Virginia Consortium for Adequate Resources for Education

Virginia CAREs

Virginia Consortium for Adequate Resources for Education

FACTS ABOUT Virginia CAREs

Join supporters of public education in recommending funding formula changes to the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) that more accurately reflect the true costs being incurred by school divisions across the Commonwealth of Virginia.  JLARC will be making Standards of Quality (SOQ) funding recommendations to the General Assembly in August, 2001. Now is the time to recommend funding formula adjustments reflecting the major SOQ changes that have resulted in increased costs for local school divisions.  The goal of the Consortium is not to recommend a completely new funding formula, but rather to secure funding for the SOQ costs not covered by the current formula.  Major concerns of the Consortium are:

• Salaries and Benefits – Using the actual average teacher salary versus the current usage of a linear estimator;

• State Programmatic Mandates – Having the funding formula reflect current costs to meet state requirements that have been added since the formula was last revised;

• Costs of Funding Prevailing Practices – Ensuring needed best practices that benefit all children beyond the requirements of the Standards of Quality;

• Technology Costs – Funding for technology needs to become a part of the basic aid commitment to students; and 

• School Construction and Renovation – Providing an on-going funding mechanism to assist school divisions in meeting the cost to build new schools and to refurbish existing schools, especially noting that 53% of all school buildings in Virginia are over 30 years old.

The State cost-sharing formula must be revised to reflect the realities of information-age education with a systematic, ongoing identification and financial support of prevailing best practices essential to ensuring the successful development of Virginia’s children.

            For further information, you may send an email message to rsvpconf@arlington.k12.va.us or call (703) 228.2000