Gov. Ralph Northam announced that his proposed budget will include $36 million to increase the number of counselors at schools across the state in an effort to ramp up school safety and provide more support to students facing mental health challenges.Suicide is the leading cause of death among school-aged...
Gov. Ralph Northam wants to give teachers a 5 percent pay raise starting next July, an increase from a previously approved 3 percent raise.It would be the largest, single-year raise for educators in the state in more than 15 years, Northam said Tuesday while presenting parts of his proposed...
A proposal to change a prepaid college savings plan would make it more affordable and flexible for future college students, state auditors found.Prepaid529, one of several options through the Virginia529 program, currently allows buyers to pre-purchase semesters at public Virginia colleges and universities. Residents pay today’s tuition rates and...
Virginia's Commission on Youth adopted recommendations Tuesday aimed at reducing existing barriers for teenagers in the foster care system seeking a driver's license and increasing training for social services workers, particularly in dealing with child abuse allegations against teachers.The recommendations ranged from legislative proposals for the upcoming General Assembly...
Graduating seniors in Virginia this year did better than their national peers in language arts and mathematics on the SAT, according to the Virginia Department of Education.About 54,900 public school students took the college-readiness test this year, with 54 percent meeting or exceeding the test's benchmarks in mathematics and...
The Virginia students who take the ACT test did better than their peers nationwide this year, according to the state's Department of Education.Public school students received an average composite score of 23.8 on the test, which is meant to determine college readiness, compared with 20.4 nationwide. The tests are...
Boards that govern public universities and colleges should allow students and other stakeholders to speak at meetings when the cost of attendance may change, the state's Freedom of Information Act Advisory Council said Wednesday.But it's not a change that needs to be codified in law, the council decided. For...
Over the last decade, Virginia's decreased spending on higher education has shifted more of the cost on to students, especially black, Latino and low-income ones, a new analysis by The Commonwealth Institute for Fiscal Analysis found.Virginia spends $1,306 less per student now than it did in 2008, even though...
A George Mason University professor is reviving a 41-year-old record book of state government information, this time online and with a focus on women in Virginia politics.Toni-Michelle Travis, along with seven GMU students in the Schar School of Policy, is working on a new and improved digital version of the...
A group of lawmakers is weighing whether teachers merit an extra level of protection during child abuse investigations.For most cases, an allegation is considered founded if child protective services investigators determine that the alleged abuse or neglect actually occurred based on the available evidence.But if the alleged act took...
