CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – With Charlottesville and Albemarle’s school officials expressing that they are at a disadvantage because of the way the state distributes funds to school systems, 55th District Delegate Amy Laufer (D-Albemarle) said she hopes the Virginia Senate keeps a budget provision of $400-million in flexible funding.

The money would be distributed to localities to offset the annual funding changes based on the Local Composite Index (LCI).

She says the House version of the budget, which she calls “another historic investment in public education,” provides $1.7 billion more for K-12 schools over the next two compares to the current two-year budget.

“That’ll be divided up, obviously,” Del. Laufer told WINA Morning News, “but it’s a great opportunity to get cash into our local schools especially as the funding schedule changes.”

Officials from Charlottesville and Albemarle schools both contend they get shortchanged by the Local Composite Index, which determines the state’s share of money to fund Standards of Quality as opposed to local share.

The formula is based on property values within a locality, average income, and the student population. Both the area’s most populous school systems have expressed for years because the property values and high incomes don’t reflect the needs of the student populations in the public schools.

“There’s been a major effort to look at funding structure that doesn’t include the Local Composite Index,” Laufer said. “And we also have appropriated funds to actually have a study done, which I’m excited about.”

She said Albemarle and Charlottesville aren’t alone in that almost every jurisdiction has some sort of problem with the LCI.

“I’m really excited that we’re looking at this and not basing it on just student population, but student need,” Laufer said.

The formula is supposed to provide the greatest share of state money to those localities who need it most, but the formula does not cook in needs such as special education and English as second language students.

That additional money can be added, but as an add-on as the state education department deems appropriate.

“We’ve seen other states actually come up with different funding structures,” Laufer said, “so I’m excited for the fact that we’ve actually appropriated funds to study this and come up with solutions.”