INFORMATIONAL

  Governor Allen's 1998-2000 biennium budget was presented
  today to a joint meeting of the Senate Finance Committee,
  the House Appropriations Committee, and the House Finance
  Committee.  This budget will be considered by the 1998
  Session of the General Assembly which is scheduled to
  convene on January 14, 1998, and adjourn on March 14, 1998. 
  The recommendations made by the Governor include several new
  initiatives, as well as some technical updates to the
  Standards of Quality and other related accounts. 

  The budget includes approximately $359.1 million to maintain
  the education programs required by the current Standards of
  Quality (SOQ) in 1998-2000.  An additional $97.1 million is
  included in the budget to fund the state's share of a 2.25%
  teacher salary increase effective January 1 in each year of
  the biennium.  In addition, more than $263.6 million was
  included to fund the state's commitment to various statutory
  and incentive-based programs, as requested by the Board of
  Education, and several new initiatives.

  The Governor's initiatives include:  $36.5 million for
  teacher training in the Standards of Learning (SOL); $31.6
  million for student remediation in the SOL; $22.9 million
  for 1000 additional elementary teachers; $31.7 million for
  the retiree health care credit; $25.1 million to purchase
  additional textbooks and instructional materials for
  teaching the SOL; an additional $23.3 million for teacher
  retirement to replace the use of the Literary Fund revenue;
  and $12.0 million to expand the SOL testing program and
  develop the School Report Card required by the new Standards
  of Accreditation.  

  Attachment A provides information relating to the additional
  funding proposed in the Governor's Budget.  Attachment B is
  a table showing the new funding that will be provided to
  school divisions.

  Also attached is a printout that reflects the estimated
  entitlements from the major SOQ and related accounts that
  your locality will receive in fiscal years 1998-99 and 1999-00.  
  The per pupil amounts for several accounts listed
  differ from those in the Board of Education's proposed
  budget due to technical adjustments to the Group Life rate
  and inflation factors made in the Governor's proposed
  budget.

  It is important to remember that this information relates to
  the Governor's Budget as introduced.  It is subject to
  change as the House of Delegates and the Senate prepare
  their versions of the budget.  A final budget will be
  adopted by the General Assembly in mid-March, 1998;
  therefore, the estimated entitlements contained in this
  memorandum are projections only and are subject to change
  throughout the session.  We will provide additional
  information during the process as changes occur.

  If you have questions, please call Daniel S. Timberlake,
  Assistant Superintendent for Finance, at (804) 225-2025,
  June F. Eanes, Budget Director, at (804) 225-2060, or Kent
  Dickey, Data Base Analyst, at (804) 225-2806.

  RTL:dst

  Attachments: A hard copy of this memo and its attachments
               will be sent to the superintendent's office.