THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, December 19, 1995 TAG: 9512190256
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A6 EDITION: FINAL
LENGTH: Short : 47 lines
Highlights of Gov. Allen's 1996-98 budget proposal for public schools. It calls for:
An additional $462 million, an 11 percent increase, to fully fund the state-mandated Standards of Quality.
An increase of $27.2 million for ``at-risk'' 4-year-olds and $20.2 million for remedial education.
$23.2 million to develop a statewide testing program to measure student achievement on new academic standards in math, science, social studies and English.
$5 million to open 14 regional ``alternative'' schools for chronically disruptive students, which would provide a site for every region in the state.
$75 million technology initiative to pay for computers and networking hardware for schools and for math and science equipment, including graphing calculators, to help students meet technology requirements in the new academic standards.
A 3 percent salary raise for teachers on Dec. 1, 1997.
Returning $15 million in lottery profits to local school districts in 1998 as flexible block grants to fund education needs, such as salaries, construction and reduced class size.
Highlights of Allen's higher education budget plan:
An extra $127 million for construction and technology.
$49 million to accommodate projected increases in enrollment.
A one-time 4.2 percent bonus for all state workers next December through a rescheduling of paychecks. Some legislators questioned whether workers would actually get more money.
$7.3 million for a new building for ODU's Teletechnet program, which beams courses by satellite to TVs across Virginia.
$2.6 million to add six sites to Teletechnet, which transmits courses to 17 locations.
$5.7 million for ODU for enrollment increases.
$12.3 million to renovate William and Mary's chemistry building, Rogers Hall.
KEYWORDS: VIRGINIA STATE BUDGET by CNB