House approves plan mandating that schools spend 65 percent of budgets on instruction
After a heated debate, the GOP-controlled House of Delegates narrowly approved a controversial bill Friday that would require local school boards to spend at least 65 percent of their operating budget on classroom instruction.
The bill passed 48 to 46 and will now head to the Democratic-led Senate. The Virginia Education Association had lobbied against the bill, passing out fliers to legislators in the hall earlier this week that said studies have concluded that there is no correlation between setting classroom instruction spending at 65 percent and higher education achievement.
The bill, HB1416, introduced by Del. G. Manoli Loupassi (R-Richmond), calls for any board that comes in short of the 65 percent to present a plan to increase its expenses for classroom instruction by 0.5 percent the following year.
Del. Joseph D. Morrissey (D-Henrico) opposed the bill in debate Thursday saying it was. "Richmond telling Fairfax and Arlington and everybody else how to spend their local money."
By
Anita Kumar
| January 21, 2011; 5:34 PM ET
Categories:
Anita Kumar, General Assembly 2011, House of Delegates
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