RD47 - Annual Report on State Spending for Standards of Quality (SOQ) Costs


Executive Summary:
Section 22.1-97 of the Code of Virginia as amended by the 2003 General Assembly directs the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) to annually prepare a report on State expenditures for SOQ purposes. This JLARC special report on State SOQ spending in FY 2005 is the second annual report.

Based on data reviewed for this report, in FY 2005 the State expended $4.26 billion for SOQ purposes. The major accounts constituting the bulk of these funds were basic aid ($2.54 billion) and State sales tax ($988 million). The amount of State SOQ spending equated to an average of about $3,629 per pupil. The range in State SOQ spending in individual divisions was from $1,857 to $5,846 per pupil. An important factor in the varying size of State SOQ per-pupil spending levels in school divisions is the State’s use of a local ability-to-pay index in determining State and local shares of SOQ costs.