• The Strong-Dynamic-Winning-Together budget increases funding to school divisions by nearly half a billion. Anyone peddling “cuts” to education is operating in the fact-free zone.
• The Facts: the budget as amended increases direct aid to public education by nearly half a billion dollars, $452.6 million on top of the current budget (Chapter 2) and $166.1 million over the introduced budget.
• Since the pandemic, direct aid to public education has increased by almost $7 billion to a total of over $21 billion for the FY25/ FY26 biennium if the Governor’s amendments are adopted. This is a nearly 50% increase.
• Because of declining student population, however, on a statewide basis, direct aid spending per pupil will be up by 53% over the same time period, once the Governor’s amendments are adopted.
• By locality, we see the similar trends emerge based on student population. Since the pandemic:
  • Fairfax County is up 49% total, 55% per student
  • Prince William County is up 57% total, 59% per student
  • Washington County is up 67% total, 62% per student
  • City of Norfolk is up 35% total, 50% per student
  • City of Petersburg is up 72% total, 58% per student
  • City of Richmond is up 24% total, 45% per student
  • City of Roanoke is up 62% total, 62% per student
• Note: changes in the calculation of the Local Composite Index (LCI) driven by the relative economic growth of localities affect direct aid to public education calculations.
• The Strong-Dynamic-Winning-Together budget offers significant increases in education spending:
  • $84.7 million to increase the support cap to 25.5 positions per 1,000 students
  • $110.7 million to fully fund English Language Learners student-teacher ratios
  • $52.8 million for enhanced special education add-on for school divisions
  • $25 million in School Performance & Support Framework resources
  • $134.4 million for a $1,000 bonus in June 2025 for funded instructional and support personnel with no local match required
  • $7.5 million for early childhood and with commonsense reforms that increase available slots by 7,000 and reduce birth-to-five waiting lists, ensures high-quality early childhood learning to over 52,000 children across Virginia
• Governor’s amendments include an additional $50 million for school construction grants and loans bringing the total to $610 million.
• The Governor’s amended budget provides this significant investment, on top of the record funding provided over his Administration, while providing tax relief to Virginia families, fully funding Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program forecasts, and adding over $500 million into the Commonwealth’s reserve accounts.
• This keeps Virginia strong, dynamic, and ready to adapt to economic uncertainties and maintain our resolute support for students going forward.
• Virginia’s current K-12 funding formula is outdated and should be transitioned to a student-weighted model that will eliminate the support cap issue altogether and give local school divisions more flexibility.
• The tables detail the remarkable growth of direct aid to public education while the student populations have been declining or stagnant.

Read More: https://governor.virginia.gov/newsroom/news-releases/2025/march/name-1043499-en.html