State education board shifts on funding

BY OLYMPIA MEOLA
Media General News Service
Published: November 21, 2008

RICHMOND — Reading the writing on the wall, Virginia’s Board of Education said Thursday that it would not ask the cash-strapped General Assembly for more money for the Standards of Quality, a guide for what constitutes a basic education.

Board members instead want state lawmakers to give public schools greater flexibility in using existing funds to hire for several new positions, including reading and math specialists and data/testing coordinators.

The recommendation avoids a larger infusion of cash into public education but gives schools the explicit authority to add staff with money assigned to other areas in the SOQs as well as lottery-funded programs.

“I think this is the best we can do with the situation we’re involved in,“ said Board of Education President Mark E. Emblidge.

State educators already have felt the pinch from Virginia’s $2.5 billion-plus budget shortfall and bleak short-term economic outlook.

The Department of Education suffered 11 layoffs as part of cutbacks that Gov. Timothy M. Kaine rolled out in October. Just this week, the House of Delegates Appropriations Committee met in Roanoke to discuss the state’s economic situation and signaled that everything is on the chopping block — including education.

Thursday, the Senate Finance Committee staff released a report on its interpretation of the budget shortfall, and listed as a potential reduction changing the state’s SOQ funding to a 50-50 split with localities. The state currently funds 55 percent of the SOQs.

A 50-50 split would save the commonwealth roughly $300 million in fiscal year 2010, according to the report.

Education accounts for about 40 percent of the state’s total operating expenses, which were projected to be $73 billion at the beginning of the two-year budget cycle, according to the Virginia Department of Planning and Budget.

The state currently spends about $5,500 in state funds per pupil, putting it in the bottom 25 states in terms of expenditures.

Angela Ciolfi, an attorney with child advocacy group JustChildren, urged Board of Education members yesterday to ask for full funding of school needs.

“We can’t balance the budget on the backs of children,“ she said.

Though the plan voted on yesterday keeps SOQ funding even, it still puts the needs of students and teachers first, said Board of Education member Gary L. Jones.

“That is as it should be,“ he said. “While we all wish we could advocate additional expenditures, any such request, I believe, would be dead on arrival.“

Olympia Meola is a staff writer at the Richmond Times-Dispatch. Staff writer Jim Nolan contributed to this report.