Va education officials decry K-12 budget cuts
Date published: 2/17/2010
AP - Gov. Bob McDonnell has proposed deep, unprecedented cuts to public schools, to the state government work force, and to health and welfare safety net programs in a $2.1 billion bid to balance a critically troubled state budget.
The Republican governor, who ruled out any tax boosts before he took office a month ago, sent shock waves across the General Assembly, struggling with its own budget plans, teachers, state workers.
The cuts vary from from rolling back base state support for local public schools to 2008 levels, using buses longer and not funding sports coaches in education. Other cuts include five unpaid days off annually for state workers, closing five state parks and slashing a programs that aid the homeless and prevent teen pregnancies.
Virginia School Boards Association executive director Frank Barham said the cuts would further place the burden of paying for public education on local school divisions, which are facing their own revenue shortfalls. Barham repeated previous warnings that schools would have to lay off tens of thousands of teachers, raise class sizes and cut programs.