Virginia Is Rewriting Its 52-Year-Old School Funding Formula. Here's What Could Change.
Virginia has raised ongoing K-12 funding by just over $4 billion between fiscal years 2023 and 2028. Even so, a 2023 study found that local governments spend far more on schools than the state does.
The formula behind that split is 52 years old. Now lawmakers are hiring an expert to design its replacement.
As Nathaniel Cline reports for the Virginia Mercury, a state legislative subcommittee voted on Monday, Oct. 26, to bring in a consultant to study a new funding formula for Virginia's public schools, with up to 24 months to finish the job. Here's what was decided, what's on the table, and what it means for your district.
The Formula at the Center of It All
Virginia funds its schools through the Standards of Quality (SOQ), the formula that sets the funding level for public schools statewide. It is staffing-based, which means the state works out how many positions a school needs and funds those positions.
Lawmakers have been working to update it for a while. A December 2023 study found that Virginia's local governments spend far more on K-12 education than the state does, and that finding has driven the push for a clearer approach.
Two Paths on the Table
Researchers from the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC), which studied the current formula, gave lawmakers two options:
A partial replacement. Keep the SOQ, but use student-based calculations for special education and English learner funding.
A full replacement. Retire the entire staffing-based formula and build a new student-based formula in its place.
The difference matters. A staffing-based model funds positions. A student-based model starts with each student and adds money for students who cost more to serve.
What the Consultant Will Deliver
The consultant's job is to give lawmakers a data-driven tool for testing alternative K-12 funding formulas. The tool has to show each option's fiscal impact and its distributional impact (in plain terms, how the money would shift between districts) before anything is implemented.
The model will be built around these policy factors:
Base funding per student
Extra weights for student needs
Class sizes
Operating costs
Transition provisions for moving from the old formula to the new one
The Local Composite Index, which sets how much each locality is expected to pay toward its schools
The Timeline
Holly Coy, chief of staff for the Virginia Department of Education, laid out the next steps:
The department will finalize a draft Request for Proposal (RFP), publish it, and accept bids for 30 days.
It expects to pick a consultant and start work during the January General Assembly session.
After the session, lawmakers will get another chance to weigh in on which policy factors go into the model.
The study is allowed to run as long as 24 months, but its leaders want it done sooner. Sen. Mamie Locke, D-Hampton, who was re-elected chair of the Joint Subcommittee to Study Elementary and Secondary Education Funding, said the ideal finish line is December 2027, when Gov. Abigail Spanberger presents her biennium budget requests.
"I don't think it's going to take us 24 months to get this work done," Locke said, adding that moving quickly would be in "the best interest of our school districts and our kids."
Del. Cia Price, D-Newport News, agreed. She called the work "overdue" and asked that it move "aggressively, thoughtfully, quickly."
Where the Money Has Gone So Far
According to a staff report for the subcommittee, Virginia increased ongoing K-12 funding by just over $4 billion, or 50%, from fiscal year 2023 to fiscal year 2028. Here's where the biggest pieces went:
$1.5 billion for teacher salaries
$537.5 million in additional funding for school support staff
$375.4 million in one-time educator bonuses
$273.2 million in additional funding for at-risk students
$126.8 million to establish and expand dedicated special education funding
$106.9 million for more English language learner teachers and reading specialist positions
The state has also put money into school construction, early childhood education, and updates to school funding calculations.
Several of those lines, including at-risk students, special education, and English learners, line up with the "extra weights for student needs" that a student-based formula would build in from the start.
What Leaders Should Actually Do
Whether you lead a Virginia district or are watching from another state, here's how to get ahead of a formula change, starting with the quickest steps:
Count your weighted students now. Pull current numbers for special education, English learners, and at-risk students. Under either JLARC option, these are the groups most likely to be funded differently, and the partial replacement starts with special education and English learners.
Translate your staffing into per-student terms. Work out what your current position-based allocations come to per student. That gives you a baseline for judging any student-based model when its numbers come out.
Know your local share. Review how your Local Composite Index is calculated and what it asks your locality to pay. It's one of the named factors in the new model.
Watch the RFP and the January session. The bid window is only 30 days, and lawmakers will gather input on the model's policy factors after the session. That is when your district's voice can count.
Plan for the transition. A formula built to measure distributional impact will move money between districts. Ask how transition provisions would work for you, and build that question into your multiyear budget planning.
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This post comes from The YOSS Advantage, our weekly newsletter for K-12 leaders. Every edition covers the AI, EdTech, and policy changes that shape how your district runs, from funding formulas to staffing to the tools in your classrooms. If this breakdown helped, the next one is already on its way. Subscribe to The YOSS Advantage here.
Source & Credit
This post summarizes and builds on "Virginia lawmakers approve plan to advance new K-12 school funding formula" by Nathaniel Cline, reporter for the Virginia Mercury, published October 27, 2026. Every figure above comes from his reporting: the 52-year-old SOQ formula, the 24-month study window, the December 2023 study, the JLARC options, the RFP timeline, the December 2027 target, and the full breakdown of Virginia's $4 billion funding increase. So do the quotes from Sen. Mamie Locke and Del. Cia Price. Our thanks to Nathaniel Cline and the Virginia Mercury for their thorough coverage of this issue.
