Editor, The Herald:

State funding provides about 58 percent of the revenues for Prince Edward County Public Schools. The Center for Budget and Policy Priorities reports that Virginia funding for K12 education in the current biennium has been cut by $700 million on top of earlier cuts for support staff of $500 million. K12 funding has also decreased as a percentage of the state budget. Prince Edward's K12 state funding has recently been reduced by about 13 percent.

The County, which provides around 30 percent of the schools' budget, has, to its credit, maintained level funding but cannot make up the shortfall. Costs, including heating oil, bus fuel, and health insurance, as well as many state and federally mandated requirements, continue to increase.

The administration and school board have worked hard to protect classroom instruction from cuts. When necessary, they have reduced staff through attrition rather than layoffs. About 80 percent of the School Board budget funding goes to personnel. Teachers and staff have had neither a raise nor bonus for three years. The cuts over the past three years have inevitably had an impact, including increased class size, fewer aides, combining different age groups on buses, reducing educational field trips, and loss of essential personnel in reading, math, and special education.

The National Conference of State Legislators projects Virginia state tax revenues to increase 4.3 percent for 2011 and 4.9 percent for 2012. But the Virginia House of Delegates now proposes a further reduction in the Prince Edward school budget next year of about $1,145,300. These further cuts would target areas such as Elementary resource specialists in reading and math, Elementary aides, bus replacements, textbooks, and teachers for the successful and much needed Pre-K program.

If you believe in the importance of educational quality to the well-being of our children and our region, please contact your state and local legislators now to express your support for educational funding and specifically for the Senate budget rather than the House budget that proposes steep additional cuts. Prince Edward County delegates are James Edmunds DelJEdmunds@house.virginia.gov. (804-698-1060) and Watkins Abbitt DelWAbbitt@house.virginia.gov. (804-698-1059.)

Russell Dove,

Ellery Sedgwick

Farmville