The governor’s proposed budget was released yesterday and includes a number of changes in state support for Virginia’s students. Unfortunately, the governor’s proposal does not appear to make any significant progress toward funding the critical needs of our students and…
After many months of waiting through complicated and contentious negotiations, a state budget was finally signed into law on Thursday, September 14th! The budget includes some important investments in our public schools, including progress on items that we have been…
Below is the letter that we sent on July 19th to the Virginia Board of Education with our recommendations for revisions to the state Standards of Quality. You can also see a pdf version here. Dear Members of the Board,…
Our perspective on Virginia’s school accreditation process: Last night in his CNN town hall, Governor Youngkin brought up changes to Virginia’s school accreditation system that were made in 2018 and said that they were responsible for “lowering standards” in Virginia…
House Budget Proposals Prioritize Corporations over Virginia Children; Senate Proposals Respond to Student Needs See our map comparing the two budgets here. Virginia lawmakers have a remarkable opportunity this year to significantly improve educational opportunities for our children, who are…
This week, the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) acknowledged an error in their mathematical formula for funding local school divisions. Reversing this at the expense of Virginia schools would have significant consequences for students — amounting to a reduction of $201 million in state funding over…
When Governor Youngkin’s budget comes out tomorrow, examine it closely to see whether our public school students and educators are getting what they most need. Our challenges to addressing educational needs are daunting, but research has shown us time and…
With the release of the state-level 4th and 8th grade reading and math NAEP results today, it’s clear Virginia’s long-standing underfunding of our highest need schools continues to take a toll on our students. Continued lack of sufficient state resources…
On September 12, 2022, we sent the memo linked below sharing our collective recommendations for K-12 budget investments for the revised FY23-24 state budget to Secretary Aimee Guidera and Deputy Secretary McKenzie Snow. We also invited them to meet with…
A Missed Opportunity to Highlight Disparities and Effective Solutions On May 19th, 2022, the Virginia Department of Education released a 34-page report on academic achievement in Virginia’s public schools at the request of Governor Youngkin. The Governor presented the report…
