Plains Research Consortium

Overview: Prior to Virginia’s January 1, 2025, cell phone policy implementation, we partnered with a school district to understand its impact. In December 2024, we surveyed the district's middle and high school teachers to collect baseline data and query teachers’ views of the new policy. By large margins, teachers agree that cell phones are a distraction in class and support the new policy. Two schools had already implemented a version of the new cell phone policy. Unsurprisingly, teachers at these schools reported feeling more comfortable and prepared to implement the new cell phone ban from the state. Teachers wanted clear guidelines for implementation and consistent enforcement of consequences for students who violated the policy.

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Overview: A major leverage point in improving employment, consumer demand, and investment is through state investments in quality PK-12 education. Research is clear that areas with higher and more targeted investments see significant long-term returns in terms of economic capacity, human capital, wages, and tax revenue, along with a host of social benefits including a ‘multiplier effect’ on local jobs, increased property values, reduced social and judicial costs, and community revitalization. In short, “Jobs follow better schools.”

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Overview: Student weighted funding is the most widely used means to ensure schools have enough money to provide for the differing needs of students. However, research suggests the benefits of student weighted funding go well beyond adequate resources for specific-needs students, offering significant improvements in (1) general education programming; (2) more targeted and efficient usage of tax dollars, and (3) long-term benefits including higher property values, improved business investments, and lower social costs. While there are considerable differences in how effective student weighted formulae are, they provide the capacity for a more efficient and calibrated use of tax dollars with community-wide benefits.

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