Wrong:
"LEGISLATION TO INITIATE OR SUPPORT
Full and honest rebenchmarking of the Standards of Quality (SOQ)
When Virginia ranks 37th in the nation in per-pupil state funding for K-12 education, no permanent structural changes should be made to the SOQ. The rebenchmarking should exclude the "support cap" and other efforts to permanently cut K-12 funding.
Funding the Standards of Quality tax initiative
The Virginia Constitution calls on the General Assembly to "ensure that an educational program of high quality is … continually maintained." The VEA will introduce a tax proposal to provide the funds to keep this promise to Virginia's children.
Expand programs and initiatives to raise high school completion rates
The first step in moving our schools toward excellence, and the best course for our Commonwealth's future, is to increase high school completion rates. This is a cost-effective investment in today's students to lower future incarceration and dependence and to ensure future productivity.
VEA proposes increasing support for the following research-based interventions to reach that goal:
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Virginia Preschool Initiative
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Comprehensive School Reform
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Enhanced Career and Technical Education (Fine Arts - STEM)
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Increased teacher participation in instructional decisions
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Dropout prevention
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Class size reduction
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Increased salaries for education professionals and expanded existing scholarship loan programs"
2010 VEA Legislative Agenda