RICHMOND, Va.—More than 2,000 red-clad teachers and supporters rallied outside the state capitol Jan. 27, calling on the state government to increase school funding and pay teachers more. “It is time, it is time, it is past time to fund our future!” Virginia Education Association President Jim Livingston called out. While the state raised teachers’ pay by 5% last year and Governor Ralph Northam’s budget for the 2020-21 fiscal year would increase education spending, the VEA says that is not enough in a state that ranks 40th in the U.S. in per-pupil spending and where teachers’ pay is $8,500 behind the national average. “It’s unreal to me. You’re always on the teachers about the performance of our children, but you don’t give us what we need to help our children,” Charlotte Hayer, a teacher at Richmond Community High School, told WTVR-TV. “You need to do the right thing and put your money where your mouth is.” State Sen. Jennifer McClellan (D-Richmond) has introduced budget amendments that would fully fund state-mandated “standards of quality” and give teachers a 5% rise in the coming year, rather than the 3% over the next three years in Northam’s budget. Read more
