In 1971, a revised Constitution of Virginia was adopted. Article VIII, Sections 1 and 2 state:

Section 1. Public schools of high quality to be maintained.

The General Assembly shall provide for a system of free public elementary and secondary schools for all children of school age throughout the Commonwealth, and shall seek to ensure that an educational program of high quality is established and continually maintained.

Section 2. Standards of quality: State and local support of public schools.

Standards of quality for the several school divisions shall be determined and prescribed from time to time by the Board of Education, subject to revision only by the General Assembly.

The General Assembly shall determine the manner in which funds are to be provided for the cost of maintaining an educational program meeting the prescribed standards of quality, and shall provide for the apportionment of the cost of such program between the Commonwealth and the local units of government comprising such school divisions. Each unit of local government shall provide its portion of such cost by local taxes or from other available funds.

Members of the General Assembly realizing that this Constitutional mandate needed further study, adopted Senate Joint Resolution No. 33 of the Special Session of the 1971 General Assembly which created a Commission to study whether it was feasible or desirable for the State to assume the cost of instruction in public schools.