News

School funding in the new budget

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…

Our letter to the VBOE on the Standards of Quality

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,…

What we have to say about accreditation

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…

Statement in response to House and Senate budget proposals

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…

Statement on VDOE’s funding error

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…

Will the new education budget give our students what they need?

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…