House Committee Moves Forward on SOQ Bill; Charter School Bills Up In Senate Ed Subcommittee
February 2, 2022
February 2, 2022
Today, the House Education Committee approved HB1135, sponsored by Delegate Jeffery Bourne. HB1135 is a signature bill for VEA. The bill makes several changes to the Standards of Quality, including requiring the establishment of units in the Department of Education to oversee work-based learning and principal mentorship statewide and requiring the Board of Education to establish and oversee the local implementation of teacher leader and teacher mentor programs in Standard 5. The bill also makes several changes relating to school personnel in Standard 2, including (i) establishing schoolwide ratios of students to teachers in certain schools with high concentrations of poverty and granting flexibility to provide compensation adjustments to teachers in such schools; (ii) requiring each school board to assign licensed personnel in a manner that provides an equitable distribution of experienced, effective teachers and other personnel among all schools in the local school division; (iii) requiring each school board to employ teacher leaders and teacher mentors at specified student-to-position ratios; (iv) requiring state funding in addition to basic aid to support at-risk students and granting flexibility in the use of such funds by school boards; (v) lowering the ratio of English language learner students to teachers; (vi) requiring each school board to employ reading specialists and establishing a student-to-position ratio for such specialists; (vii) requiring school boards to employ one full-time principal in each elementary school; (viii) lowering the ratio of students to assistant principals and school counselors in elementary, middle, and high schools; and (ix) increasing from at least three to at least four the required number of specialized student support positions, including school social workers, school psychologists, school nurses, licensed behavior analysts, licensed assistant behavior analysts, and other licensed health and behavioral positions, per 1,000 students.
A couple of bills to expand charter schools in the state will be heard in the Senate Subcommittee on Public Education on Thursday. The charter school bills in their current posture would circumvent local authorization of charter schools and create a regional authorizer and/or allow the state board of education to authorize charter schools. The VEA stands in strong opposition to these bills. Descriptions of these bills are provided below.
Senate Committee on Education and Health Subcommittee Public Education
Hashmi (Chair), Howell, Locke, Dunnavant, Peake
Date of Meeting: February 3, 2022
Time and Place: 30 mins. after adj. / Subcommittee #2 -5th Floor Pocahontas
https://virginia-senate.granicus.com/ViewPublisher.php?view_id=3
S.B. 2 – Cosgrove; VEA OPPOSES. School principals; incident reports. This bill in its current posture would exacerbate the school-to-prison pipeline. Requires that school principals report to law enforcement certain enumerated acts that may constitute a misdemeanor offense and report to the parents of any minor student who is the specific object of such act that the incident has been reported to law enforcement. Under current law, principals are required to make such reports only for such acts that may constitute a felony offense.
S.B. 36 – Norment; VEA OPPOSES. School principals; incident reports. This bill in its current posture would exacerbate the school-to-prison pipeline. Requires that school principals report to law enforcement certain enumerated acts that may constitute a misdemeanor offense and report to the parents of any minor student who is the specific object of such act that the incident has been reported to law enforcement. Under current law, principals are required to make such reports only for such acts that may constitute a felony offense.
S.B. 125 – Obenshain; VEA STRONGLY OPPOSES. POLICY POSITION ON CHARTER SCHOOLS. Public schools; regional charter school divisions. Authorizes the Board of Education (the Board) to establish regional charter school divisions consisting of at least two but not more than three existing school divisions in regions in which each underlying school division has (i) an enrollment of more than 3,000 students and (ii) one or more schools that have accreditation denied status for two out of the past three years. The bill requires such regional charter school divisions to be supervised by a school board that consists of eight members appointed by the Board and one member appointed by the localities of each of the underlying divisions. The bill authorizes the school board, after a review by the Board, to review and approve public charter school applications in the regional charter school divisions and to contract with the applicant. The bill requires that the state share of Standards of Quality per-pupil funding of the underlying school district in which the student resides be transferred to such school.
S.B. 287 – DeSteph; VEA OPPOSES. School principals; incident reports. The bill would exacerbate the school-to-prison pipeline. Requires that school principals report to law enforcement certain enumerated acts that may constitute a misdemeanor offense and report to the parents of any minor student who is the specific object of such act that the incident has been reported to law enforcement. Under current law, principals are required to make such reports only for such acts that may constitute a felony offense.
S.B. 415 – DeSteph; VEA OPPOSES. School boards; school resource officers; employment; threat assessment. Requires each school board to enter into a collaborative agreement with the local law-enforcement agency to employ at least one school resource officer in each public elementary and secondary school in the local school division. The bill provides that no school board shall be granted any full or partial waiver from such staffing requirements and that no school board that fails to fully comply with such staffing requirements is eligible for any grant or waiver from the Commonwealth, Board of Education, or Department of Education. The bill also requires each division superintendent to include on the threat assessment team established for each public elementary and secondary school in the local school division at least one school resource officer employed in the school.
S.B. 481 – McClellan. VEA SUPPORTS. THE SUBSTITUTE BILL NOW ALIGNS WITH THE HB251 SUBSTITUTE AND DELETES THE LANGUAGE THAT DECLARES ANY SCHOOL BOARD THAT FAILS TO ENTER INTO SUCH A COLLABORATIVE AGREEMENT INELIGIBLE TO PARTICIPATE IN ANY STATE GRANT, LOAN, OR BOND PROGRAM THAT SUPPORTS SCHOOL MAINTENANCE, RENOVATION, OR CONSTRUCTION. Encourages each school board to enter into a collaborative agreement with the local governing body to set aside in a separate fund any sums appropriated to the school board by the local governing body that are unexpended by the school board in any year in order to use such sums to finance school maintenance, renovation, or construction in the local school division. The bill declares any school board that fails to enter into such a collaborative agreement ineligible to participate in any state grant, loan, or bond program that supports school maintenance, renovation, or construction. This bill is a recommendation of the Commission on School Construction and Modernization.
S.B. 490 – McClellan; VEA SUPPORTS. POLICY POSITION ON FUNDING THE SOQs. Standards of Quality; work-based learning; teacher leaders and mentors; principal mentors; certain personnel positions and initiatives. Makes several changes to the Standards of Quality, including requiring the establishment of units in the Department of Education to oversee work-based learning and principal mentorship statewide and requiring the Board of Education to establish and oversee the local implementation of teacher leader and teacher mentor programs in Standard 5. The bill also makes several changes relating to school personnel in Standard 2, including (i) establishing schoolwide ratios of students to teachers in certain schools with high concentrations of poverty and granting flexibility to provide compensation adjustments to teachers in such schools; (ii) requiring each school board to assign licensed personnel in a manner that provides an equitable distribution of experienced, effective teachers and other personnel among all schools in the local school division; (iii) requiring each school board to employ teacher leaders and teacher mentors at specified student-to-position ratios; (iv) requiring state funding in addition to basic aid to support at-risk students and granting flexibility in the use of such funds by school boards; (v) lowering the ratio of English language learner students to teachers; (vi) requiring each school board to employ reading specialists and establishing a student-to-position ratio for such specialists; (vii) requiring school boards to employ one full-time principal in each elementary school; (viii) lowering the ratio of students to assistant principals and school counselors in elementary, middle, and high schools; and (ix) increasing from at least three to at least four the required number of specialized student support positions, including school social workers, school psychologists, school nurses, licensed behavior analysts, licensed assistant behavior analysts, and other licensed health and behavioral positions, per 1,000 students.
S.B. 558 – Suetterlein; VEA OPPOSES THIS LEGISLATION. THE VEA IS NOT IN SUPPORT OF ELIMINATING THE VIRGINIA MATHEMATICS PATHWAYS INITIATIVE. Requires the Board of Education to collaborate with the Superintendent of Public Instruction and the Secretary of Education to evaluate, to implement where possible, and to otherwise make recommendations to the General Assembly regarding the following goals: (i) promoting excellence in instruction and student achievement in mathematics, including elimination of the Virginia Mathematics Pathways Initiative and an evaluation of any other proposed changes to the Mathematics Standards of Learning, in advance of the next revision of such standards by the Board, to maintain and increase the rigor of mathematics instruction in public elementary and secondary schools and permit students demonstrating aptitude and high achievement in mathematics to accelerate their progress through core mathematics classes and concepts and take advanced mathematics courses before the eleventh grade; (ii) increasing the number of academic year Governor’s Schools in the Commonwealth and maintaining standards of excellence for students in all such schools; (iii) preserving the Advanced Studies Diploma as an option for students in public high schools in the Commonwealth while maintaining or increasing course and credit requirements for such diploma; (iv) increasing the transparency and honesty of performance measures for public elementary and secondary schools in the Commonwealth and ensuring that such measures do not obscure or conceal disparities in performance among student groups; (v) ensuring that performance measures for public elementary and secondary schools prioritize the attainment of grade-level proficiency in reading and mathematics for all students, especially in grades kindergarten through five; (vi) ensuring that the Commonwealth’s proficiency standards on Standards of Learning assessments in reading and mathematics are rigorous in comparison with assessments administered by other states and national assessments in reading and mathematics; and (vii) restoring a strong accreditation system that promotes meaningful accountability year-over-year. The bill requires the Secretary of Education and the Superintendent of Public Instruction, no later than November 30, 2022, to report to the chairmen of the House Committee on Education and the Senate Committee on Education and Health the results of such evaluation and recommendations to achieve such goals.
S.B. 603 – Stanley; VEA SUPPORTS. Board of Education; standards for the maintenance and operations, renovation, and new construction of public elementary and secondary school buildings. Requires the Board of Education (the Board) to make recommendations to the General Assembly for amendments to the Standards of Quality to establish standards for the maintenance and operations, renovation, and new construction of public elementary and secondary school buildings. The bill requires such recommendations to include standards for the percentage of the current replacement value of a public school building that a school board should budget for the maintenance and operations of the building and such other standards as the Board deems appropriate. The bill also requires the Board to solicit the input of relevant stakeholders and the public in developing such recommendations. Finally, the bill requires the Board to submit its recommendations to the Chairmen of the House Committee on Education and the Senate Committee on Education and Health no later than December 1, 2022. This bill is a recommendation of the Commission on School Construction and Modernization.
S.B. 608 – VEA OPPOSES. POLICY POSITION ON CHARTER SCHOOLS. Public charter schools; applications; review and approval. Permits the Board of Education (the Board) to receive, review, and rule upon applications for public charter schools and enter into agreements for the establishment of public charter schools. Under current law, the power to grant or deny a public charter school application and enter into an agreement for the establishment of a public charter school rests solely with local school boards. The bill also provides that the decision of the Board or a local school board to grant or deny a public charter school application or to revoke or fail to renew a public charter school agreement is final and is not subject to appeal. Current law contains an appeal process for such decisions.
S.B. 613 – Stanley; VEA OPPOSES. School principals; incident reports. The bill would exacerbate the school-to-prison pipeline. Requires that school principals report to law enforcement certain enumerated acts that may constitute a misdemeanor offense and report to the parents of any minor student who is the specific object of such act that the incident has been reported to law enforcement. Under current law, principals are required to make such reports only for such acts that may constitute a felony offense.
S.B. 628 – Stanley; VEA SUPPORTS. Public School Trades Incentive Fund and Program; established. Establishes the Public School Trades Incentive Fund (the Fund) and the Public School Trades Incentive Program (the Program) for the purpose of providing grants on a competitive basis from the Fund to any school board that seeks to (i) restore high school programs that teach students skilled trades that lead to earning industry-recognized certifications or credentials or (ii) create or restore middle school programs that encourage and recruit students to participate in high school programs that teach students skilled trades that lead to earning industry-recognized certifications or credentials. The bill requires the Department of Education to administer the Program and to establish such rules and procedures relating to applications and awards as it deems appropriate, provided that the Department considers and gives appropriate weight to certain criteria for grantees. The bill permits any grantee to use Program funds for equipment, curriculum development, or instructor training. The bill requires each grantee to longitudinally track students who complete any program for which the school board received funds in order to determine the effectiveness of the (a) new or restored middle school programs in recruiting students to participate in restored high school programs and (b) restored high school programs in matching students with high-paying jobs in the fields in which they are certified or credentialed.
S.B. 635 – Chase; VEA OPPOSES. POLICY POSITION ON CHARTER SCHOOLS. Public charter schools; applications; review and approval. Permits the Board of Education (the Board) to receive, review, and rule upon applications for public charter schools and enter into agreements for the establishment of public charter schools. Under current law, the power to grant or deny a public charter school application and enter into an agreement for the establishment of a public charter school rests solely with local school boards. The bill also provides that the decision of the Board or a local school board to grant or deny a public charter school application or to revoke or fail to renew a public charter school agreement is final and is not subject to appeal. Current law contains an appeal process for such decisions.
S.B. 738 – Morrissey; VEA SUPPORTS. We believe that students should be most informed about the opportunities available for continued growth post-high school to make informed decisions about their future when it comes to educational opportunities and the costs and benefits associated with these opportunities. Requires the Department of Education to collect and distribute to public schools and publicly post on its website information that assists high school students in making more informed decisions about their futures after graduating from high school and in doing so ensure that such students are aware of the costs and benefits of different educational and certificate programs. The bill directs the Department to annually collect and compile such information in consultation with the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia and any other entity that can assist the Department with collecting and compiling such information and to update its distribution materials accordingly each year. The bill requires the Department to post and distribute the information to school boards, with any relevant updates, no later than October 1 each year and requires each school board to ensure that the information is readily available to each high school student and distributed to each high school student who expresses an interest in attending an institution of higher education or completing another training program as described in the bill.
S.B. 760 – Suetterlein; VEA SUPPORTS. This bill allows the development of a test bank that is built by practitioners, aligns with DOE’s review tool, SOQ, and the Profile of a Graduate. And it is an option for school districts to pull from. Requires the Department of Education to develop a task bank for performance-based assessments that is built using vetted tasks that have been developed by practitioners and aligns with (i) the Department’s Virginia Quality Criteria Review Tool for Performance Assessments, (ii) the content in the standards of quality, and (iii) the skills in the Profile of a Graduate. The bill provides that school divisions may select tasks from the task bank.
S.B. 774 – Dunnavant; VEA HAS NO POSITION. Permits the school board of any school division to enter into agreements with any third-party logistics company to allow for the use of the school buses of such school division by such third-party logistics company.
Senate Committee on Commerce and Labor Subcommittee Labor and Employment
Surovell (Chair), Marsden, Obenshain
Date of Meeting: February 3, 2022
Time and Place: 10 AM / Subcommittee Room 1, 5th Floor, Pocahontas Building
S.B. 631 – Barker; VEA SUPPORTS. Fair Labor Standards Act; overtime; employer liability. Replaces the current provisions of the Virginia Overtime Wage Act with the provision that any employer that violates the overtime wage requirements of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, and any related laws and regulations, shall be liable to its employee for remedies or other relief available under the Fair Labor Standards Act. Under the FLSA Employers who willfully or repeatedly violate the minimum wage or overtime pay requirements are subject to a civil money penalty of up to $1,000 for each such violation. Violators of the child labor provisions are subject to a civil money penalty of up to $10,000 for each young worker who was employed in violation.
According to the Economic Policy Institute, teachers in Virginia earn 67 cents on the dollar compared to other (non-teacher) college-educated workers. Virginia’s teacher wage penalty is the worst in the nation.
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