Two Virginia state legislators on opposite sides of the political spectrum are on behalf of descendants of people who were denied public education during the mass resistance movement in which Virginia imposed laws to block school desegregation. The state is asking the state to appropriate $5 million in education funds.
The budget amendment proposed by Sen. Clay Dees (D-Charlottesville) and Rep. Terry Kilgore (R-Scott. The funds would then be applied to the state's Brown v. Board of Education Scholarship Fund. There is $1 million in that account.
“That scholarship is on the books, so we really need to fund it,” Kilgore said. “So I'm trying to help with that…and hope that with help from people on the other side of the aisle, we can at least put some of that money into there.”
Deeds said he is interested in making education accessible to everyone.
“Throughout our history, we have denied people access, and that historical stigma continues today,” Dees said. “It is important that we continue to work to ensure that every American and every Virginian has access to the benefits that await them.”
But Dees said the state faces some tough decisions as both chambers prepare to submit budget proposals.
“Thanks to federal funding over the past few years, we seemed well-resourced,” he says. “There will be no bumper harvest this year. We are fortunate to be able to fund even a fraction of the billions of dollars in the budget amendments that have been submitted, so our jobs are well provided for.” .”
Last year, the General Assembly expanded the fund's eligibility and the committee that oversees the fund made other changes to ensure it is sustainable.
Scholarship awards can be used toward obtaining a professional degree, career and technical education training, or a GED or adult high school diploma.
The state's original program offered scholarships only to people denied public education in five areas where authorities closed schools between 1954 and 1964, but the law was passed last year. Expanding qualifications to the “direct descendants and collateral descendants” of those individuals. The target area included Arlington County, Prince Edward County, Warren County, and the cities of Charlottesville and Norfolk.
Last December, the committee that oversees the fund capped the number of recipients to 10 students per year. Each applicant receives $10,000 per year.
Sen. Ghazala Hashmi, D-Richmond, said at a scholarship committee meeting in December that the cap “allows other individuals who fit the previous criteria to continue to have their tuition covered.” said.
The Commission also added criteria to prioritize applicants based on the degree of their relationship to directly affected descendants.
Ken Woodley, an author and former journalist who first proposed the fund, said the funding is a model for a nation where Virginia “seems to be even more racially divided than ever before.” He said that it could be useful in “illustrating the
“I believe there is an absolute moral and historical obligation for the General Assembly to fund the expansion of the Brown Scholarship program that was unanimously approved during the 2023 session,” Woodley said. . “It would be unconscionable to do that without providing the economic means to achieve that goal.”
The fund may also receive assistance from the federal government.
Lawmakers have not received the $1 million in federal dollars they had requested for the fund, but Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine are still trying to include $500,000 in their spending plan.
Press Secretary Mia Fisher said the request is part of the Senate government funding bill and that both senators “continue to work to get the bill across the finish line.”
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