Episode 1 | A Conversation with Dean Lynch
Uplifting Our Children Through Education Episode 1 | A Conversation with Dean Lynch. In this inaugural episode of the VACo County Pulse Podcast, Uplifting Our Children Through Education, host Jeremy Bennett sits down with VACo Executive Director Dean Lynch to discuss actions taken by the Governor and General Assembly during the 2025 legislative session. This includes a landmark achievement for Virginia’s counties: the functional elimination of the cap on K-12 support positions. This long-sought policy change, finalized in the General Assembly’s 2025 budget and supported by Governor Youngkin’s May 2 actions, restores $222.9 million in FY 2026 to local governments—funding that will now align with prevailing local staffing practices. The move marks the culmination of over 15 years of advocacy by VACo and its partners, addressing a funding gap that once exceeded $400 million and bringing state support for education staffing back to pre-Great Recession levels.
Bennett and Lynch also explore other critical wins in the 2025 budget, including $53 million in new special education funding and $360 million in school construction grants. These investments reflect VACo’s broader commitment to equitable, well-resourced public education across the Commonwealth. Listeners will gain insight into how these budgetary victories were achieved, the collaborative efforts behind them, and what they mean for the future of Virginia’s counties and their schools.
VACo Contact: Jeremy R. Bennett