For Immediate Release: December 13, 2024
Contacts: Office of the Governor:Peter Finocchio, Peter.finocchio@governor.virginia.govOffice of the Governor:Peter Finocchio, Peter.finocchio@governor.virginia.gov

Governor Glenn Youngkin Unveils Budget Amendments to Keep Delivering for Students and Families, Bringing Direct Aid to Education Commitment to More Than $22 Billion Over the Biennium

RICHMOND, VA – Governor Glenn Youngkin announced today additional budget proposals that will bring state spending on K-12 education in the Commonwealth to more than $22 billion over this biennium, reinforcing his commitment to provide every student a world-class education. Building on record funding since taking office, the proposed investments announced today will expand innovative opportunities, enhance resources for students and strengthen safety in classrooms across the Commonwealth.  

“Today’s investments address the real needs of our students and families by delivering on our commitment to unleash opportunity, raise the bar for academic excellence, and keep our children safe,” said Governor Glenn Youngkin. “Our record investment, a 54 percent increase over the pre-COVID levels, fuels our collective commitment to Virginia’s students to deliver a high-quality education that prepares our students for life, whether that’s college, a career, or military service. To do that, the Commonwealth must continue to deliver an education system that focuses on student performance and reversing learning loss, sets high expectations for students and schools, listens to and empowers parents, and delivers high-quality teachers with nationally competitive salaries to every classroom.” 

“These investments are a testament to Governor Youngkin’s commitment to restoring excellence to education throughout the Commonwealth. Over the past three years, we have raised expectations, fueled innovation, and replaced the one-size-fits-all education system. These latest historic investments, combined with the laser focus on student outcomes will build an education system that ensures every child is on track for success for life,” said Secretary of Education Aimee Guidera. “This is a bold step forward in preparing all students to both meet the challenges and seize the opportunities of the future.”  

Highlights of the Governor’s Education Budget Proposals Announced Today: 

• $517.6 Million Increase in Direct Aid – Investing in students remains a top priority, which is why the Governor’s proposed budget would add an additional $164.3 million in general fund monies and $353.3 million in non-general fund, non-federal monies to our record budget levels, bringing the Commonwealth to over $22 billion in direct aid spending in this biennium. 

• $110.7 Million Increase in Support for English Learners – The number of English Learner K-12 students has tripled in less than 20 years; Virginia schools are now serving over 187,000 English Learners in the 2024-2025 school year. This critical increase of $110.7 million will help deliver a high-quality education for every student. 

• $25 Million for New Lab School Partnership with HBCUs – Building on the success of Virginia’s fifteen K-12 Lab School models, this investment will support the creation of new, innovative schools in partnership with Virginia’s accredited Historically Black Colleges and Universities. 

• $35 Million Increase to Fund High School Dual Enrollment and Career and Technical Education (CTE) – Every interested public high school student will be able to enroll in high-quality Dual Enrollment coursework at no cost to them due to the $35 million investment in the College and Career Ready Virginia Fund. This includes $15 million on-going general fund monies and a $20 million one-time deposit from excess balances for Passport, Uniform Certificate of General Studies, and FastForward CTE courses.   

• $66 Million Increase for New Fully-Funded Student Assessment System – A $66 million increase is set aside in the budget proposal to sustain the transition to a new, innovative and rigorous assessment system, which will include new definitions of proficiency that will be benchmarked to the highest standard in the nation for all SOL tests and deliver on our shared commitment to restoring excellence in education. 

• $6.8 Million Increase for School Resource Officers and School Security Officers – Middle school and high school staff, classroom teachers, parents and students feel safer with SROs in their schools which is why we are investing another $6.8 million to help K-12 schools that do not currently have an SRO or SSO or need additional law enforcement personnel, equipment, training and programming to meet their needs, bringing us to $50.3 million for SROs and SSOs this biennium. 

Additional Education Budget Proposals Announced This Week: 

• $290 Million for School Construction and Modernization - Previously announced $290 million new dollars in school construction to bring the total biennial investment to $700 million, to ensure every Virginia K-12 student has access to high-quality school facilities that support academic success. 

• $50 Million for School Performance and Support Framework – Previously announced over $50 million in one-time and $1 million in ongoing funding for School Performance and Support Framework implementation and the Office of School Quality to deliver targeted support and infrastructure, such as add-on components to the Virginia IEP system, for schools identified by the School Performance and Support Framework as in need of support to improve student performance. 

Please note: The increases in funding for English Language Learners, school construction and Lab School Partnerships are included under the increase in direct aid.  

In addition to his budget proposals, the Governor is announcing the use of $1 million of already appropriated Transformation Office funding to support the K-12 Student Funding Formula Overhaul effort throughout 2025, contracting with a leading school finance expert to design an interactive formula model simulator to predict effects of formula changes and support stakeholder engagement with the General Assembly and education community across the Commonwealth. 

Since the beginning of the Youngkin Administration, Virginia has made record-setting investments in education, including an 18 percent increase in teacher salaries to bring them to nationally competitive status, over $1.6 billion in grants and loans to support school construction and an increase in direct aid to K-12 public education of $7.3 billion from $14.3 billion in FY 2019-2020 to $21.6 billion in the current biennium. Building upon these unprecedented commitments, the current biennial budget allocates over $21 billion in education funding to local K-12 schools. 

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