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Governor's Proposed Budget Amendments

For the full narrative and listing of proposals, click HERE. The amendments will be considered by the General Assembly with they reconvene on April 17 at noon. Each amendment must receive a simple majority vote in each chamber to be approved.


HERE is a Richmond Times-Dispatch article.


Here are some of the highlights:

  • Amendment 44: Update Virginia Literacy Act Funding (This amendment updates funding to implement a statewide literacy screener based on estimated funding needed for this purpose.) 
  • Amendment 45: Support new state assessment system requirements (This amendment provides funding for the Department of Education to update the state Standards of Learning (SOL) assessments pursuant to the recommendations of the workgroup required by Chapter 760, 2022 Acts of the General Assembly, including developing and administering constructive response questions aligned to the SOLs, renewing the existing testing contract and replenishing existing test items, and supporting student growth analysis.)
  • Amendment 52: Modify support for National Teacher Certification grants (This amendment provides an additional $500,000 general fund the first year for incentive grants for teachers who are pursuing or have obtained a national certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards and work in a Title 1 school or a school eligible for participation in the Community Eligibility Provision.) 
  • Amendment 56: Modify additional support for At-Risk students (This amendment provides additional support for at-risk students of $98 million each year over the 2024-2026 Introduced budget by 1) reinstating the existing Prevention, Intervention, & Remediation (PIR) Standards of Quality program and formula, including the SOQ funded positions and the benefits, compensation supplement, and support cost payments associated with those positions, 2) reinstating the existing At-Risk Add-On program and formula as a Standards of Quality program, 3) increasing the At-Risk Add-On minimum add-on percentage from 1.0 to 5.0 percent, and 4) increasing the At-Risk Add-On maximum add-on percentage from 36.0 to 40.5 percent. Directs DOE to work with the Joint Subcommittee on Elementary and Secondary Education Funding to determine the impact of transitioning the at-risk student proxy from the Free Lunch Percentage to the Identified Student Percentage for all Direct Aid accounts and funding formulas that currently use the free lunch proxy, and to determine the impact of eliminating the PIR program and related staffing standard, prescribed by § 22.1-253.13:2, on division funding and other Direct Aid accounts.) 
  • Amendment 57: Modify English Language Learner staffing standard (This amendment provides the state share of funding to support 22 professional instructional positions per 1,000 students identified as having limited English proficiency. Additionally, requires the Department of Education to develop and implement a data collection process related to English language learner expenditures and student English proficiency levels and to provide recommendations to the Joint Subcommittee on Elementary and Secondary Education Funding for alternative staffing ratios to support English language learners, including the estimated state fiscal impact of those recommendations, based on actual data that identifies the English proficiency level for each English language learner.)
  • Amendment 58: Modify support for the School Breakfast program (This amendment provides additional support of $1.2 million general fund the first year and $1.3 million general fund the second year to increase the per meal reimbursement amount from $0.22 to $0.25 for the state funded incentive program to maximize federal school nutrition revenues and increase participation in the school breakfast program.) 
  • Amendment 59: Provide Literary Fund support for retirement and school construction (This amendment supports a portion of public school employee retirement contributions with funds derived from the principal of the Literary Fund and designates $175.0 million in FY 2025 in Literary Fund support for additional school construction loans.) 
  • Amendment 60: Update sales tax revenues for public education (This amendment updates sales tax revenues for public education as a result of eliminating the sales tax expansion.)
  • Amendment 61: Support continued access to Early Childhood Care and Education (This amendment updates funding and requirements for early childhood care and education programs, including removing the Virginia Preschool Initiative (VPI) cap on the local composite index, restoring estimated VPI participation to a level supported by current and projected demand, removing assumed revenues from taxes on marijuana sales, and reducing the assumption of new slots for the Child Care Subsidy Program to 500 in FY26.)

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Virginia ASCD is a non-partisan, non-political organization.
Like you, we are interested in policy decisions that affect teaching and learning in Virginia.
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