VA House Bill 60 would give more $$ to classrooms WITHOUT raising taxes

Click here for info on HB 60 ^

[Gopher Broke]

HB 60 School divisions, local; requires 65% of each education dollar to be spent in classroom

Teachers should get behind this strongly!!

As classrooms only get about 50% of school spending, this is a 30% spending increase to the classrooms.....WITHOUT raising taxes....a win/win for everybody.

[Domandred]

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That the Code of Virginia is amended by adding sections numbered 22.1-18.2 and 22.1-90.1 as follows:

§ 22.1-18.2. Annual report to General Assembly on instructional spending.

The Board shall annually report to the Senate Committee on Finance and the House Committee on Appropriations the amount of spending allocated by local school boards to instructional spending based on the reports submitted to the Board in accordance with § 22.1-90.1.

§ 22.1-90.1. Annual report to Board of Education on instructional spending.

A. Each local school board shall report annually to the Board of Education the percentage of its operating budget allocated to instructional spending. "Instructional spending" means any current expenditures for activities directly associated with the interaction between teachers and students, including teacher salaries and benefits, supplies, textbooks, and purchased instructional services. "Instructional spending" does not include expenditures such as food services, interscholastic athletics, community services, adult education, operation and maintenance of buildings, school administration, student support services (i.e., nurses, guidance counselors, and therapists), and student transportation.

B. Any school board that, according to its annual report, spent less than 65% of its operating budget on instructional spending shall present a plan to the Board to increase such expenditures by 0.5% in the following year. Any school board failing to submit such a plan shall be audited by the Auditor of Public Accounts pursuant to § 15.2-2511. The Auditor of Public Accounts shall, upon completing such audit, submit recommendations to the Board including instruction on how school divisions not meeting the 65% requirement can increase their instructional spending to 65% in the next fiscal year. The Board shall develop the recommendations into a plan for the school division to increase instructional spending.

--- Would be a neat trick but without gutting expenditures in other areas, which nobody in the department of education will let happen (paychecks), it won't pass.

[frogjerk]

Why not spend this money on a school voucher program instead of propping up the state instituted school systems?

[CodeToad]

THIS year there may be 65% of the dollar amount spent going to classrooms but next year the schools whill complain there isn’t enough going outside the classrooms and increase the taxes.

ANY guarantee of expenditure will ALWAYS result in more money being spent. Just ask Colorado. The only way we could contain such spending is through TABOR, Taxpayers’ Bill Of Rights, and it requires a public vote on increased or new taxes.

[Zakeet]

Unfortunately, water always seeks its own level.

Requiring 65 percent of the State or Federal money to be spent in the classroom merely means more local taxes will be spent on administration.

In fact, given the inevitable burden of regulatory compliance, I would expect to see overall admin costs to rise, with a net decrease in classroom spending.

The only way to guarantee in-classroom spending actually increases is for the government to get out of the education business altogether except for vouchers.