Sign on for Continued Investment in Virginia's Students!

"...We have to educate our way to a better economy." U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, June 9, 2009

The Governor, General Assembly, and Virginia Board of Education are making big decisions that could affect how education is funded in Virginia for many generations to come.

If we don't take the time to speak up NOW, education funding in Virginia could be permanently reduced.

Virginia already ranks in the bottom half of states when it comes to state funding for public education.  Virginia ranks 37th among the states in the percentage of state funding per pupil for public education, even while we rank 8th in per capita income.  A permanent reduction in state support will set us back even further, and hold up efforts to eliminate the acheivement gap in Virginia.

Changes to the Standards of Quality that are justified only by the state’s balance sheet will harm Virginia’s students and Virginia’s economic prosperity. 

Please sign the petition and post your comment today! 

To post a comment, scroll down after adding your signature and contact information.

We the undersigned ask the Governor, the Board of Education and the General Assembly not to weaken the Standards of Quality in any way. The Standards of Quality are the “minimum foundation the Commonwealth must provide to meet its constitutional obligation to maintain ‘an educational program of high quality’ for the children of Virginia.”* Article VIII Section 2 of the Virginia Constitution requires that the Standards of Quality be prescribed by the Board of Education, subject to revision only by the General Assembly. The Constitution further places a duty on the General Assembly to establish a funding system that meets the Standards of Quality. This funding system should include sufficient State resources for students and schools to achieve the outcomes mandated by the State in the Standards of Accreditation and Standards of Learning. We believe that the Virginia Constitution requires the Board to determine what resources are needed for students and schools to achieve the outcomes mandated by the state in the Standards of Learning and Standards of Accreditation. Accordingly, the Standards of Quality must include sufficient resources to allow each student access to a Fully Accredited school and a meaningful opportunity to earn a Standard Diploma. Accordingly, we ask all policymakers to reaffirm Virginia’s commitment to educational quality by rejecting the proposed cap on state funding for support staff. Changes to the Standards of Quality that are justified only by the state’s balance sheet and without a valid educational justification will harm Virginia’s students and Virginia’s economic prosperity. Students at risk of educational failure need the supports and services provided by attendance, guidance, health, social services, and other departments in our public schools, especially in times of financial stress. Reducing school support staff will place a greater burden on classroom teachers, and students will lose valuable instructional time. We applaud the high standards that the Virginia Board of Education has set for our students and schools, and ask the Governor, the members of the General Assembly and the members of the State Board of Education to ensure that schools have sufficient resources to meet our expectations. Virginia’s long-term investment in education should not waver due to short-term fluctuations in state revenue. *Resolution on Standards of Quality funding, adopted by the Commonwealth of Virginia Board of Education on February 21, 2008.

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How would your community be harmed by cuts to public school budgets? Please offer specific examples.

Sarah Geddes is the attorney responsible for this material. Contact:  sarah@justice4all.org, 804-643-1086, Legal Aid Justice Center, JustChildren Program, 123 East Broad Street, Richmond, VA  23219.

0-25 of 1753 signatures

Number	Date	Name	Location	How would your community be harmed by cuts to public school budgets? Please offer specific examples.
1753	November 08, 2009	Oluwole "Wally" Adesina	Charlottesville, VA	That action will affect teachers morale and loss of good teachers across the commonwealth. Students grades/achievement will be affected if talented teachers are not protected.
1752	October 28, 2009	Jenny Turner	, VA	iNSTURCTIONAL ASSISTANTS ARE CRITICAL FOR MANY REASONS ONE IS TO HELP FULLFILL THE MANDATE OF NO CHLD LEFT BEHIND.
1751	October 28, 2009	R. Edward Fifer	Bristol, VA	Teachers have trying to do more for less for many years now. This will be the backbreaker. Cutting the budget will result in personnel and program cuts that will have a lasting effect on our childrens' educational opportunities and future.
1750	October 28, 2009	Esther Larkin	Arrington, VA	Yes, insturctional assistants are an invaluable part of our instructional day and without their assistance in remediation we would not have meet AYP.
1749	October 28, 2009	Judy Wright	Wingina, VA
1748	October 28, 2009	Karen Largen	Christiansburg, VA	We could lose one of our community's most valuable assets, our teachers. We need to keep pace with our pay scales and be able to keep our class sizes low. Our reputation for an excellent quality of education MUST NOT be compromised!
1747	October 28, 2009	Starla Shaeff	Amherst, VA
1746	October 28, 2009	Vanessa Donson	Arrington, Va, VA	Nelson County is a very rural county which doesn't bring in very much revenue for improvements. Most of the community activities for children are planned at the schools and rely heavy on improvements.
1745	October 28, 2009	Leslie Rodgers	Lovingston, VA	Cuts to the budget would cause positions to be cut and/or not filled which would result in larger class sizes. Programs such as art, music, and PE would be in jeopardy. After school activities would not be able to be funded without increased cost to those families who can least afford to pay. I believe the gap would widen between the haves and the have-nots. Keeping and retaining highly qualified teachers would be difficult as teachers would leave to find more lucrative employment.
1744	October 28, 2009	Martha Wood	Charlottesville, VA
1743	October 27, 2009	Richard Holway	Charlottesville, VA	The public schools hold the diverse Charlottesville community together. Also, funding cuts would undermine efforts to decrease the high dropout rate city schools. I think we all know the costs for society of abandoning at-risk youth.
1742	October 27, 2009	Elizabeth Wittner	CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA	In our particular community, we have a number of refugee families whose children depend on ESL services and individualized instruction. These students enrich our schools, but need support. Without it, they cannot participate fully in our community.
1741	October 27, 2009	christie walker	Charlottesville, VA
1740	October 26, 2009	Laurel Henneman	Charlottesville, VA	less individualized instruction for higher and lower achieving students; increased staff and leadership turn-over; increased squeeze on "invisible middle" class families as more affluent families leave public schools for private options, exacerbating community's existing class dichotomy
1739	October 26, 2009	Bonnie Burns	Charlottesville, VA	Cuts in funding for programs targeting high achievers and low achievers, music programs, reading specialists, other personnel.
1738	October 26, 2009	Aaron Fein	Charlottesville, VA
1737	October 19, 2009	Irene DiGravio	,
1736	October 17, 2009	Candy DiCicco	Springfield, VA
1735	October 16, 2009	Pat Onestinghel	Amherst, VA
1734	October 15, 2009	Barbara Torrey	Herndon, VA	Classes are larger making individualized instruction to those who need it more difficult to accomplish. Funds have been cut so classroom supplies are and will be lacking. Teachers and their time are spread thin...responsibilities increase with less support personnel and supplies. There are only so many hours in the day to accomplish what needs to be done to increase students' performance.
1733	October 15, 2009	Holly Jackson-Conrad	,
1732	October 13, 2009	Theresa Cooke	Herndon, VA
1731	October 13, 2009	Kristin Crooks	Fairfax, VA	longer wait for our school to get all day Kindergarten, transportation cuts for Advanced Academic programs, larger class sizes, researched-based valued programs would lose funding
1730	October 13, 2009	Mary Tillett	Falls Church, VA
1729	October 13, 2009	John Laffey	Alexandria, VA	The schools already devalue Arts education and other aspects of a comprehensive education. We need more money, not less, if our schools are to continue to produce young people prepared to succeed in the real world.

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