Virginia Legislative Action: Help Needed

[wnewton00]

In Virginia, students have access to VEX through TSA which falls under Career and Technical Education. CTE classified programs are state supported and eligible for state funds. TSA has been integrated into the classroom setting in quite a few schools as well. There are policies in place to standardize the local school districts' support of the program. Currently there is no program making state funds available to FIRST programs. While many Virginia officials verbally support FIRST there is no official state support.
Alison and Princess will have 15 minutes to present on the issues VA is facing in regards to filling STEM jobs, the FIRST program and their personal experiences as well as relay what they would like the GA to do in terms of support.
In an ideal world, 16 year old students would not have to ask their state government to provide the support for programs that have proven track records, all programs would be eligible for funds. Since that is not the case they are advocating for support of a program that has affected their lives but doesn't have the same funding available as some other programs. The amounts they are requesting are very small in comparison, nowhere near the level of CTE funding. But could help get FTC in many schools and a start for some FRC teams as well.