(The Center Square) — Despite budget increases in the hundreds of millions and multiple statewide education initiatives, Virginia students still aren’t showing a definitive recovery from pandemic learning lows.

Their test scores from January 2024 declined from their 2022 scores – the scores that caused Gov. Glenn Youngkin to call for major education reforms – in several areas.

The National Assessment of Educational Progress, also known as the “nation’s report card,” measures several subjects but is most known for its 4th and 8th grade math and reading tests.

(The Center Square) – The White House took steps to make good on its promise to cut the federal government down to size by giving federal workers a choice: return to the office full-time or leave with eight months of pay.

The Office of Personnel Management told federal workers Tuesday night that they have until Feb. 6 to decide to stay or go. If they step down, they will continue getting all pay and benefits and be exempt from in-person work requirements until Sept. 30.

However, the Trump administration said that even government employees who stay on could still eventually lose their jobs as the president reshapes the federal government and its workforce.

Two amendments to the Virginia Constitution were killed in committee Tuesday, leaving just five alive in the 2025 legislative session.

House Joint Resolutions 452 and 492, patroned by Republican Dels. Nick Freitas, R-Culpepper, and Del. Israel O’Quinn, R-Washington, aimed to enshrine food choice and residents’ ‘right to work’ in the Virginia Constitution. The Democratic-majority subcommittee tabled both bills in a 5-3 vote.

“This is a very simple piece of legislation, and it’s only like one sentence, so I’m sure there’ll be no controversy whatsoever,” Freitas quipped when presenting his bill to the committee.

Deuntay Diggs, Chair of Stafford County’s Board of Supervisors, indicated Tuesday evening that he is prepared to take legal action should some of his colleagues continue to ask for an amendment to the Code of Performance that “adversely affects my career, my calling,” reports the FXBG Advance. 

A report from the Federal Railroad Administration requested by Fredericksburg City Council and Mayor Kerry Devine on this past summer’s freight car derailment blames human error for the mishap, reports the FXBG Advance.