House of Delegates Budget to Include Five Percent Pay Raise for Public School Teachers

From the office of Virginia House of Delegates Speaker Kirk Cox (R-Colonial Heights)….

In a speech on the floor of the Virginia House of Delegates Monday, Appropriations Committee Vice-Chairman Steve Landes announced that the House budget to be released on Sunday will include a five percent pay raise for public school teachers, and does so without raising taxes on hard-working Virginians.

“I am proud of Chairman Jones and Vice-Chairman Landes for the hard work and dedication they have shown  to ensuring our teachers know how much they are appreciated in the Commonwealth,” said Speaker Kirk Cox (R – Colonial Heights). “As a public school teacher for 30 years, I know how hard teachers work to educate Virginia’s future leaders. We must make it a priority to keep great teachers in the classroom and that starts with making sure our teachers a fairly compensated.”

“Providing teacher pay raises does not have to come with a tax on the middle class attached to it,” said Delegate Chris Jones (R – Suffolk), Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. “Under conservative leadership in the House of Delegates, this will be the fourth teacher pay raise in the last six years.”

“Virginia has some of the finest teachers in the country and that has led to Virginia students consistently outperforming nationwide peers on standardized tests, college admissions, and graduate rates,” said Delegate Landes (R-Augusta). “To maintain that success we must ensure our teachers are fairly compensated and know the hard work they do each and every day is greatly appreciated.”