The Latest from VEA

The money committees have completed their work on the Budget Bills (HB1800/SB1100) and here are the details.

The House’s Subcommittee on Elementary and Secondary Education budget proposal reduces “no loss” funding to school divisions to $399.9 million. Still, the proposal provides $355.5 million in additional direct aid to public schools and $145.3 million over the $623.4 million proposed in the original version of HB 1800.

The Senate’s Subcommittee on Elementary and Secondary Education budget proposal maintains $514 million in “no loss” funding, $355.5 million in additional direct aid to public schools, and $127 million above the Governor’s proposal.

The Senate committee inserted alarming policy language into SB1100 on page 169, after line27, which states, “31. Each school division shall offer in-person instruction options to a student if requested by the parent or guardian in the 2021-2022 school year.”  This language is very similar to the language in SB1303, which recently passed the Senate and is now awaiting a hearing in the House Education Subcommittee.

Here are the highlights:

House Appropriations Committee Proposed Changes to HB1800.

• $151.7 million in additional funding to convert Governor Northam’s 2% bonus proposal to a 5% permanent pay increase for educators. Includes flexibility to school divisions to provide an average 5.0% pay increase over FY 2021 and FY 2022 and does not require a full 5.0% local increase to occur in FY 2022.
• $13.9 to partially restore the Cost of Competing Adjustment.
• $123 million to address the impact of COVID-19 students, schools, and educators, which includes $51.1 million for summer school programs, remediation, tutoring, and mental health supports; $30 million to create innovative programs; based on recommendations from the state’s remediation and recovery task force; $26.6 million for additional school counselors; $8.8 million to transition from high-stakes SOL tests to through-year growth assessments; and, 10.7 for ESL programs

Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee Proposed Changes to SB1100.

The Senate Subcommittee recommended retaining the following from the Governor’s proposal:

• $514 million in No Loss payments to Local School Divisions.
• $26.6 million to fund one school counselor for every 325 students.
• $16 million to restore early childhood initiatives.

In addition, the Senate Subcommittee proposed:

• $59 million in additional funding to convert Governor Northam’s 2% bonus proposal to a 3% permanent pay increase for educators. (revenue contingent)
• $49.2 million to fund three specialized student support positions for every 1,000 students.
• $30 million to support instructional activities to address “learning loss” due to pandemic.

The Commonwealth Institute has provided an excellent comparison of Governor Northam’s and money committee budget proposals.  For more detailed information, go here.