Incoming delegates urge McAuliffe to increase education funding

Three incoming freshman state delegates who also are teachers – including two from Henrico – are calling on Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe to increase public school funding in his budget proposal.

The Democratic delegates-elect – Debra Rodman (72nd District), Schuyler VanValkenburg (73rd), Cheryl Turpin (85th) – were joined in their appeal by Shelly Simonds (94th), who lost to Republican David Yancey by 10 votes but is awaiting the results of a Dec. 19 recount.

"As candidates, we built our campaigns around the idea that public education is a public good and a fundamental underpinning to growing and diversifying our economy," the incoming delegates wrote. "While the work of your administration has brought great progress in restoring Virginia’s educational standards, there now needs to be a revived focus on state support in order to address the challenges faced in local school divisions brought by scarce resources."

A number of localities – particularly those in rural and high-poverty regions of the state – are struggling to meet revisions recommended to the state's Standards of Quality guidelines by the Virginia Board of Education in recent years, the incoming delegates wrote. Those recommendations include a variety of goals, including reducing class size and teacher-to-pupil ratios, among many others.

But state contributions to local school systems have declined by eight percent since 2008, the incoming delegates wrote, causing many school systems to cut staff, such as counselors, nurses and second-language aides, while also causing class sizes to increase.

"Implementing the Board of Education’s SOQ recommendations will provide flexible funding for support positions that schools can tailor to their needs and will increase the number of required counselors to 1 per 250 students," the incoming delegates wrote. "Through modifications such as these, students will have the resources they need to grasp content knowledge, develop 21st  century workforce skills, broaden their civic awareness, and be exposed to more diverse career options."

VanValkenburg, a Glen Allen High School history teacher who defeated Republican Eddie Whitlock to win the seat being vacated by Republican Jimmie Massie, has experienced the effect of financial cutbacks in school, he said.

"I saw first hand the resulting cuts to support staff, increased class sizes, and backlog of building repairs," he said, "and on the campaign trail, I heard hundreds of constituents talk about the same things.

"[W]e must have a revived focus on the commonwealth meeting its constitutional duties under the Standards of Quality in order to relieve the stress on localities, who are currently paying roughly double what they are required by law, and making certain that that funding is flexible so schools can tailor the funding to their unique needs."

Rodman, a professor at Randolph-Macon, unseated longtime Republican Delegate John O'Bannon, while Turpin, a high school science teacher in Virginia Beach, defeated Republican sheriff's deputy Rocky Holcomb.