New Virgina State Budget Allots 50% to Education

As the North Carolina legislature debates the possibility of phasing out their state income tax, our elected leaders comment Virginia shouldn't consider reform because we are #1 in so many areas. While true in general, in many cases Virginia's numbers are skewed by Northern Virginia's proximity to Washington and Hampton Roads being home of the largest military complex in the world.

Education is one area that Virginia isn't overtly impacted by the federal government.  Regardless of the spin put out by our State Department of Education or what you may read in local papers, the 2012 SAT scores matched up with our 2010 national ranking of 33rd.  That's right, our awesome Vo-Tech kids aside, Virginia's educational product came in 33rd while spending 50% of the Common Wealth's budget, not including city and county contributions.

What makes matters worse... and I'm guessing, Virginia's SAT results are likely propped up by a large population of private and home schooled kids.  As North Carolina rethinks basic government principles, it's time that Virginian figure out why we are getting such a poor return on our educational dollar.  The political mantra of throwing more money at the problem needs to change and a real solution found to raise our national SAT ranking above 33rd. 

July 2010 State Education Rankings: Virginia SAT Scores

Critical Reading SAT Score: 511 (Ranking 32)
Math SAT Score: 512 (Ranking 35)
Writing SAT Score: 498 (Ranking 32)

Total SAT Score: 1521 (Ranking 33)