February 12, 2013
As Virginia lawmakers move towards adopting transportation legislation that would divert money from the state’s general fund over to the transportation fund, it is critical to understand how inadequate Virginia’s current funding is for the single biggest area of the state’s budget: education.
The state is paying a smaller share of the cost of K-12 education now than it did a decade ago, short-changing public schools, driving up the burden on localities, and hitting poor communities hardest of all.
As lawmakers consider diverting more resources from education by reducing the share of the state sales tax that goes to the general fund and by diverting sales tax revenue to be collected from online, remote sellers, the challenges in meeting the state’s commitments to adequately fund education will likely increase.