Virginia Secretary of Education Jeffery O. Smith will stop at Alexandria City High School’s Minnie Howard Campus (3775 W. Braddock Road) on Wednesday night (April 8) as part of a statewide listening tour organized by the Virginia Department of Education.
Smith will be joined by Virginia’s Superintendent of Public Instruction Jenna Conway, House of Delegates Majority Leader Del. Charniele Herring (D-4), Del. Alfonso Lopez (D-3), and Alexandria City School Board members. The event at 6 p.m. is a stop on the statewide Commonwealth Listening Tour: Speak Up for Virginia’s Future. Registration is available for families seeking to attend.
“Hosted by VDOE and the Secretary of Education, this listening session is part of a statewide effort to hear directly from Virginians about what is working well in public education and where additional support is needed for students, educators and schools,” VDOE said in a release. “During this event, participants will have an opportunity to share their experiences and perspectives on key issues affecting schools across the Commonwealth of Virginia.”
Topics for discussion include:
- Identifying what’s working well and where challenges remain
- Shaping ongoing supports in literacy and math instruction
- Understanding how well students are prepared for college or careers after high school
- Considering how the state evaluates and supports schools through accountability and accreditation processes
- Discussing effective strategies to recruit and retain world class teachers, school leaders and school support staff
There will a statewide virtual parent session from 6-7:15 p.m. on April 15 and teachers session from 5-6:15 p.m. on April 20. Families and teachers may register to receive a participation link. Public comments are also being accepted through Friday (April 10).
The visit comes as Alexandria City Council and School Board contend with a $5.65 million budget shortfall to pay for its one-year collective bargaining agreement (CBA) proposal, which has drawn criticism from council members for not being a three-year agreement like other CBAs the city has approved.
“There is no getting around it: our total budget—inclusive of local, state, and federal funds—has grown from $311 million in FY 2023 to a proposed $374 million in FY 2027, an increase of approximately $63 million, or about 20%,” School Board Member Ryan Reyna said in a March 9 blog post. “I want to be clear about something: a $63 million budget increase over five years is not a trivial thing. It places real demands on the City and on taxpayers, and those demands come at a time when municipal finances are genuinely strained. State funding has increased 20% and City funding has grown 17.5% to support this budget — contributions we are grateful for and that we take seriously.”
In 2023, Virginia’s Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) found in its review of Virginia’s K-12 funding formula that the state underfunds public education.
“Virginia spends about 14% less per student than the national average, despite having above-average fiscal capacity,” wrote Superintendent Melanie Kay-Wyatt and School Board Member Ashley Simpson Baird in a January blog post. “Depending on the model used, Virginia school divisions need 6% to 33% more funding than the formula currently provides … In FY2021, the [Standards of Quality] formula estimated schools needed $10.7 billion statewide, but divisions actually spent $17.3 billion. That $6.6 billion difference was paid by local governments.”
