Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R-VA) blasted his two Democratic predecessors after a government report revealed the commonwealth lagged behind most states in its public school funding.

The document from the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission, a watchdog within the Virginia General Assembly, found that the 50-state average for per-pupil spending is $1,900 more than Virginia. The report also estimated that schools in Virginia needed up to 30% more funding from current levels.

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Youngkin, Virginia's first Republican governor since Bob McDonnell held the job from 2010 to 2014, touted his administration's efforts to boost funding for public education while laying blame for the shortchange on his two Democratic predecessors, Terry McAuliffe and Ralph Northam.

"The budget we passed last year was the largest education budget in history, including a 10% pay raise for our teachers," Youngkin tweeted. "Today’s JLARC report lays plain that the previous two administrations failed to provide adequate funding in K-12 education ... and more importantly, never sought to reform the system to ensure that funding supports students and teachers in the classroom."

Youngkin called the new report "a wake up call" and vowed to take steps to expand funding for Virginia's public schools.

"We will continue to invest in our children to ensure they are prepared for success in life," Youngkin said. "For those who haven’t been listening to parents, especially those parents of students who are falling behind or have special needs. Today’s report should serve as a wake-up call that our biggest problem and greatest opportunity is how we reform our system to drive dollars to improve student academic achievement, support our teachers, and deliver results to parents."

Virginia Democratic Del. Schuyler VanValkenburg said Republicans had stifled attempts to raise school funding and said that the budget passed in 2022 in Youngkin's first year in office was proposed by Ralph Northam on his way out of office.

"It took Democratic wins in ‘17 and ‘19 to get the state to reinvest [in schools]," VanValkenburg said. "If the Governor wants to reform how we fund schools I’m in."

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Virginia was among the worst-performing states in reading and math according to the 2022 edition of the National Assessment for Educational Progress, also known as the Nation's Report Card. The state had the worst decline in fourth-grade reading scores, and its 11-percentage-point decline in fourth-grade math scores was among the nation's worst.

"We must acknowledge the glaring reality that we face together: Our nation's children have experienced catastrophic learning loss, and Virginia students are among the hardest hit. And we also must clearly recognize that the underpinnings to this catastrophic performance were decisions that were made long before we had ever heard of COVID-19," Youngkin said at the time.