Report: Achievement Gap Widens

A new Report by the Legal Aid Justice Center finds that the achievement gap between low-income and other students has widened substantially since 2009 when the state slashed the education budget to address a short-term economic downturn.

“A widening achievement gap is an alarming trend, suggesting that budget cuts may be having a disproportionately negative impact on low-income students,” according to the Report’s author, policy researcher John Morgan. “This threatens to undo previous progress and to stall Virginia’s efforts to raise achievement levels of low-income students and struggling schools.”

Resources

Report: Budget Cuts Coincide with Widening Gap (PDF)

Press Release (PDF)