STATE OF EDUCATION FUNDING
Virginia
Fair school funding systems ensure that districts, schools, and ultimately students receive significant additional funding according to their specific needs. Providing high-quality learning opportunities for students living in poverty, English learners, students with disabilities, and rural students requires additional resources.
According to The Education Trust’s State of Funding Equity, in Virginia:
- The highest poverty districts receive $416 or 3% more state and local revenue than the lowest poverty districts.
- The districts serving the most students of color receive $722 or 5% less state and local revenue per student than the districts serving the fewest students of color.
- The districts serving the most English learners receive $110 or 0.8% more state and local revenue per student than the districts serving the fewest English learners.
For more information about how these data compare with other states or district specific information, see The Education Trust’s State of Funding Equity report.
Learn more about
how Virginia
funds students
According to EdBuild, “Virginia has a hybrid funding formula incorporating both resource-based and student-based elements. It determines the cost of delivering education to a student with no special needs or services based on costs associated with the programs and resources mandated through the state’s statutory standards of quality. This cost is then used as a base amount. The categories of students considered in Virginia’s funding policy are students in certain grade levels, English-language learners (ELLs), low-income students and students in high-poverty districts, students with disabilities, students identified as gifted, and students enrolled in career and technical education (CTE) programs.”
The Education Law Center’s 2023 Making the Grade Report rated Virginia’s school funding:
- D on per-pupil funding relative to the national average.
- D on the percentage difference in per-pupil funding in high-poverty districts relative to low-poverty districts.
- D on the PK-12 funding as a percentage of state GDP.
How fair is
Virginia’s Funding?
Using criteria developed based on research, best practice, and what we believe, we provide ratings for Virginia’s school funding formula below. Our goal is for states to build a simplified, student-weighted funding formula guided by students’ different levels of need with the goals of eliminating achievement and opportunity gaps. We aim for states to create adequate, equitable, and transparent formulas that provide clear dollar allocations by assigning additional “weights” for students from low-income families, English learners, students with disabilities, and rural students.
For more on how we determined our ratings for Virginia click here.
See our ratings across states, an explanation of the criteria we used to differentiate between state funding systems, and explanations of our specific state rankings here.
| Rating | Reason for Rating | |
|---|---|---|
| FUND STUDENTS ADEQUATELY | ||
| The funding formula is student-based, or weighted | Yellow | The formula is a hybrid model |
| Per-pupil funding is adequate enough for all students to achieve average, national test scores | Yellow | There is a moderate percentage of students attending schools in inadequately funded districts |
| FUND STUDENT NEEDS APPROPRIATELY | ||
| Formula includes a weight or additional funding for students living in poverty | Red | The formula provides additional dollars to district based on district poverty levels, rather than funding based on individual students living in poverty |
| Formula includes a weight or additional funding for English learners | Red | The formula assigns English learner resources based on student-to-teacher ratios and not students’ needs |
| Formula includes a weight or additional funding for students with disabilities | Red | The state funds SPED by estimating the costs of special education staff positions (teachers and aides), divorced from the actual needs students have |
| Formula includes a weight or additional funding for sparse and/or isolated districts | Red | The formula does not include a sparsity weight |
| Formula includes weights or additional funding for districts with high levels of concentrated poverty | Yellow | The formula has a concentrated poverty weight ranging from 1% to 26% more of the per-student base depending on district poverty level |
| FUND SCHOOL DISTRICTS EQUITABLY | ||
| State caps how much local revenue districts can raise to limit between-district disparities in local revenue | Red | The formula does not set a limit for how much local revenue districts can raise |
| FUND STUDENTS TRANSPARENTLY | ||
| State annually publishes information about how the funding system is designed to work in clear, plain language | Red | The state education department does not provide a simple, clear explanation of how the funding formula works |
| State reports school spending data in alignment with equity-oriented principles | Yellow | The state reports are partially aligned with equity-oriented school spending reporting principles |
| PUBLIC FUNDS FUND PUBLIC SCHOOLS | ||
| Taxpayer funds are used to maintain and support public schools exclusively | Yellow | The state has a scholarship tax credit program for students living in poverty and students with disabilities |
Who’s Who
in Virginia
Legislature
The Virginia General Assembly is the legislative body of the Commonwealth of Virginia. The bicameral body is composed of the House of Delegates with 100 members and the Senate of Virginia with 40 members. The Virginia Senate has a standing committee on Education and Health and the House of Delegates has a standing Education committee. In 2024, the General Assembly will convene January 10, 2024 and is scheduled to adjourn March 9, 2024.
State Superintendent of Education
The Virginia State Superintendent of Public Instruction is appointed by the governor and subject to confirmation by the General Assembly. The Superintendent is the executive officer of the Virginia Department of Education, which oversees the Commonwealth’s public schools.
State Board of Education
The Virginia Board of Education (BESE) is composed of nine members appointed by the governor and subject to confirmation by the General Assembly. The members serve four years.
Virginia also has a Secretary of Education, appointed by the governor and subject to confirmation by the General Assembly, that provides guidance to the Virginia Department of Education and the state’s various postsecondary institutions.
