nonpartisan)
• Abrar Omeish (Nonpartisan)
• Lawrence Webb (Nonpartisan)
• Chris Lewis (Nonpartisan)

Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Gabor in this election.

Ratings

Gabor received ratings or grades from the following organizations.

• Virginia Citizens Defense League

Campaign themes

2023

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Peter Gabor completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2023. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Gabor's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I come from an immigrant family who came to US as a result of the 1956 revolution in Hungary. My parents escaped with only their education, and the value of education was always impressed upon me.

I graduated 2nd in my class from high school as a Presidential Scholar, I went to MIT and earned three bachelor's degrees (Electrical Engineering, Math, Computer Science). I continued for a doctorate in Computer Science at Princeton University and concurrently obtained my teaching certification (endorsed in Math, Computer Science, and Physics).

I worked as a software engineer in several industries (software firms, research labs, Wall Street, pharmaceutical firm, and bus company). In 2010 I came to FCPS to teach in high school, and I've have taught math classes and for the last seven years I've been focused on teaching Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (post AP Computer Science classes).

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• The core responsibility of the school board is to educate the students to become contributing members of society. In the last year several studies have appeared showing that the SAT and ACT scores in FCPS scores have been on a downward trend predating the pandemic, going back nearly 10 years. While all the candidates would like to fix this, I am the only candidate who has a track record of raising student scores. Teaching is my passion, and I have the ability and knowledge to address this issue.
• Teacher attrition is a nationwide problem, and it's a vital one for the board to address. Although compensation has gone up, inflation has gone up even faster so that teachers are now worse off than 10 years ago. This core problem of compensation will have no easy fix, but it must be a focus of the board.
• There is a usually overlooked second aspect to teacher attrition, namely the conditions under which teachers work. This includes class size increasing, vacation time decreasing, demoting teachers who have been away from FCPS and then return, grading time and remediation time and parent contact time increasing, conducting classes in areas unrelated to certification, administering tests in areas unrelated to certification, requiring unnecessary training. Each of these may individually be viewed as minor, but collectively they are significant and driving teachers away.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Education!!

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

The single most important thing, above all else, is to listen to one's constituents. Persons in public office are representatives of their districts. I don't think it's proper to be voted in and then take the stance that, "I've been voted in, and therefore however I see things must be the will of the voters." I pledge to keep listening to my core constituency - the students, parents, and FCPS employees.

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

I listen and assess first before I propose a solution. I am a very detail-oriented person (I have to be as a mathematician and software engineer). One of the reasons why I'm a good teacher is that I can usually explain things in multiple ways, which is quite helpful when a student doesn't understand the first explanation. This is a helpful skill in problem solving (such as teacher attrition). I've had much experience teaching and know how to reach and motivate students. I'm an outside-the-box thinker. Most importantly for this office, I directly represent two of the core constituencies of the district: its students by passion, and its teachers by profession.

What legacy would you like to leave?

I want to see student test scores rise, and I'd like to see improved working conditions for FCPS staff.

What is the primary job of a school board member in your view?

The School Board has a single mandate - to prepare the children to become contributing members of America. This means academics and civics, and I'd like to get back to the national tests scores we had before and surpass them. The board should stay within the law - I don't see how we can lead by example absent this.

I try to look at things from the long-term interest of the students, then of the parents and teachers, and given a choice between a top-down mandate and a local solution, I much prefer the latter.

Who are your constituents?

First and foremost, the students in the district. Then it is the parents, teachers, and district employees, and then the broader community.

What existing district policies would you like to change, or what new policies would you like to implement?

All district policies come up for review within a 5-year period. I am not looking forward to wholesale policy changes since FCPS at its core has done pretty well. When policies or regulations do come up for review, I'll be looking at them from the point of view of what is likely to enhance educational outcomes and what will enhance the job satisfaction of FCPS employees.

A simple example: 10 years ago there were two additional weeks of summer vacation for FCPS staff and students, but what have we to show for it? And our test scores are not higher. Many teachers use the summer to work a second job, and that two weeks could be significant. These two weeks are currently scattered throughout the school year, and the affect is that each week is different, and there is little stability. From the point of view of a student, I should think, this kind of chaos is not the welcoming environment that one would like. Stability of schedule serves a useful purpose.

What are your preferred strategies for faculty, staff, and administration recruitment?

Here is one issue I would address: The way teacher hiring works at FCPS is that once a candidate has gone through the interview process, and both the prospective teacher and principal agree that it is a good fit, the candidate formally hires on through HR (Human Resources). Although it seems like it should be just a formality, it can be problematic as the candidate may feel like they are in an adversarial position whereas they might have expected a welcoming environment. HR is aware of rules and regulations, which rules and regs are not always disclosed up front and the candidate can feel unsure of how they are being treated. Fortunately, this has a simple solution: a union rep should advocate for the new employee during the on-boarding process.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

Other survey responses

Ballotpedia identified the following surveys, interviews, and questionnaires Gabor completed for other organizations. If you are aware of a link that should be added, email us.

• League of Women Voters

See also

2023 Elections

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External links

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Candidate

Fairfax County Public Schools, At-large

Website