Words/Photo by: Katy Burnell
A throng of 150 protesters gathered at the State General Assembly building today to discourage legislators from approving budget measures that would mean millions less for local schools.
Although chants of “save our schools-keep the freeze” could be heard over the ninth-floor budget appropriations meeting the message didn’t seem to get through to lawmakers who voted to advance incoming Gov. Bob McDonnell’s proposed cuts to the current budget.
Former Gov. Tim Kaine opted to freeze the index that determines education funding in an attempt to help schools weather the state-wide financial crisis.
Committee Chairman Del. Lacey Putney, I-Bedford, explained the mandate behind his vote to update the index in a statement released today.
“Governor Kaine’s unprecedented, and I believe ill-advised, decision to freeze the Local Composite Index (LCI) in the first year was unfair to our good friends in northern Virginia”, Putney said.
After the budget meeting, Del. Harvey Morgan, R-Gloucester, said that his vote to unfreeze the index was not a vote to take money away from schools.
“I think that what we’re facing now is worse than the great depression”, Morgan said. “The Governor made several recommendations to fix the budget and we’re not following all of them”, he continued.
Dozens of concerned citizens packed the hall leading to the budget appropriations hearing, where every seat was taken.
Read the House of Delegates’ 67-page proposal for managing the budget crisis.
(H.B. 29 targets the 2008-2010 budget, H.B. 30 targets the 2010-2012 budget)
Click here for your school district’s proposed: 2009-2010 composite index and direct aid sources, 2010-2011 composite index and direct aid sources, and 2011-2012 composite index and direct aid sources.
