Editor, Gazette-Journal:

The General Assembly of Virginia has known for decades that the formula to determine the Composite Index for school funding is obsolete. The need to utilize a more modern system may be the right time for the next session in January 2011. This is not a complex issue if politics is removed and a business initiative is put in place.

The need to cut budgets annually could be drastically reduced if the current Composite was utilized as a benchmark to set responsible funding from the state. Take, for instance, all those divisions with a Composite with a 70 percentile or above which are to fully fund themselves without state assistance. This will involve about 13 divisions (eight counties and five cities) out of 135 divisions.

All remaining divisions within the state will be funded totally by the state in the following categories including benefits, instruction, administration, attendance, health and technology. All other categories will be funded locally by t...