Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D, left) unveiled his budget proposal for $1 billion in public and higher education investment at Mark Twain Middle School in Alexandria on Dec. 16, as part of the total state budget he plans to roll out on Thursday, Dec. 17.

The education plan includes measures to bring back 2,500 teaching positions throughout the state, pay raises for teachers, closing the achievement gap and funding an expansion of his wife Dorothy’s Breakfast After the Bell program, Standards of Learning innovation grants to continue improving testing styles.

“If we truly want a world-class economy,” McAuliffe said, “we truly need a world-class education system. Laying the foundation for a new Virginia economy all starts, for me, with education.”