Adopting Resolution Reaffirming Prescribed Revisions to Standards of Quality
Resolution Number 2007-42
November 29, 2007
The Board of Education adopts the resolution to reaffirm the Board of Education's prescribed revisions to the Standards of Quality. The resolution reads as follows:
EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION
ON FUNDING THE STANDARDS OF QUALITY: FOR CONSIDERATION BY THE
GOVERNOR AND THE 2008 SESSION OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY
- WHEREAS, as it routinely does every year in the fall, the Virginia Board of Education wishes to communicate its spending priorities to the Governor and the General Assembly for their consideration as they make budget decisions; and
WHEREAS, the Board acknowledges the serious revenue shortfall facing state government at this time, and also acknowledges that Virginia's budget must be balanced and that the current revenue shortfall means that cuts in previously appropriated funds must be made by the Governor and the General Assembly in order to balance the budget; and
WHEREAS, the Board does not minimize the difficulty of the challenge facing the Governor and the General Assembly in balancing the state's budget; and
WHEREAS, the Board believes nonetheless that public education is of the highest priority in the state budget, and that there are certain core educational programs in the K-12 public education budget that should be of the highest priority for maintaining spending and, to the maximum extent possible, should not be the programs in the state budget chosen for reducing already appropriated amounts; and
WHEREAS, as in previous years, the Board urges the Governor and the General Assembly to consider the following K-12 educational programs to be of the highest priority and urges that everything possible be done to avoid reductions in already appropriated funds in these core programs:
a. Standards of Quality (SOQ) basic aid accounts, including funding for teacher and principal positions and salaries;
b. Non-SOQ programs directly related to meeting the student achievement goals of the Standards of Learning and the federal No Child Left Behind legislation.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Board of Education urges the Governor and the 2008 General Assembly to renew their consideration of certain provisions that have been recommended by the board in recent years and that are yet to be funded. Such provisions have a total estimated state cost of $184.4 million for FY 2009 and $186.3 million in FY 2010. Such important policy changes, with the estimated state cost for each, are as follows: - Requiring one full-time position per 1,000 students licensed by the Board of Education to serve as the data manager/test coordinator
FY 2009: $42.1 million
FY 2010: $42.4 million - Providing for one full-time principal in every elementary school
FY 2009: $7.2 million
FY 2010: $7.3 million - Providing for one full-time assistant principal per 400 students in all schools (K-12)
FY 2009: $57.8 million
FY 2010: $58.3 million - Reducing the caseload for speech-language
FY 2009: $3.7 million
FY 2010: $3.9 million - Providing for one reading specialist per 1,000 students (K-12)
FY 2009: $42.1 million
FY 2010: $42.4 million - Requiring one full-time instructional position for each 1,000 students in grades kindergarten through eight to serve as the mathematics teacher specialist;
FY 2009: $28.3 million
FY 2010: $28.7 million - Requiring local school boards to maintain pupil-teacher ratios for students who are blind or vision-impaired at not less than the following levels: Level I, resource teacher, 24 to one; Level II, self-contained with an aide, 10 to one; self-contained without an aide, eight to one, or Level II, self-contained student weight of 2.5
FY 2009: $3.2 million
FY 2010: $3.3 million
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Board's position contained herein shall be communicated to the Governor and the 2008 General Assembly for their consideration.
Mark E. Emblidge, President
Board of Education
Adopted in the Minutes of the Virginia Board of Education
November 29, 2007
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