Building Successful Schools and Students:

The State’s Role in Funding

Virginia Public Education CoalitionAugust 3, 2015

Virginia Public Education Coalition

• Virginia Counselors Association (VCA)

• Virginia Education Association (VEA)

• Virginia Middle School Association (VMSA)

• Virginia Professors of Educational Leadership (VPEL)

• Virginia School Boards Association (VSBA)

• Virginia School Counselors Association (VSCA)

• Virginia Association of Supervision & Curriculum Development (VASCD)

• Virginia Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (VACTE)

• Virginia Association of Elementary School Principals (VAESP)

• Virginia Association of School Superintendents (VASS)

• Virginia Association of Secondary School Principals (VASSP)

• Virginia Congress of Parents & Teachers (VAPTA)

Virginia Public Education Coalition

• Representing nearly all stakeholders in public education

• Focused primarily on well-being of students

• Partners in public education advocacy and policy development

• Committed to engagement of Virginia’s communities

• Meet monthly to collaborate on legislative and public education issues

The Context

• Funding public education is a shared responsibility between state and local appropriating bodies.

• Failure to fully fund the Standards of Quality (SOQ) and SOQ additions have further burdened localities.

• Simultaneously, the Standards of Accreditation and Standards of Learning have been made substantially more rigorous, adding new graduation requirements and consistently raising the bar for school accreditation.

• The gap between actual costs of services at the local level and state’s reimbursement for provision of those services continues to widen.

The Problem

Students

Less MoneyHarder Circumstances

Higher Expectations

Less Money

• Following the recession of 2008, deep cuts were made to public education.

• The Standards of Quality (SOQ) were weakened in order to balance the budget.

• After 5 years of economic recovery, state funding per student remains BELOW pre-recession levels.

Local SOQ Spending Dollars

Source: The Commonwealth Institute analysis of Virginia Dept. of Education data

How much more are localities paying?

Operations funding includes regular day school, school food services, summer adult, adult education, and other education. Pre-K is included in 2014, but not 2009.

Source: The Commonwealth Institute analysis of Virginia Dept. of Education data

Light - Local share

Mid - State share

Dark - Federal share

Challenging Circumstances

Source: The Commonwealth Institute analysis of Virginia Dept. of Education and US Census Bureau data

• 14% of all school-age children live in poverty

• 15% increase in English Language Learners in last 5 years

• 31% of 3rd graders did not pass 2014 reading SOL

• 42% of all students received free or reduced lunch in 2014

Source: Virginia Department of Education and Virginia Association of School Superintendents

Since 2007, Virginia has seen significant increases in student

needs

Over the same time period, divisions report

significant staffing reductions

Challenging Circumstances

Higher Expectations

• Increased accountability requirements while still highly dependent on test scores

• Accommodations for special education students

• Mandates requiring staff training - including health and safety

• Overwhelming case loads in counseling and other support services

The Plan Provide targeted funding for:

• Improving teacher/pupil ratio in limited English proficiency programs

• Educational technology infrastructure in SOQ

• Kindergarten aides in classes with over 20 pupils

• High-quality professional development for teachers and administrators

• Competitive compensation to attract and retain high-quality staff

• Continued shoring up of state VRS funding

• Class size reduction

The Future…Develop a long-range plan for:

• Attraction and retention of quality teachers

• Addressing necessary mechanisms for supporting changing demographics and increased expectations

• Meaningful professional development to improve the craft of teaching

• Preparing our workforce including increased skill certification programs

• Investment in construction and technological infrastructure