Saturday July 15, 2023

THE BEST OF NONPROFIT NEWS IN VIRGINIA THIS WEEK

THE BEST OF NONPROFIT NEWS IN VIRGINIA THIS WEEK

Photo by Ashni on Unsplash

This Saturday we start a new feature highlighting the best stories in Virginia’s growing number of nonprofit newspapers. Enjoy your weekend.

“Virginia’s tax holiday on school supplies has come to an end because legislators forgot to renew it,” by Markus Schmidt, Cardinal News

Candy Castelluccio has been taking advantage of Virginia’s popular sales tax holiday to save money on school supplies since she started teaching preschool at River Lawn Elementary School in Pulaski County more than 16 years ago. 

But starting this fall semester, Castelluccio, her colleagues and thousands of Virginia families on the lower income spectrum can no longer count on the three-day sales tax holiday — usually starting on the first Friday in August of every year — that they’ve come to depend on since 2006, when the General Assembly passed a landmark law waiving Virginia’s 5.3% sales tax and any local taxes on back-to-school supplies, clothes and shoes. 

“Virginia Tech student has become a national ‘go-to’ source on state legislative elections,” by Beth JoJack, Cardinal News

Chaz Nuttycombe leads a bit of a double life.  

A rising senior at Virginia Tech, the 24-year-old engages in typical college student activities. … 

On top of his studies at Tech,… Nuttycombe directs CNalysis, a nonpartisan operation he founded that forecasts state legislative elections across the United States. As far as the Hanover County native knows, he’s the only analyst in the country who specializes in these elections.

“Virginia’s mental health hotline one year later,” by Meghan McIntyre, Virginia Mercury

Last summer, the 988 hotline for mental health emergencies launched in Virginia and nationwide as part of a federal effort to create a more streamlined approach to accessing crisis support for those in immediate need. 

After an initial spike in 988 calls during its rollout, 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline data shows the commonwealth now receives an average of almost 6,000 calls a month – up from over 4,300 a month in the year prior. 

Bill Howard, director of the Crisis Supports & Services division with the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services (DBHDS), said the average rate of 988 calls answered in Virginia has greatly increased over the past two years as well. 

“‘Stop sitting on the sidelines’: Youngkin pushes GOP to embrace early voting,” by Graham Moomaw, Virginia Mercury

Gov. Glenn Youngkin launched a new initiative Tuesday to push Virginia Republicans to take advantage of laws Democrats passed making it easier to vote early, despite lingering resistance to mail voting from the party’s pro-Trump wing. 

The “Secure Your Vote” program pushed by Youngkin’s Spirit of Virginia PAC and the Republican Party of Virginia encourages voters to sign up for the state’s permanent absentee voting list, which allows ballots to be automatically mailed to participants every election cycle. That list and absentee voting itself have come under sharp criticism from some GOP lawmakers who argue ballots going out via mail are more susceptible to fraud.

“Republicans gotta stop sitting on the sidelines and allowing the Democrats to do a better job of voting early,” Youngkin said in an appearance Tuesday morning on Fox News, where he said his party puts itself at a disadvantage by ceding Virginia’s 45-day early voting window to its opponents. 

And Finally … This Week’s Best-read Piece in F2S

“ANALYSIS: School funding study reveals what local school districts already know,” by Martin Davis

If there were any doubt that Virginia schools are grossly underfunded, check out what Gov. Glenn Youngkin had to say about the Joint Legislative Audit & Review’s report on public education funding.

The budget we passed last year was the largest education budget in history, including a 10 percent pay raise for our teachers. Today’s JLARC report lays plain that the previous two administrations failed to provide adequate funding in K-12 education.

Of course, he blamed the Democrats. And the Democrats shot back:

The budget passed last year was proposed by Ralph Northam. GOP spent ten years after the Great Recession ignoring education while in the majority. It took Democratic wins in ‘17 and ‘19 to get the state to reinvest. If the Governor wants to reform how we fund schools I’m in.

Congratulations. What is arguably the most important issue facing Virginia this year, and every year - education - is once again nothing but fodder for a middle-school game of “nah-nah-nah-nah-nah-nah, I’m right” played by the people who are supposed to be the adults in the room.

So let’s cut right to the quick - Virginia has been underfunding education for decades. Democrats. Republicans. Independents. School reformers. Non-school reformers. There’s plenty of blame to go around.

Instead of playing the all-too-tired blame-game, let’s actually work on the problem. And the problem goes beyond one number - how much money students receive from the state. The real issue is whether we’re spending the money we have in the most efficient ways.