This year’s legislative session brought some big wins for public school funding, but also some big obstacles.
Through the state budget we were able to accomplish some of our goals, including fully lifting the arbitrary cap on state funding for support staff – which has been a priority of our coalition since we first came together in 2019. However, we unfortunately did not see the amount of progress that we wanted on some other items.
While we’re happy about having secured more funding for Virginia’s public schools, we know we still have a long way to go before Virginia’s schools are truly fully and fairly funded. Our wins this year are especially important with ongoing threats to public education funding on the federal level.
This year's wins:
- Fully Lifting the Support Cap: An additional $223 million lifts the arbitrary cap that has limited funding for essential support staff such as instructional aides, nurses, and custodians. We have been fighting for this since our founding in 2019, and many of our member orgs have opposed the cap since its creation. This marks a major victory towards ensuring every student has the resources they need to succeed.
- Special Education Add-On: The budget includes $53 million for a new state add-on for students with disabilities. Virginia has long underfunded special education compared to other states, and this new flexible funding mechanism will provide direct support for students with disabilities while laying the groundwork for future investment.
- Teacher and Staff Bonuses: The budget provides one-time $1,000 bonuses for SOQ-funded school employees with no local match required. While this is an important step in recognizing educators and staff, it appears inflation may meet or exceed the 3% salary increases that are funded in the budget, reinforcing the need in the next biennium budget for long-term salary increases to address staffing shortages.
- Family and Community Engagement in Schools: Provides an additional $2.5 million to support community school grants for integrated student supports, enriched learning opportunities, family engagement, and more.
- Protecting Public Education Funding: The General Assembly repeatedly blocked the $50 million private school voucher program that Governor Younkin proposed in his budget and budget amendments, preventing public dollars from being diverted away from the students and schools in our communities.
- Supporting Telehealth and Tele-therapy in Schools: Two bills (HB1945/SB1037 and HB2543/SB1370) to support and expand telehealth services in schools were passed and signed into law. As Virginia students navigate serious mental health struggles amidst school counselor shortages, telehealth services help bridge the gap and make sure our students are getting the emotional and behavioral support that they need.
The governor’s budget amendments and vetoes:
Unfortunately, one barrier to progress this session was amendments and vetoes from Governor Youngkin. His proposed amendments included reducing the funding needed to fully lift the support cap and repeatedly attempting to pass a school voucher program that would have funneled public money into private schools.
Thankfully most of these proposals were successfully blocked by the General Assembly, but unfortunately some of his vetoes that impacted public school funding weren’t overruled:
- The governor vetoed HB2341 (Delegate Shin), which would have improved the reach of school-based mental health services to support students of different cultural and language backgrounds. We supported this important legislation because we believe that every single one of our students deserves to belong and be treated with dignity and respect, regardless of their identity or what language is their native tongue.
- Before signing the budget, the governor used his line item veto power to strike additional funding for Safer Communities and Community Violence Reduction Grants. These programs help our students have better school experiences by reducing violence in their communities.
We applaud the General Assembly for standing strong against the vast majority of the governor’s proposed cuts to public school funding.
Areas for improvement:
While this budget includes major victories for public education funding, there are some areas where we didn’t see as much improvement as we wanted:
- Some K-12 school construction funding was reduced compared to the introduced budget, which could slow efforts to modernize aging school buildings across the state.
- One-time bonuses do not address long-term teacher salary gaps, which remain among the least competitive in the country.
- Lottery funding once again supplanting to reduce the general funds for K-12, rather than increased lottery profits being used to enhance resources for our local schools. This long-standing budget gimmick undermines Virginia’s commitment to use lottery proceeds to support public education.
- Virginia’s highest-need school divisions require additional targeted investments to close funding gaps and make sure students can overcome barriers to learning.
- No funding for school-based restorative practice programs was provided in the budget, representing a missed opportunity to seriously address student behavioral challenges in an evidence-based and holistic way.
As we look towards the 2026 legislative session we will continue to fight for a Virginia where every child has access to a high-quality public education regardless of their zip code or how much money their family has. We will also continue to respond to threats on the federal level that will have very real impacts on our students across the state.
