Michael707,
The site https://www.zippia.com/answers/is-a-teacher-a-government-employee/ does support your claim but, of course, it is not authoritative. On the other hand https://www.quora.com/Are-teachers-considered-as-government-employees sides with Virginia in that whoever signs the paycheck is the presumptive employer which is a local organization. This is also specified in Virginia Law which is authoritative. The article https://virginiamercury.com/2023/07/10/study-finds-virginia-underfunds-k-12-schools-recommends-spend... says that over half of public school funding in Virginia is from local sources, which does support Virginia's position.
