If you are raising a child who needs extra support at school, you know how often that help depends on money that is never quite there. Class sizes, reading specialists, the aide who actually knows your child, all of it rides on a budget line written far from your kitchen table. On Monday, Virginia lawmakers advanced a two-year, $205 billion budget that puts real dollars behind that support, including $148.4 million set aside for special education students and a $1.4 billion increase for K-12 schools. The plan now sits with Governor Abigail Spanberger, who has until July 1 to sign it, recommend changes, or veto individual items.
Virginia’s advanced two-year budget puts real money behind special education and teacher pay. Here is what is in it for families, and what still has to happen before July 1.
Common questions
How much does Virginia’s new budget add for special education?
When does the Virginia budget take effect?
Will every teacher get the raise in the budget?
My child is struggling at school. How do I get them evaluated for support?
Virginia's advanced two-year budget puts $148.4 million toward special education students and a 4 percent teacher raise each year. It now waits for the governor's signature before July 1.
What Virginia lawmakers approved
On June 22, 2026, the General Assembly approved a two-year, $205 billion budget proposal covering fiscal years 2026 through 2028. For schools, the plan raises K-12 funding by $1.4 billion and gives teachers a 4 percent raise in each of the next two years. State employees would see a 3.5 percent pay bump.
Inside that K-12 total, lawmakers set aside $590 million for rebenchmarking, declining enrollment, and high-need groups. That pool includes $148.4 million directed to special education students and $28.9 million for students considered at risk.
The budget passed both chambers with bipartisan support after months of negotiation, then moved to Governor Abigail Spanberger. In a statement after passage she said: “There is a lot to be proud of in this budget. It delivers raises for our teachers and public employees, makes new investments in our schools, includes a RGGI credit for residential customers and small businesses, and takes other tangible steps to make Virginia more affordable.”
There is a lot to be proud of in this budget. It delivers raises for our teachers and public employees, makes new investments in our schools, includes a RGGI credit for residential customers and small businesses, and takes other tangible steps to make Virginia more affordable.
Laura Lurns · Learning Success expert
Why the special education line matters at home
Special education money is not abstract for the families who rely on it. It pays for the evaluations, the specialists, and the smaller groups where a child who learns differently finally gets time to take hold of a skill. When that funding rises, schools have more room to staff those supports instead of stretching one specialist across three buildings.
The teacher raise sits in the same picture. Schools across the country have struggled to keep experienced special education teachers, and pay is a large part of why. A 4 percent raise in each of two years gives districts a tool to hold onto the people who know your child by name.
None of this replaces what happens at home, where a parent stays a child’s steadiest teacher. A child’s brain keeps changing with the right kind of practice, and the strongest plans pair good school support with the strengths-based skill work families do together.
Key takeaways
- Real dollars for support: Virginia's advanced budget sets aside $148.4 million for special education students and $28.9 million for at-risk students.
- Teacher pay rises: The plan funds a 4 percent teacher raise in each of the next two years alongside a $1.4 billion K-12 increase.
- Not final yet: Governor Spanberger has until July 1 to sign, amend, or veto parts of the plan.
What to watch before July 1
The budget is advanced, not final. Under Virginia law, the governor has until July 1 to sign it as written, send back recommended changes, or veto specific line items. Until she acts, the special education and teacher figures are a strong proposal rather than settled funding.
For families, the practical step is local. Once the budget is signed, ask your district how the new special education dollars reach your child’s school, and whether they fund staff, evaluations, or services your child already uses. Funding approved in Richmond helps most when it turns into a real person or program in your building.
It is also worth watching how districts handle the teacher raise. Some local boards have called state-mandated raises an unfunded mandate when the state share does not cover the full cost, so the headline number and the classroom reality sometimes differ.
A budget line is a promise, and you are the one who turns it into progress for your child. The system has a long habit of sorting kids into deficits and labels instead of developing the skills underneath, and more funding helps only when it reaches the child who needs it. While Richmond settles the numbers, the work that changes a child’s trajectory keeps happening at home, with the right kind of practice. The Learning Success All Access program puts that strengths-first approach within reach, with a free trial and a personalized Action Plan you keep either way.
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Why we use AI, plainly: it writes from a knowledge base our team maintains and audits. We work through it line by line and pull anything the evidence stops supporting. The roadmap you get on Tuesday reflects what we corrected on Monday, and a human still reads it before you do.
Your school district must evaluate your child free of charge if you ask in writing, whatever your income and whatever the outcome (US, 34 CFR 300.111 and 300.301(b)). That route takes time and answers a different question than you do. This one starts today, from what you already know.
Your answers stay yours. We do not sell your personal information, and we do not hand identifiable assessment data to outside AI companies to train their models.
A screener is a starting point, not a diagnosis. If your child might need formal accommodations (an IEP or 504 plan), or you suspect a vision, hearing or medical cause, pursue a professional evaluation too. That is the only route to those supports.
References
- Virginia Mercury — Virginia legislators advance $205 billion budget including new tax on data centers
- Office of Governor Abigail Spanberger — Statement on Passage of Virginia's Budget (June 22, 2026)
