The VCU
Commonwealth Education Poll 2013-2014 was presented to the education committees
of the House and Senate last week. The
findings were not surprising:
In yet
another year of concerns over budget balancing, Virginians remain strongly supportive
of funding for public schools.
Sixty-five percent of Virginians say that Virginia schools do not have
enough funds to meet their needs, while only 27% say schools have enough
funding now. Respondents are also
concerned about how funding affects quality.
Three‐quarters of respondents (75%) said that the amount of funding
affects quality a great deal or quite a lot, which is an increase of 8% over
last year.
Further,
funding for our public schools is the public’s top budget priority according to
the poll.
Let’s see
how the House and Senate budget proposals, released today, stack up in
consideration of the priorities of Virginians as revealed in the Commonwealth
Poll.
House Highlights
No incentive
funds for teacher salary increase
$150,000 for OEI
FY15 per
pupil funding level = $5037 (FY09 level was $5274)
Senate Highlights
No incentive
funds for teacher salary increase, but suggests that $40 million in formula
changes be used for salary
Provides funds
for the transition to fully funding teacher retirement
No funding for OEI
No funding for OEI
FY15 per
pupil funding level = $5063 (FY09 level was $5274)
In summary, the
Senate provides $26 more per pupil next years that the House, but we remain
behind 2009 funding levels. There is no
cause for celebration for public education advocates.
Quote of the Day:
“Virginian’s
should be very proud of its public education system that supports and produces
high caliber students and that consistently outperforms the majority of
peer-group students, from other states, and on a number of nationally
recognized achievement tests. And does
so at a very competitive cost to taxpayers:
Virginia ranks 49th lowest, out of the 50 states, on Stand
and Local Revenues (taxes) as a Percentage of Average Virginian’s Personal
Income!”
- Delegate James P. Massie, III, Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee Subcommittee on Elementary and Secondary Education
Please look
for a detailed analysis of the proposals in the days ahead.
- Delegate James P. Massie, III, Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee Subcommittee on Elementary and Secondary Education
2 comments:
That same poll shows that a significant majority of Virginians -- 72% -- favor allowing homeschooled students to participate on local public school sports teams. Does VEA support the wishes of Virginia citizens on this issue related to public schools?
Maybe it is time for teachers across the Commonwealth to work to the contract. What other profession do the professionals get treated with such disdain? How many days, weeks, or months of working to the contract, would it take to open the eyes of the complacent constituents?
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