This story was reported and written by our media partner the Virginia Mercury.
As the federal government considers transitioning from using a funding formula to dole out money to public schools nationwide to providing block grants instead, the proposition is stirring debate among Virginia lawmakers and education leaders. A House of Delegates committee and school leaders convened last week to talk about the possible shift in education funding and the continued impacts of federal funding cuts statewide.
Supporters of block grants, or large sums of federal funding, argue that they would give states more flexibility to address individual issues. Critics, meanwhile, are concerned about whether the block grants would be appropriately and equitably distributed, including to English learners and at-risk students from low-income families.
The grants could also help school divisions know months earlier in the state budget process how much federal funding they will receive.
Suffolk Public Schools Superintendent John Gordon III said after the meeting that if the federal government switches to the block grant concept, Virginia lawmakers and education leaders need to create an action plan for implementation in schools here, including webinars and presentations for all school divisions facing massive federal funding cuts.
“What I do like about the idea of a block grant is that it would give school divisions some flexibility, but there’s also going to need to be some parameters on specifically what the grant can be used for,” Gordon said in an interview following the meeting.
Gordon, along with other division leaders from Cumberland County and Newport News Public Schools, spoke last Friday to the House committee studying the impacts of the federal workforce and funding reductions at their meeting on the campus of Norfolk State University.
In February, the committee was established as Virginia braces for broader effects on its federal workforce and potential funding reductions. These changes are a response to executive order by President Donald Trump and his administration’s actions aimed at eliminating what they consider “wasteful” government spending.
Friday’s discussion broached impacts to Virginia’s coastal resiliency efforts, emergency management programs, rental assistance programs and tariffs on port operations.
The discussion on the impact on state and local K-12 funding rounded out the meeting.
According to the state superintendent’s report for the 2023-24 school year, Virginia schools received $2.4 billion in federal funds.
Dr. Denelle Wallace Alexander, dean of Norfolk State University’s School of Education, said that while state and local funding make up most of the funding for public schools, federal funding also plays a crucial role in maintaining programs and staffing, providing resources, and supporting vulnerable populations. To put the funding in perspective, state and local funds comprised about 75% of total funding during the 2023-24 school year. Federal funds make up 10%, with the rest being loans and bonds.
Wallace Alexander also said two university programs, in particular, have been impacted, which have helped increase the pipeline for school counselors and teachers.
“Our support for education must be paramount because we know that education is the foundation for everything else,” she said. “We must educate in order to stay ahead. We must educate to stay innovative, and we must educate to make sure that the health of the commonwealth of Virginia continues to stay strong because its citizens are well educated and they are able to take us beyond the 21st Century.”
Superintendents Chip Jones, formerly from Cumberland Schools, Michelle Mitchell from Newport News, and Gordon also shared with lawmakers grim details of how the changes in Washington could impact their respective school divisions.
In Suffolk, Gordon said the school division is facing a $11.3 million loss, impacting 100 positions that provide services to socioeconomically challenged families and students, as well as 15% of students in special education and the JROTC program, which serves 400 students.
Cumberland schools also face a $1.7 million reduction, with special education, after-school programs and career and technical education taking a hit.
“The majority of my federal funding funds people,” Jones said, adding that “people are where you cut … and it’s very hard to sit across from someone and tell them you’re losing your job.”
In Newport News, Mitchell said an area of concern for the school division is the impact of furloughed employees at the shipyard.
“While that’s not directly related to the federal cuts, it adds to the economic concerns because the shipyard is our largest employer in our school division,” Mitchell said. “So the federal cuts, in general, impact the city, which, in turn, of course, impacts the city’s ability to support our schools.”
Newport News is expected to face a loss of $700,000 for an adult education program and grants for English Language Learners, Mitchell said.
Del. David Bulova, D-Fairfax, the committee chair, described the changes as a “double whammy” for lawmakers, as they will try to balance the prospect of fully funding public schools while also managing other areas impacted by cuts.
Lawmakers have worked to address the lack of state funding for schools, most notably after researchers for the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission, which conducts analysis and provides oversight of state agencies on behalf of the General Assembly, found that the state had been underfunding schools since the Great Recession started in 2007.
The committee has a meeting scheduled for Aug. 14 at the General Assembly Building.
“We are very cognizant that these cuts are going to affect our local school districts,” Bulova said. “We’re just getting our arms around what the order of magnitude of those cuts will be and so we’ve got to make sure that we don’t set back public education after we have worked really hard over the last couple years, based on the JLARC report, to be able to catch up with K-12 education.”
Suffolk Public Schools and Newport News Public Schools are members of the Hampton Roads Educational Telecommunications Association, which holds WHRO's license.
