This week is Public Schools Week, so it’s a great time to share some of the things that make public schools important and wonderful. Public schools are and have always been a microcosm of our communities. They are where poor and rich students sit side by side, eat together, ride the same buses and have access to the same teachers, books, and media of any given community. From public schools, we develop our plumbers and our doctors, our electricians and our car designers, our merchants and our delivery workers, our ministers and scientists, and our next generation of teachers. Regardless of one’s ethnicity, gender, defined abilities, or economic privilege, in the public school one can gain access to what serves their interests: the great thinkers of all time, the keys to the math-cosmos, the strategists and changers of all history, the stories of our inventors and creators, and the deepest understandings of the human condition and heart. Without our public schools the progress we have made as a civilization, from engineering to medicine, to space and the depths of the ocean would not have been possible. All of our human accomplishments are seated in a kindergarten classroom, an eighth grade class, and a high school graduation before they come to the Pulitzer or Nobel prize, the Capitol, or the board room. In 1900 only 4% of people graduated from high school. By 2019 90.1% of people in the US had graduated by 25 Across a similar timeline people’s life spans increased from 47 years to 79. During that same period we developed flight, went to the moon, and now probe the depths of the universe with our telescopes. We wiped out the worst communicable diseases that decimated our communities, and we built highways that connect the nation. Our infrastructure brought water, heat, and electricity into virtually all homes and now connects us to the rest of the world in an instant. We learned how to provide mass food production that allowed people to do a wide variety of jobs and avocations. It is no accident that during the time period of mass education, both the timelines of our most massive progress and a major life expectancy-gain occurred simultaneously. Our public schools are our treasure, and our gateway to the best possible future. They hold the potential to solve our most difficult problems, and the chance to fulfill our brightest dreams. We must care for our public schools, support them, and pour our best ideas and hearts’ desires into them. Only by doing that will we develop the future we and our children hope for.

Courtesy of Cappies NCA Why Schools Should have a full-time dedicated Theatre Arts teacher in every K-12 school Spring Productions are underway! Let me detail why a Theatre arts program is one of the most important elements in a school's repertoire of offerings. In the Theatre all are welcome and students learn to be accepting of the wide array of humanity and their beauty. It has always been and will remain a safe place for all our unique, commonplace, variedly able, and divergent students to learn that they have a place to be their authentic selves. Theatre arts is an executive functioning class A student learns to clean up after themselves. It is a cardinal rule of the theatre to leave your tools, and work spaces in clean and good working order for the next person. They learn to memorize and recall what they have learned, and to improvise when that memory fails. Theatre students learn to ask themselves, “Why did I do that, that way, and how should I do it next time?” Theatre Arts is a CTE and project management class Students learn the importance of deadlines and the sequencing of projects from design phase, through trial and adjustment, to performance, and replication of product. In theatre, a student learns how to safely use a variety of tools. There you will find carpentry tools, such as levels, measuring tapes, and hammers, and power tools such as drills and saws, and sewing machines. Students paint varied surfaces and items, and learn the proper use of a variety of cosmetic and make-up materials, including prosthetics and wigs. They have the opportunity to learn a variety of sound boards and system components, and lighting boards, instruments, and wiring. Every school theatre space is a makerspace. That has much wider application than one employer, or one sector of the economy. The performing arts are an over $216 billion dollar business and supply 5.1 million jobs a year. Theatre is a high culture and humanities class Theatre encompasses the vast array of world literature and multicultural stories: From ancient Greek tragedies to African and Native nations folk stories, Japanese Kabuki, and Chinese Opera. Theatre incorporates both the events and the details of various cultures. Theatre classes improve academic performance Studies show that students who participate in drama are more likely to attend other classes and less likely to drop out. Theatre classes can close our most persistent achievement gaps, and contribute to student resilience and social-emotional well-being. Students who participate in drama performance score substantially higher on the verbal component and the math component of the SAT. High school electives and staffing decisions are a finite space. Policy makers need to keep this in mind as they consider the sales pitches of those who want districts to adopt programs and policies that take up a crowded space in students' learning days. It is important to remember to protect and promote the solutions we know work.

Call to Action: Send Virginia DOE Accreditation Input ASAP While many of us were enjoying Spring Break, the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) pulled a fast one and rolled out their latest “Accountability Listening Sessions.”  These sessions may sound innocuous or ignorable, but they will have a huge and possibly negative impact on the reputation and funding of your local public schools, so ignore at your own peril. 4 Public Education attended the first listening session about revamping Virginia’s public school accountability and accreditation system last December. We were tentatively hopeful that Dr. Lisa Coons intended to follow through on her gracious promises of open engagement and listening to parent and educators; however, recent news about VDOE plans approved by the Virginia Board of Education sound like they are simply repackaging Niche-esque grading systems of schools while ignoring that such systems are swayed more heavily by poverty than aptitude and education. This is reaffirmed by Dr. Anne Holton’s 3/29 social media comments that: The “new rules will grade schools on A-F- type scale, mostly on how students do on our flawed SOL tests” The VBOE “Ignored clear research that growth measures should be heavily factored into any school grading system.  Failure to do so can make school segregation -  and thus achievement gaps.” The Board did this with an “unprecedented, rushed process.” That last one point means that these so-called listening sessions were set up a week ago, with inadequate notice to parents, educators, and taxpayers. So much for the importance of parental involvement that Governor Youngkin promised--instead of “parents first,” this is “parents ignored.” If it is not obvious, I’m angry. I feel betrayed by those who are paid and appointed to support public education and be responsible with taxpayer money. I am enraged that the VBOE and VDOE have thrown students and educators under the bus for a system that ignores the fact that poverty drives Niche-esque rating systems versus the skill and of teachers and quality of the students. If you care like I do, please attend one of the six remaining listening sessions by registering at the VDOE link: Thursday, 4/4 Region 4: Innovation Elementary School, 8250 Ashton Avenue Manassas, VA 20109 Monday, 4/8 Region 1: Chesterfield Technical Center, 13900 Hull Street Rd, Midlothian, VA 23112 Tuesday, 4/9 Region 2: Torggler Fine Arts Center (TFAC), 1 University Pl, Newport News, VA 23606 Thursday, 4/11 Region 3: James Monroe High School, 2300 Washington Ave, Fredericksburg, VA 22401 Wednesday, 4/17 Region 6: Salem Museum, 801 E Main St, Salem, VA 24153 Thursday, April 18 Region 7: Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center, 1 Partnership Cir, Abingdon, VA 24210 I registered to attend tonight's hearing in Manassas, VA, as everyone should, if they can. Just don’t try to add it to your calendar using their registration page because it is woefully broken, like I suspect this process is. Since it is likely already too late to attend these sessions–which makes me question if the VDOE even cares what we the parents, educators, and taxpayers have to say–please send your comments ASAP by clicking the button below. Be forewarned that the Feedback Topics (see right) offered by the VDOE are nearly incomprehensible for the average parent or taxpayer, so feel free to choose your own comment topics. Last December I ended my hopeful blog about the listening sessions with the following question and answer: “What is the true purpose of revamping Virginia’s public school system accountability and accreditation? In my experience, accountability is often applied only to public schools, whose processes, personnel, and performance is already transparent and excessively scrutinized while private and charter schools get a pass on any measurement of accountability–don’t even get me started on the lack of metrics on homeschooling. “ I’m sad to say that I was correct to be concerned about this VDOE initiative. Dr. Coons’ and VDOE’s initial professed intent of “transparency” is turning out to be a trojan horse for voucher efforts that suck more money from our public schools and taxpayers for unaccountable private institutions, charter schools, and homeschooling efforts. UPDATE: This quick turnaround by the VDOE was caused by the VBOE rushing this process and eliminating the first and final review, which means that all input needed to be collected immediately so that they can vote on the changes next month. Or, to repeat Ms. Holton's (a VBOE member) words: The Board did this with an “unprecedented, rushed process.” 4 Public Education learned this detail at the 4/4 Learning Session in Manassas. We will be reporting out on this meeting next week.

The Budget Conference amended version of the proposed state budget, Budget Bill HB 30, was adopted by the General Assembly on March 9th with bipartisan support from both chambers of the General Assembly. This amended version of the Governor’s Budget showed that our legislators recognized the critical needs for k-12 funding and that it should take priority over some of the Governor’s preferred budget items. However, Governor Youngkin is threatening to veto or severely amend the budget bill, putting necessary funding for public education in jeopardy. Thankfully, the House of Delegates and Senate took to heart the recommendations made by the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) on how to resolve the deficiencies in public school funding and the teacher pipeline. Unfortunately, the Governor has mistakenly dismissed those reports as unfounded, although JLARC is a non-partisan and highly respected commission that was directed by the General Assembly to conduct an audit and review of the school funding report. 4 Public education wholeheartedly supports the K-12 education budget offered in HB30, and invites advocates for public education to convince the Governor to prioritize public education. Thank you for answering these easy-to-do calls to action that are listed below and for sharing the links with your networks. Ask our Republican senators to Vote YES on HB30’s critical K-12 education funding Ask our Democratic Senators to Vote YES on HB30’s critical K-12 education funding Ask our Republican Delegates to Vote YES on HB30’s critical K-12 education funding Ask our Democratic Delegates to Vote YES on HB30’s critical K-12 education funding

End of Session Update: Budget Amendments The 2024 General Assembly session ended on March 9th with 12 of the 4 Public Education priority bills adopted by both the House and Senate, containing substantial substitutions in some cases. All of these bills have been sent to Governor Youngkin for his consideration–his deadline is between April 8th or 12th to sign, veto, or amend those bills. Updates on the changing status of these bills will be posted at this link. The Budget Conference report, Budget Bill HB 30, was adopted on March 9th by the Senate (24 to 14, with 2 not voting) and House (62 to 36, with 1 not voting) and received bipartisan support in both chambers. A comparison of the State, House, Conference, and Governor’s proposed budgets can be viewed at this link provided by The Commonwealth Institute for Fiscal Analysis, with proposed K-12 education funding starting on page 4. Thankfully the Budget Conferees recognized the critical needs for funding, as seen in their budget (HB30) that is an amendment to the Governor’s proposed budget. One item of agreement in all versions of the budget is for the needed $15 million funding for mental health resources in schools, but that is where the agreement ends. Notable and necessary amendments that were made to the Governor’s inadequate budget in the Conference Budget include: An additional $1.15 billion more in the General Fund support for Direct Aid for K-12 public education and the Department of Education Central Account. Additional funding to provide the state’s share of a 3% raise each year for state-recognized school staff. An additional $371 million of at-risk add-on funding to reduce barriers for students from low-income families and students in high-poverty communities. An additional $72 million for additional English Language Learner teachers. More than $4 million for each of the next two years for teacher training on inclusive practices for students with disabilities and to establish parent support centers in each region. $10 million for literacy screening and support. $5 million for community schools and for creating an office of community schools within the Department of Education. Diverting $250 million from the Literary Fund for school construction. $4.4 million for Special Education. Now it is the Governor's Turn Legislators will return to Richmond on April 17th when they will consider any amendments and vetoes that Governor Youngkin makes to the more than 1,000 bills sent to him to consider. The Governor was not pleased with the Conference Budget and reacted angrily to the amendments to his budget bill and called it “backward” because some items important to him were removed from the budget, in part to provide as much funding as possible for k-12 education. Items removed that were priorities to the governor included: tax cuts for wealthy Virginians and development of a sports arena that was budgeted at $2 billion. These items were removed from the governor’s proposed budget because they would have reduced the available revenue for other purposes and would have continued the underfunding of K-12 public education in Virginia. Upon receiving the Conference budget Governor Youngkin warned that “changes will be needed” so expectations are that he will use his veto pen liberally with bills that are Democratic priorities. Alternatively, he may use those priorities as bargaining chips to resurrect his tax cut and sports arena priorities. At the time of this writing, March 13th, the Governor has not yet weighed in on the K-12 education bills.

Fairfax County School Board Matters: March 7, 2024 First, I want to address the elephant in the room: I was unable to attend in-person last week because I suddenly realized that my tax deadline was less than 24 hours later. I love watching civic engagement in action, but to paraphrase Benjamin Franklin: death and taxes come for everyone. I also did not attend the 2/22 meeting either. I have a family who twisted my arm to miss the "excitement" of a school board meeting. Nevertheless, here I am…bright-eyed and bushy-tailed to give you some "deets" on the last meeting, but before I do, here is an invitation to a rally next week to celebrate trans visibility, theater, and diverse books in our libraries. It will be hosted by FCPS Pride and Allies, like 4 Public Education. Join us next week at 6pm on March 21, 2024 before the school board meeting at Luther Jackson Middle School. The 3/7/24 Fairfax County School Board meeting (see agenda and video) was short on public input and long on critical education discussions. The meeting started promptly at 7pm and the small but mighty Cherry Run Elementary School Cardinal Chorus sang the National Anthem. The FCSB then took difficult votes on student disciplinary actions regarding assault, use of a pellet gun, and unlawful acts. Aw heck. I cannot believe that I missed both the Women’s History and Disability Acceptance/National Disabilities Awareness Month proclamations! Women’s History: Ms. Robyn Lady spoke to the theme of “Women Who Advocate for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion” to recognize those “who understand that, for a positive future, we need to eliminate bias and discrimination entirely from our lives and in institutions.” She notes that “women working full time in 2020 on average earn 82 cents for every dollar a man working full-time earns” which results in $10,000 annual earning losses. Disability Acceptance and Awareness: Mr. Kyle McDaniel shared that 28,000 FCPS students (16%) receive special education services, and that disabled students encounter more difficulties being accepted by peers and participating in school and school activities. (I can attest to this!) Public Input Only three signed up for public input, yet they each brought their A-game on critical issues: A sweet, brave 2nd grader spoke about her ADHD, which her mom calls her superpower. She asked that other students learn about disabilities so that they will be kinder and more empathetic. (I am in tears with the beauty and strength of her speech. It was like hearing my own daughter speak about her experiences with ADHD and her desire to be treated with kindness and respect.) An ESOL teacher from Bryant Alternative High School spoke of her 9 years of experience as an FCPS Adult ESOL teacher where she was classified as a temporary worker, without benefits and at low pay, despite working 25 hours per week year round. This affects so many employees, and it forces experienced staff to leave or move to other positions. Lawrence Webb, former Falls Church School Board member (and an all-round amazing guy!), spoke about recent Next Door posts that show how “Great Schools” rankings define schools as “good” or “bad,” when really those rankings are akin to redlining some of Fairfax County’s amazing schools. He asked the FCSB to ensure that those schools are funded to the levels that they deserve and need. School Board Business Student Representative Matters: Ms. Karim discussed an eye-opening Equity Symposium including a Student Equity Ambassadors Leaders (SEALs) presentation that shared inequities in different schools that sometimes narrow the future opportunities of students (e.g., focusing on vocational and military versus college), and the failure of many students to know about resources like free mental health services (e.g., telehealth) and tutor.com. Awareness is limited and improved communication strategies are needed for Gen Z students, particularly when word of mouth and concise messages on other platforms may work better. College Board Sole-Source Contract: Ms. Seema Dixit introduced the Sole-Source Contract Amendment to the existing contract for The College Board–the value of which amendment is $3.83 million! Neither Ms. DIxit, nor her second Ms. Marcia St John-Cunning spoke to the amendment (nor would I, if I were them!). Mr. Ilryung Moon asked pointed questions and commented that The College Board, a 501(c)(3) non-profit, “is in fact making quite a lot of profits.” He asked Dr. Reid to open up conversations with them. She agreed and expressed that she felt the move to on-line testing should involve cost savings that are passed on to FCPS. Dr. Ricardy Anderson asked for clarification for the public to better understand the issue. Dr. Reid said that The College Board “is the sole provider” for the content exams, PSAT, AP, SAT, etc. which means that they are the only source of these tests for students across the country. Ms. Lady shared that The College Board demands list of all students who are receiving free and reduced lunch in order to waive testing fees; however, FCPS is unwilling to break student confidentiality, thus the College Board’s inflexibility increases costs to our school system. She added that FCPS is essentially free labor for them because school counselors need to proctor for weeks at a time, despite the College Board’s severe inflexibility to reschedule for sick students. VOTE to approve amendment: all 11 present (because no school district has any alternative than the College Board). On a personal note: It feels to many high school parents that The College Board essentially has a monopoly over the schools, parents, students, and colleges. They charge excessive fees to schools, parents, and students for services, when there is LITERALLY no where else to go. They are a sole source provider to all of us, while they mine our personal information and ask our minor children for enormously valuable information about their future plans and family demographics. Elementary Language Arts Basal Instructional Resources (K-6): Ms. Noel Klimenko, assistant superintendent, Instructional Services Department (ISD) walked through the process taken and the committee who chose these materials. 4 Public Education’s own Cheryl Binkley (President) was on this committee and has impressive things to say about the committee’s efforts to choose curriculum materials aligned with the Science of Reading with full implementation for School Year 2024-2025. There is much discussion. VOTE to approve purchase of Benchmark Advance, 2022: All 11 present. Other items: Amending the School Board's Proclamation Process Robust discussion–worth a listen. VOTE to amend the proclamation process: 8 Yes, 3 No (Mr. Moon, Dr. Anderson, and Mr. McElveen) Financial Planning (EL-5) Monitoring Report: Dr. Ried discussed the materials and presented slides regarding financial planning. She shared that her team has received some awards for financial transparency and reporting. (Congratulations!) VOTE that the Superintendent has made adequate progress: 9 Yes, 2 abstain (Mr. Moon, Mr. McElveen ) VOTE to maintain Executive Limitation 5, Financial Planning, as it is currently detailed: 9 Yes, 2 not present (Dr. Anderson and Mr. McDaniel) Board Committee Reports: Board Members share what their committees are doing. Board Matters: Please listen to the board reports from each board member. They share interesting and important things from their districts. Really listen to them! I found out that Mr. Frisch visited my son’s school to enjoy his class debating legislation during Student Congress in government class. I’d be remiss if I didn’t highlight Mr. Frisch’s important comment (see video of his full statement here) in light of a recent lawsuit against FCPS: I’ve heard from various members of our community students parents who are worried about recent news they've seen and I want to send a message of reassurance to them Fairfax County Public Schools remains committed to fostering a safe, supportive, welcoming, and inclusive School environment for all students and staff including our transgender and gender expansive students and staff. It is clear that students learn most effectively when they feel safe and supported and respected and accepted for who they are. 4PE President, Cheryl Binkley, was one of the few audience members at the meeting. Her thoughts on the meeting are incorporated in this document. Many thanks to her presence at the meeting and for her hard work on one of the agenda items. Current and retired teachers are filled with so much useful information–I always appreciate their willingness to educate a "more mature" student like myself. The meeting adjourned at 10:54 pm after lasting nearly 4 hours.

As the 2024 General Assembly draws to a close, the drama over the budget continues to ramp up. Much of the discussion about the budget revolves around the underfunding of Virginia’s public schools which can affect public schools across Virginia. Although, if you ask the Governor or his recently appointed Chair of the Board of Education, public schools in Virginia are “adequately funded.” What is the truth, and what is an attempt to gaslight Virginians? Final week of the 2024 General Assembly There is a flurry of activity at the statehouse as the House of Delegates and the State Senate work to finalize bills during this last official week of the 2024 Session. The status of active priority K-12 education bills can be found at this link. At this time of this writing, (Wednesday, March 6th), seven priority education bills passed both chambers and five bills are scheduled to go to conference to resolve differences between versions of the bills that the House and Senate passed. Saturday, March 9th, is the official last day of the 2024 session; however, getting the bills out of the General Assembly is just one step in the process. Each bill must still be considered by the Governor, and even if they pass, many bills will not be implemented unless they are funded through state appropriations via the budget. Many of these bills are not currently funded in the Governor’s budget, so keep a close eye on this. This week the Joint Senate and House Budget Committee is combining the House and Senate Budget Bills (HB30 and SB30) into one bill containing proposed amendments to the Governor’s proposed budget bill. 4 Public Education urges the Budget Conferees to include the key investments that are needed to ensure every student in Virginia’s public schools receives a quality education. Public school advocates know that these investments are needed for a quality school system and that funding these investments will show that Virginia values our teachers, our staff, our students, and our public schools, and will help bridge the achievement gap between low income and more affluent communities in Virginia. To fund or not to fund public education? The question remains whether Virginia will fund or underfund its public schools. The House and Senate both proposed in their budget bills that substantially more funds be allocated to Virginia’s public schools than did the Governor in his bill. This was because the House and Senate took to heart the recommendations made by the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) on how to resolve the deficiencies in public school funding and the teacher pipeline. Unfortunately, the Governor appears to have dismissed the reports by this non-partisan and highly respected commission, and this difference has set the stage for a battle over the budget. Much depends on whether the budget conferees include the critical funding needs for K-12 education in their joint budget bill and whether the Governor accepts their amendments. It should be noted that many organizations in Virginians have already objected to the Governor’s proposed budget as being unacceptable. All indications are that the Governor will challenge critically needed K-12 education funding that was already identified and passed via bills in the General Assembly. In his March 1, 2024 letter to the budget conferees, Governor Youngkin challenged the JLARC recommendations for greater K-12 funding as being unnecessary, but as it turns out, his claims were based on a flawed analysis and erroneous assumptions. . His dismissal of the JLARC recommendations and claim that their analysis was faulty led to an immediate rebuttal by JLARC as well as criticism by the Virginia Education Association and other financial experts. Apparently, the Governor’s analysis contains “inaccuracies and mischaracterizations”* that led to the his flawed claims. This is unsurprising, since Virginians are well aware that the Governor’s Department of Education has trouble with numbers–remember when they lost over $200 million in public school funding? Sadly, this appears to be another attempt by the Governor to gaslight Virginians with misinformation. From his March 1, 2024 letter, it is apparent that Governor Youngkins does not understand how to properly analyze the data he used to make his claims. For example, he claimed that the increase in state funding in 2020 more than made up for the 14% underfunding by the state, but this is incorrect for a number of reasons. It was not state funding but instead the overall (federal, state and local) funding that underfunded schools by 14% compared with the average budgets for public schools in the United States. The Governor should have used 56% as the amount Virginia underfunded their school systems relative to the national average, not 14%.* In Virginia, localities use property and other local taxes to try to make up for the state funding shortfall, but less affluent communities have a difficult time doing this and as a result are severely underfunded. If the Governor used the correct state funding and inflation data to compare Virginia with the average state funding levels, Virginia’s underfunding would still be 17 to 22% (including federal and local contributions) compared to the national average in 2023. This contrasts with his claim that Virginia closed the shortfall “with room to spare”.* Another erroneous claim made by the Governor is that Virginia’s average teacher pay outpaces the national average. His use of mixed data sources with known differences between them, lead to this erroneous conclusion. If he used the correct data and based the calculations on his Department of Education’s estimates and budgeted teacher salary increases, average teacher pay in 2024 would still be several thousand dollars below the national average for teacher pay.* This contrasts with the Governor’s claim that Virginia has closed the gap in teacher pay relative to the national average, again an attempt to convince legislators and Virginians that there is not a need for additional K-12 funding. Our Governor asserted that, “We have no greater shared priority in the Commonwealth than fulfilling our Constitutional and moral obligation to provide a quality education for our students” yet he used a flawed analysis to dismiss recommendations by a respected commission that was directed by the legislature to review and audit public school funding and the teacher pipeline. 4 Public Education urges the Joint House and Senate budget conferees to refer to the accurate analyses that are available from JLARC and The Commonwealth Institute.* The watchdogs are watching the governor and Virginians should, too. * These statements are based on an unpublished analysis provided by Laura Goren at The Commonwealth Institute.

TJ and FCPS Win in Court after Three Years of Litigation Fairfax County and Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) are celebrating a victory for its students, families, taxpayers, and schools because the Supreme Court refused to hear the appeal of the Coalition of TJ on February 20, 2024, thus permitting the May 2023 U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals decision that ruled that TJ admissions did not constitute discrimination against Asian students. When Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, or “TJ” as it is known locally, began nearly 40 years ago in 1985, on the grounds of TJ High School, it is doubtful that anyone expected that it would become the political football that it has been for the last 4 years, much less that amicus briefs to the Supreme Court would be written on its behalf. Many thanks to the students, parents, organizations, and elected officials who worked together, under some surreal conditions, to ensure race-blind admissions for TJ became a reality. In the words of Karl Frisch, Fairfax County School Board chair: We have long believed that the new admissions process is both constitutional and in the best interest of all of our students. It guarantees that all qualified students from all neighborhoods in Fairfax County have a fair shot at attending this exceptional high school. You may ask why this case matters so much. Well, there are multiple reasons: First, this is a hot topic, particularly in light of recent Supreme Court decisions in cases brought by Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) against both Harvard and University of North Carolina (UNC). The Court ruled that those schools’ affirmative action programs violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution, thus overruling 45 years of precedent that permitted “race conscious” admissions policies. Second, schools across the nation are struggling to find ways to ensure geographic and economic diversity in admissions. In Fairfax County, the Coalition for TJ challenged efforts to create new race-blind admissions policies by declaring such changes to be discriminatory, which the 4th Circuit found “simply runs counter to common sense.” Speaking of common sense, it is important to note that neither the SFFA nor the Coalition for TJ case involved actual students, much less any students potentially harmed by admission policies. Third, the challenge to the reformed admissions policy at TJ was funded by Pacific Legal Foundation, which has deep pockets, other cases pending in the Supreme Court Docket, and a seemingly insatiable thirst to end any admission policies that even hint at efforts to improve campus diversity and equity. As mentioned above, this is not the end of such school admissions challenges. Pacific Legal has made it clear that it plans to continue to chip away at efforts by schools to improve diversity and equity. They have seemingly unending resources to do so, which puts under-funded public school districts at a financial disadvantage, while also distracting schools, educators, and school boards from their core purpose of educating students! The Vice President of the TJ Alumni Action Group, an organization that worked for years to change TJ admissions, Jiunwei Chen, affirms this when he shared with the Washington Post that “There’s been a lot of back-and-forth around affirmative action. It is very much a hot topic and will continue to be so…. Even though it might be, knock on wood, over for TJ, it is definitely not over for other schools.” 4 Public Education thanks the Fairfax County School Board, FCPS, the FCPS lawyers and law firms, and all of the groups who filed amicus briefs in support of TJ’s race-blind admissions changes. We agree with John C. Yang, president and executive director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice who said: Increasing opportunity is the opposite of discrimination.

Improving support for K-12 public education to help students thrive is a widely shared goal. Students across Virginia deserve funding that unlocks their potential. Unfortunately, the governor’s proposed budget for the upcoming two years, which was unveiled in December 2023, will not provide enough to keep up with the rising cost of current programs for our students, let alone the significant need for additional state funding to bring the state closer to paying its fair share of the costs of providing a high-quality education to every Virginia student. The good news is that both the House and Senate make strong investments for K-12 public education in their respective budget proposals, helping to move the commonwealth toward meeting its fair share of school funding needs. On net, the House and Senate provide $940 million and $1.6 billion more than the governor for Virginia school divisions, respectively. This includes implementing some of the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) recommendations to invest in our students who are facing the greatest barriers. Both the House and Senate propose an additional $385 million and $370 million, respectively, for schools serving students from low-income families. Also, there are additional investments of $95 million and $27 million in the House and Senate budgets, respectively, for increasing the staffing capacity for our English language learners. In total, the House and Senate budgets each deliver about $900 more per pupil on average in the upcoming two years for the school divisions serving the highest number of low-income students. For a more complete summary of the House and Senate budget choices, check out TCI’s side-by-side comparison. In addition, both chambers are striving to adequately address school staffing needs by increasing teacher salaries, and the Senate budget funds additional support staff positions. The House and Senate provide an additional $452 million and $350 million, respectively, for teacher salaries and the Senate proposes over $400 million to fully lift the support cap, which currently limits state funding for support staff. Currently, Virginia has the third worst teacher pay penalty in the country and the arbitrary support cap has underfunded critical positions that help our students for over a decade. Investing in these proposals will move our teacher salaries toward the national average and provide schools with the staff needed to help our students thrive. As Virginia’s House and Senate budget negotiators (known as “the conferees”) go deeper into working on Virginia’s “conference” budget, we hope that they continue to keep K-12 public education as a top priority. State lawmakers have tools available to adequately fund our schools and can do so in a way that every student in every zip code has the resources they need to be successful. We urge them to make the key investments needed to ensure every student in public schools receives a quality education. Funding these proposals would send a strong message that Virginia values our teachers, our staff, our students, and our public schools. As a research associate at The Commonwealth Institute, Briana Jones supports research efforts across all policy areas. She is passionate about working with marginalized communities to advance social equity. She received her B.A. in Public and Urban Affairs with a concentration in Public Policy from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

This is an update from the  report  on priority education bills that was published on February 14, 2024 and is current as of Wednesday, February 28, 2024.  The following five bills have passed both chambers and will go to Governor Youngkin for consideration. He will decide whether he will sign, veto, or amend each bill or allow it to become law by not addressing it. If the Governor vetoes or amends any bill it will go back to the General Assembly for further consideration. The similar bills (HB187 and SB104) will likely go to a conference of the two chambers to produce one bill on that topic before sending it to the Governor.  HB187  Increase teacher salaries SB14  Give localities greater flexibility to improve school funding  SB104  Raise teacher salaries SB105  Establish At-Risk Program  SB272   Help English Language Learners  These two bills have been reported from their respective committees and will soon be heard on the floor of their respective chambers. They address a similar issue and will likely go to the conference of the two chambers to produce one bill. Please see their calls to action at  this link .  HB398  Evidence Based Student Discipline  SB586 , Implement Restorative Discipline The following 2 bills are still being considered in committees of the Senate and House. Calls to action on these bills will be posted at  this link if and when they head to the Senate and House floors for a vote.  HB624  Improve funding for public schools HB 625  Establish an office of Community Schools