Governor Unveils Budget Recommendations

Governor Ralph S. Northam presented his budget adjustment recommendations at a meeting of the Joint Money Committees (Senate Finance and Appropriations, House Appropriations, and House Finance) of the Virginia General Assembly this morning. Northam's revised budget includes investments in public education, pandemic vaccine delivery and recovery, and the state's reserve fund. 

In his speech, the Governor announced the December revenue report includes an additional forecast of $1.2 billion over the report received by legislators in August prior to the General Assembly's Special Session. "The plan I will present to you today is intended to help Virginians navigate the next phase of the crisis, and perhaps, its final months," Northam stated. "It will position us to recover as quickly as possible as we rebuild our economy in a post-pandemic world. And it’s about advancing the progressive agenda that we all embarked upon together a year ago."

The Governor's budget proposes over $500 million to hold school divisions harmless for enrollment loss in public schools that has occurred due to the COVID-19 pandemic. School division instructional and support staff would receive a one-time 2% bonus. The Governor added he would like to turn this 2% bonus into a permanent raise if revenue forecasts continue to show healthy tax collections in the months ahead. Recognizing the important role school counselors will have as students return to in-person learning, the Governor proposed $21.6 million to fund a school counselor ratio of 1:325.

The Governor is also proposing nearly $100 million to pay off deferred contributions from the 2008 recession into the VRS Teacher Plan and to pay down retired health credit and Other Post Employment Benefit liabilities for teacher and state plans.

Other Highlights of the Governor's Proposed Revisions to the Budget include:

• $650 million toward the state’s revenue reserves
• $90 million toward COVID-19 vaccination preparation and delivery

The budget revisions proposed to the General Assembly today will be considered by lawmakers when they return for their 2021 session on January 13th. At the present time, this session is slated for 30 days, but lawmakers can extend the session for 15 days if enough lawmakers agree when the Senate and House convenes in January.

The VSBA Government Relations team will continue to monitor the budget and legislative developments as session approaches. If you have any questions, please contact VSBA Government Relations Specialist, J.T. Kessler, at jason@vsba.org.   

JLARC Releases Virginia K-12 Special Education Findings

The Virginia Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission released its findings on K-12 Special Education in the Commonwealth on Monday morning during a joint committee meeting of members of the Senate of Virginia and the Virginia House of Delegates. The findings of the JLARC study are a result of a 2018 request by the General Assembly to conduct a review of K–12 special education services. The goal of the study was to examine the processes used by school divisions to enroll students in special education, to determine the services needed by students with disabilities, and to provide needed services, as well as to review the effectiveness of VDOE in its supervisory role.

A summary of the studies findings can be found by clicking here.

The findings from the study reveal:

1. Graduation rates for students with disabilities have increased between 2008 and 2018, but African-American students with disabilities were less likely to graduate than students with disabilities in other races.
2. Enrollment in special education varies across Virginia school divisions, both overall and by disability.
3. IEPs are not consistently designed to be effective and reliable guides for special education services.
4. Shortcomings in post-high school transition planning require VDOE intervention.
5. “Applied studies diploma” for students with disabilities does not help students access future opportunities and is not well understood.
6. Despite emphasis on inclusion, Virginia does not prepare general education teachers or administrators with necessary special education-related skills.
7. School divisions rely on under-prepared teachers to fill gaps in special education teaching positions.
8. VDOE’s handling of complaints against school divisions does not ensure all problems are resolved.
9. VDOE’s ongoing monitoring is too limited. 

In response to the findings, JLARC staff made the following recommendations to members of the General Assembly for possible legislative action:

• Direct VDOE to conduct a targeted review, in the near term, of the transition sections of student IEPs to identify improvements needed to student transition planning, and direct VDOE to develop a robust statewide plan for improving transition planning for students with disabilities. 
• Require school divisions to provide a draft IEP to parents at least two business days in advance of the IEP team meeting, but only if a draft IEP is developed in advance of the meeting. 
• Direct VDOE and the Board of Education to develop and implement statewide criteria for the applied studies diploma and require local school divisions to more fully explain the limitations of this diploma to families. 
• Direct the Board of Education to review and update regulations governing K–12 teacher preparation programs to require that graduates are proficient in teaching students with disabilities and require teachers seeking license renewal to complete training in instructing students with disabilities. 
• Direct the Board of Education to review and update regulations governing administrator preparation programs to require that graduates demonstrate comprehension of key aspects of special education.
• Direct VDOE to develop and maintain a data-driven statewide strategic plan for recruiting and retaining special education teachers. 
• Direct VDOE to revise its handling of special education complaints to require that school divisions carry out corrective actions that fully and appropriately remedy any found instances of school non-compliance. 
• Direct VDOE to develop and implement a robust plan to improve the effectiveness of its supervision and monitoring of special education. 

To read the entire report and to review the presentation made to the joint legislative committee, click here.

If you have any questions regarding the study report released by JLARC, please contact VSBA Government Relations Specialist J.T. Kessler at jason@vsba.org.