Confronted with a projected $2.4 billion deficit during 2014-16, the Legislature in June 2014 approved a budget that addressed approximately $1.5 billion of the shortfall. In November 2014, the Legislature amended the budget, approving an $882 million reduction.

In December 2014, Governor McAuliffe released his proposed amendments to the 2014-16 budget. It incorporates prior adjustments and recommends a further reduction of $272 million. The proposal recommends no cuts to K-12 education but would reduce direct aid to public education in 2014-15 by 1.7 percent (to $5.4 billion) to reflect a decrease in the state school-age population. The proposal includes no further cuts to higher education but incorporates the prior $90 million reduction. The governor also proposes $1 million in additional financial assistance for students to pursue industry-based certifications that meet workforce development needs and $2.5 million in new student financial aid funding.

On January 14, the governor delivered his State of the Commonwealth Address. He highlighted his priority of protecting education funding from further cuts and spoke about his education-related priorities of expanding workforce training, improving safety on college campuses, providing training for principals at underperforming schools and expanding school nutrition programs.