Editor, Gazette-Journal:

All of us agree on one thing, that “Teaching is the one profession that makes all other professions possible.”

So, if we agree on that, why haven’t Del. Keith Hodges and state Sen. Ryan McDougle supported restoring Virginia education funding to pre-2008-2009 levels? Commonwealth revenues missing then have returned. The economy has rebounded and recent federal tax breaks have brought even more cash.

The Richmond Times-Dispatch, The Washington Post and report by The Commonwealth Institute, in 2017 indicated the commonwealth is underfunding Virginia education by $800,000,000 annually. It is likely worse today.

Funding and staffing formulas put in place by the legislature in 2009 and still in place impact poorer rural districts that disproportionately rely on state funding. They have felt the brunt of the cuts. Many of those affected are in your districts.

There is a crisis in education. The Learning Policy Institute found that enrollment nat...