About the Alliance for Virginia’s Students

The Alliance is committed to encouraging all Virginians to demand high quality educational opportunities for every child in the Commonwealth.

The Alliance for Virginia’s Students was created in 2003 to build a statewide, grassroots advocacy network that promotes state policies and financial support that are necessary for excellence in public education from pre-kindergarten through graduate studies. Today, we have over 7,000 individual supporters across the Commonwealth.

Over the years, the Alliance has won increased state support for public education and protected funding for programs serving at-risk students. Our most significant accomplishments include:

• In 2013,  the Alliance helped pass a legislative study of the adequacy/equity of school funding statewide.

• In 2012, the Alliance submitted a statement to the Board of Education calling for a legislative study of the adequacy and equity of school funding. The statement was endorsed by ten statewide organizations and over 1,220 individuals, hundreds of whom submitted personalized comments. The Board recommended the study and, thanks to the work of the Alliance’s partners, the study was approved by the General Assembly.

• In 2010, the Alliance and its partners successfully defended programs serving at-risk students from proposals that would have redistributed funds to school divisions based on student population rather than student poverty.

• In 2006 and 2008, the Alliance helped lead a broad-based coalition to secure additional funding for the expansion of the Virginia Preschool Initiative, which serves thousands of at-risk four-year-olds across the Commonwealth. In recent years, we have successfully defended the preschool program from proposed cuts.

The strength of the Alliance depends on the collective voices of its individual members and the partnership of its organizational members, which are listed below.