We’re now officially over halfway through this year’s legislative session! Wednesday, February 18, was the last day for legislators to vote on bills that originate in their chambers (House or Senate), so the bills that have passed their original chambers will now be considered by the other chamber. This is also known as “crossover.”
So far we have seen some progress on our priority legislation, although the state budget will ultimately determine how much funding our public schools get for various items.
Here are a few updates on each of our core priority areas:
Improving funding for students facing the highest barriers
- Bills (HB 1278 and SB 685) to make sure that parents who are not fluent in English still have access to information about their child’s education have passed the House and Senate.
- The House passed HB92 to make funding for low-income students and students with disabilities permanent parts of the state’s funding formula, known as the Standards of Quality. Doing so ensures this important funding – which FOS successfully fought to improve in recent years – is available to students in every school division and fulfills Recommendation #8 from JLARC’s major 2023 study on K-12 funding.
Making sure the state pays its fair share
- On Sunday, February 22, we’ll learn the House’s and Senate’s funding priorities – and their impact on Virginia students – as each chamber releases their proposed budgets for the upcoming two years. This will launch a 20-day sprint to make sure the final compromise budget reflects the best possible outcomes for our students and communities.
- One “small” budget item that FOS is closely tracking is a proposed $1 million (1 #8h and 1 #2s) for the Joint Subcommittee on Elementary and Secondary Education Funding. This would pay for stakeholder engagement and technical assistance, including an adequacy study, enabling the Joint Subcommittee to develop a new school funding formula that is shaped by community input and informed by up-to-date data.
Boosting community involvement and supportive school environments
- The House passed HB298, promoting evidence-based restorative practices (such as mentoring and dialogue circles) to address student conduct as alternatives to suspension and expulsion in many cases. Compromises have been made to advance the bill this far, but FOS will be working to make the final version as strong as possible.
Increasing revenue to support our students
- Improving our schools requires that the state provide more resources for our students, because many local governments in rural and low-income areas can’t afford to make up for the state’s shortcomings on their own. In a year where the federal government is pushing costs for healthcare and food assistance onto states, new state revenue will be needed to make crucial investments in our public schools.
- The major revenue decisions this year will be made by budget writers after a series of stand-alone House tax package bills did not advance. You can let your legislators know that you support making sure Virginia has the revenue needed to support our students here.
- Parallel with the conversation about state revenue, legislators have been considering bills (HB 334, SB 66, and SB 607) to allow every local government to, if they so choose, hold a referendum to see if their residents want to create an additional 1% local sales tax to fund school construction. This proposal received strong bipartisan support in the House of Delegates, while the Senate bills stalled in committee.