It has been over one year since Virginia’s Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) released its findings on an 18-month study of the Commonwealth’s funding of K-12 public schools. This eye-opening report confirmed for the public what many educators, parents, and stakeholders already knew, Virginia’s state government does not adequately meet its financial obligations of school funding, placing a great burden on local taxpayers to provide the dollars necessary to make up where the Commonwealth falls short. Local taxpayers are asked to provide for schools, social services, and our first responders, all important functions that our communities cannot do without, but the decades of underfunding of K-12 public schools identified by JLARC places these necessary service providers in our communities in a place of competition for the finite resource of local tax dollars.
Last July, JLARC identified the state’s Standards of Quality (SOQ) funding formula as a major factor in the underfunding of public schools. The report indicated that the formula underestimates how much funding schools need to fulfill the government’s responsibility to provide every Virginia child with a quality education. In Fiscal Year 2021, the SOQ formula indicated Virginia schools needed $10.7 billion in state and local funds. The actual cost for the year equated to $17.3 billion.
A small number of our communities can absorb this deficit in state funding of K-12 public schools when their local economies are prospering. However, many communities struggle with the shortfall because of competing priorities, which benefits no one, no matter which community an individual resides in the Commonwealth. It is time to address the findings in the JLARC Report and work together to solve this issue that is of great importance to the future of Virginia.
On September 16, the Joint Subcommittee to Study Elementary and Secondary Public Education, comprised of members from Virginia’s Senate and House of Delegates, will meet in Richmond to discuss the findings in last year’s JLARC Report. The Virginia School Boards Association (VSBA) is optimistic that this will be the first step on the journey to addressing the Commonwealth’s responsibilities for funding K-12 public schools.
As President of VSBA, I cannot stress enough the hope I have that our state’s education leaders in the General Assembly will not just have a dialogue over this issue but will arrive at a solution that leads to the state meeting its funding obligations for K-12 public schools. VSBA will continue to advocate for our public education system by having crucial conversations with state policymakers over the critical issues of our time. We will continue to voice our belief that every student in Virginia’s K-12 public schools deserves the opportunity to receive a quality education and will work with the General Assembly to ensure this goal is achieved.
Cardell Patillo, Jr. is President of the Virginia School Boards Association. He can be reached at cardell@vsba.org.