FACT: Since Governor Warner took office, the Virginia state budget has increased by $2.5 billion.

FACT: This statement ignores the rapid growth in the General Fund during the "dot-com bubble," between FY1996 and FY2000. During that period, revenues and spending increased almost ten percent a year. To keep up with inflation, population, and enrollment spending needs to increase about four percent per year. The flat revenues since FY2000 mark the return of revenue growth to its normal level. When you average the flat revenues since FY2000 with the rapid growth during the dot-com bubble, the average annual increase in the General Fund since FY1996 is 5.7 percent, well above the four percent required to keep up with population growth and inflation.

FACT: Virginia also ranks 13^th in the nation in local government funding for public schools. When state and local funding are combined, Virginia ranks 20^th in the nation in per-student spending for instruction. (Source: U. S. Census, Public Education Finances 2001, March 2003, Tables 11 and 12.)

FACT: Virginia is a high-income state. In terms of absolute spending per student on instruction, Virginia ranks 20^th. Also, the Virginia Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) stated in its report, Review of State Spending: December 2003 Update, that between 1981 and 2002 state inflation-adjusted spending for public schools increased nine times faster than enrollment. (See Table 3 in report.) The same report also stated that inflation-adjusted budgets for Virginia four-year public colleges increased over three times faster than enrollment since 1981.

FACT: The JLARC found that only three Virginia school districts might not have fully-funded SOQs. Virginia happens to be a state in which a lot of school funding comes from local governments. Since both the state and local governments get their revenues from the same taxpayers, it does not matter to the taxpayer whether the state or local government funds the schools.

FACT: The real problem is the curriculum, especially reading. For nearly a century public schools have resisted phonics-based reading instruction. Schools expect children to read words without knowing how to sound out the words. This frustrates the abilities of low-income children to read and increases the number of children who require mandated Learning Disabled services. Schools have no incentive to teach properly. Poor instruction means more students with special needs, which allows schools to demand more money for mandated special-needs programs.

FACT: Senator Chichester’s $2 billion tax hike gives $1.7 billion to public schools, $341 million to colleges, and nothing to transportation. Senator Chichester increases public school spending about six times faster than enrollment and inflation during the biennium. The Governor’s and the Delegates’ budgets increase public school spending almost three times faster than enrollment and inflation. Senator Chichester’s extra billion dollars for public schools fund elementary physical education, music, and art teachers. These are not core programs, and some jurisdictions already fund these teachers locally.

FACT: The JLARC’s Review of State Spending, cited above, states that while inflation-adjusted spending for public schools has been increasing nine times faster than enrollment, Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) funding has not been increasing nine times faster than population. In fact VDOT funding has barely kept up with population and inflation and has grown much less than the increase in vehicle miles traveled. The reason for Virginia’s transportation crisis is that education has siphoned tax revenues away from transportation. This is because the state does not spend any income taxes on transportation, and income taxes have been growing faster than fuel taxes, which are dedicated to transportation.

FACT: If state taxes increase, local taxes will keep increasing. If Fairfax County is typical the real cause of high real estate taxes is that local spending, especially for public schools, has reached record highs. For example, since 1998 Fairfax County Public Schools staff has increased nearly twice as fast as enrollment (22 percent compared to 13 percent). Also, higher transient taxes just mean that neighboring jurisdictions will find it easier to raise their taxes.

FACT: Everyone ignores the extraordinary growth in Virginia’s prison population and the reasons for it. The JLARC report shows that since 1981 Virginia’s inmate population has increased nine times faster than overall population. It is probably the case that most inmates grew up on welfare.

FACT: The JLARC report shows that since 1981 the number of Medicaid recipients has increased four times faster than overall population. About a third of Medicaid is for disabled persons, and this meets a real need. Another third is for welfare mothers. Welfare subsidies to unwed mothers have increased the United States’ out-of-wedlock birth rate from seven percent in the 60s to 33 percent today. These children are at high risk for academic failure, poor health, and crime. The remaining third is for nursing homes. Entitlements for the elderly are a time bomb. In 1950 there were 15 workers per Social Security recipient; today there are only three. High taxes are discouraging the middle class from having children. Low birthrates in developed nations jeopardize the long-term care of the elderly.