Back in 2008 when the country entered a recession, states like Virginia took austerity measures to help balance their books. But some of those cost-saving measures live on today, even as the Commonwealth collects billions in surplus funds.
Monica Hutchenson, a Henrico County parent, said the kids she sees in her school need help - more help than they’re getting right now.
“As a parent I worry everyday about the safety of my kids. We need support staff to help with mental health, trauma conflict resolution, restorative practices and more," Hutchenson said at a press conference Thursday. "The same one's society writes off are the ones that need support staff the most.”
School support staff includes janitors, counselors, security and other gap-filling positions. Localities have been covering the costs up till now, but they’ve long asked the state to pay more of the burden.
Senator Mamie Lock was in the chamber when the cap was put in place, and she’s long waited for the day when she could finally nix it.
“It was supposed to be temporary, temporary," Locke said. "But here we are 16 years later, finally removing this temporary cap.”
Notably the change increases the number of support staff to about 28 per 1,000 students, up from 24. The estimated price tag? Over $200 million annually.
Republicans worry the cost may be too high, especially as the state works to redo its entire education funding formula. Here’s Delegate Mike Cherry at a recent meeting of the House education committee.
“There’s at least two commissions that are out there working on the school funding model to make it better and I think in this case, it might be a bit premature,” Cherry said.
The Virginia Department of Education also spoke against the effort in that committee meeting. Like Cherry, they support changing the funding formula first. That may not bode well for the cap’s removal despite funding provided in both the House and Senate budgets, but one version of the bill did receive bipartisan support on the House floor last week. It's now headed to the Seante.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
