Virginia isn’t doing enough to help students who come from poor families. That’s the conclusion drawn by the Commonwealth Institute – a progressive think tank in Richmond.
Virginia spends at most 19% more on students who need help in catching up with wealthier kids, according to Commonwealth Institute analyst Chris Duncombe.
“A lot of these students face challenges that many of their peers do not face, such as transience, hunger, substance abuse in their family," he explains. "They need additional supports. They need additional instructional time.”
On average, states spend 29% more on low-income students, and neighboring Maryland spends twice as much.
“That is more in line with the research, which says it can cost 2-2.5 times as much to help these students achieve similarly academically, as their better off peers,” Duncombe says.
That could explain why the Education Law Center, an advocacy group in New Jersey, gave Virginia a failing grade when it comes to funding fairness. Governor McAuliffe has also called for increased spending on low-income students, and the Commonwealth Institute warns their ranks are growing.
“The number of students living in poverty has increased pretty dramatically since 2008," Duncombe says. "Four out of every ten students qualifies as economically disadvantaged, and that’s up 146,000 since 2008.”
Based on the number of students who qualify for a free school lunch, Duncombe says about 70% of kids in the cities of Richmond and Petersburg are in need of extra funding for education. In Roanoke the number is 67%, while 57% of kids in Lynchburg Public Schools, and about half of students in Charlottesville, Henrico, Chesterfield and Fredericksburg come from low income households.