色多多

In between, custodians do their regular job in a public school district deep in Southwest Virginia to save money.

That鈥檚 part of the the price that the county school district pays to stay within a that Virginia placed on support services 15 years ago in the teeth of the .

The cap means that school districts have less state money to support a wide range of jobs that play vital roles in public schools, including counselors, nurses, social workers and psychologists who provide 鈥渟pecialized student support鈥� to those who need it.

The cap also applies to state funding for school employees in operations and maintenance, technology services, health and administration, clerical duties and custodial work.

After years of trying, public school divisions thought this year that they would finally see the end of the 鈥渟upport cap鈥� that then-Gov. Tim Kaine proposed in late 2009 as a temporary measure to prevent deep cuts in public services in the two-year state budget that the General Assembly approved the next year.

But upset those expectations by proposing to cut $138.2 million in additional funding that the General Assembly had added to the budget in February to fully lift the cap. That is almost two-thirds of the $222.9 million the legislature had approved to help local school divisions pay for those support positions.

If Youngkin鈥檚 proposed amendment prevails when the assembly reconvenes in Richmond on Wednesday to take up his amendments and vetoes, estimates it will cost the district between $700,000 and $1 million.

鈥淭hat is a huge amount of money for Washington County,鈥� Perrigan said. 鈥淚t has a direct impact on the services we provide students.鈥�

Democrats hold a 21-19 edge in the Senate and a 51-49 edge in the House.

The legislature could override the governor鈥檚 budget amendments by a simple majority vote. It takes a vote of two-thirds of the legislature to override a governor鈥檚 veto of legislation, which could mean the governor鈥檚 157 vetoes of bills are likely to stand.

Additional money

Youngkin鈥檚 legislative supporters say the governor is not proposing to cut state funding for K-12 public education. They say he just wants to reduce the amount of additional money that state would spend in the fiscal year that will begin on July 1.

鈥淭he question is what is the right amount of additional money for K-12?鈥� said Senate Minority Leader Ryan McDougle, R-Hanover, a member of the Senate Finance & Appropriations Committee who strongly supported the revised budget that the assembly adopted on Feb. 22. 鈥淲e鈥檙e all talking about more money for K-12.鈥�

McDougle also thinks it鈥檚 fair for Youngkin to ask for $300 million in spending cuts to bolster the state鈥檚 revenue reserve. It comes as General Assembly Democrats warn that President Donald Trump is posing threats to the Virginia economy by slashing the federal work force and spending on which the state depends.

鈥淚f you really think the sky is falling, put your money where your mouth is,鈥� he said.

The biggest part of those proposed spending cuts would come from money earmarked to eliminate the support cap 鈥� the top priority for local governments and school divisions that share the cost of public education with the state.

鈥淭he cap on state funding for support positions has shortchanged local school divisions for years and is one of the remaining relics of a time when the Commonwealth was sweeping the corner for funds to balance the budget,鈥� said Joe Flores, director of fiscal policy at the Virginia Municipal League and former secretary of finance under Gov. Ralph Northam.

鈥淭hose days are over, and have been for some time.鈥�

鈥淎t a time when local governments are finalizing their budget, including for schools, it is our hope that the governor鈥檚 proposal will be rejected and funding restored,鈥� Flores said on behalf of the municipal league, which represents 38 cities, nine counties and more than 170 incorporated towns.

The municipal league and Virginia Association of Counties, which represents 95 counties, also worry about the governor鈥檚 proposed line-item veto of $40 million in stormwater local assistance funds and additional $31 million in the water quality improvement fund to, with multiple projects already planned to remove nutrient pollution from wastewater discharges.

鈥淭hose are big issues for us because the work has already been scheduled to be done and is being done,鈥� said Dean Lynch, executive director of the association of counties.

Those vetoes will be harder for the General Assembly to overcome when it meets Wednesday because the state constitution requires a two-thirds vote to overturn a gubernatorial veto and Democrats can鈥檛 do it without help from Republicans.

Perrigan, the Washington County superintendent, said Youngkin鈥檚 proposed reduction of money for school support services hurts local school divisions of all sizes in all parts of the state.

He has a bird鈥檚-eye view as president of the Virginia Association of School Superintendents, a statewide organization, and president of the Coalition for Small and Rural Schools of Virginia.

鈥淭he large school districts get hurt the most because they lose the most money,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he small districts lose the most because the money that they lose, they can鈥檛 replace.鈥�

Former Virginia Secretary of Education Anne Holton, who was Virginia鈥檚 first lady when Kaine first proposed the support cap, said federal stimulus grants under then-President Barack Obama helped the state with the deficit initially, but then she said state funding for K-12 education dropped dramatically.

鈥淪ome localities picked up the difference, and some didn鈥檛 feel like they could,鈥� Holton said. 鈥淎nd so that both means we鈥檝e got wide disparities still and that the state鈥檚 just not doing its share.鈥�

Del. Sam Rasoul, D-色多多, chairman of the House Education Committee, called the governor鈥檚 proposal 鈥渄isappointing.鈥�

鈥淭here is such broad support for lifting the support cap, it is perplexing that it鈥檚 such a target,鈥� Rasoul said.

Vouchers, lab schools

Democratic legislators also are indignant that Youngkin, while claiming to use the proposed spending cuts to bolster the state鈥檚 revenue reserves, also wants to spend money on priorities they already have rejected.

That includes $25 million in vouchers to pay for private school tuition or other extracurricular expenses and $15 million to expand the use of lab schools as alternatives to traditional public education.

Del. Mike Cherry R-Colonial Heights, carried legislation this session to establish the 鈥渙pportunity scholarships鈥� for low-income families.

鈥淭here鈥檚 so many things that the opportunity scholarships are available for use. Unfortunately, people in misunderstanding what we were trying to accomplish kind of made it a public versus private school binary choice, but that鈥檚 really not what the opportunity scholarship is all about,鈥� Cherry said.

鈥淚t could be used for tuition but that鈥檚 not the only thing it could go for. It could go for transportation to tutoring programs, whether that鈥檚 public or private. You could use it for resources, in terms of material and curriculums.鈥�

Cherry noted the scholarships have been effective in other places like Maryland, Minnesota and Washington, D.C., where they predominantly hit low-income and minority communities.

鈥淭his is for our most vulnerable students,鈥� Cherry said. 鈥淭his is for the students who otherwise aren鈥檛 going to have a choice and aren鈥檛 going to have a chance to get these resources.鈥�

鈥淗e鈥檚 back to the same playbook: he has been trying to divert public school dollars into private schools,鈥� said Sen. Ghazala Hashmi, D-Chesterfield, who chairs the Senate Education and Health Committee.

鈥淚t is just bizarre that he is re-introducing these items, knowing that the General Assembly is not going to support the privatization of public school dollars,鈥� said Hashmi, who is seeking the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor.

Lynch, at the association of counties, said the governor鈥檚 proposal of 鈥渙pportunity scholarships鈥� to pay private school costs 鈥渃reates problems for public education.鈥�

鈥淭he only way to raise money for public education is through taxes,鈥� he said. When you have money ... going to private schools and other entities, it鈥檚 pulling money away from public education.鈥�

Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell, D-Fairfax, denounced both the governor鈥檚 cuts in money to lift the support cap and his revival of proposals for funding alternatives to public education.

鈥淚t鈥檚 disappointing the governor keeps trying to bring up lab schools and vouchers,鈥� Surovell told reporters this week. 鈥淚 continue to believe that vouchers are unconstitutional under the constitution of Virginia.鈥�

McDougle, the Senate Republican leader, said Youngkin simply 鈥渋ncluded some of his priorities that we had reduced鈥� in the budget.

He noted that the governor 鈥渄idn鈥檛 spend all of that money鈥� that he proposed to cut, but instead recommended depositing an additional $300 million in the revenue reserve fund to guard against the economic downturn that Democrats say they fear.

鈥淚 think it鈥檚 a fiscally responsible move,鈥� he said.

Hashmi said it鈥檚 a move in the wrong direction.

鈥淚t鈥檚 just a step backward, when we thought we were in a position this year to address what is almost two decades of underfunding in our school divisions,鈥� she said.

In Southwest Virginia, Perrigan said school divisions such as his have been making do with less for years because they haven鈥檛 had the money to pay employees to do all of the jobs essential to operating a public school.

鈥淲e finally saw a little bit of light at the end of the tunnel,鈥� he said.