PROTECT TEACHER LICENSURE – OPPOSE SB142
February 10, 2024
February 10, 2024
Despite strong opposition from the VEA in the Senate Public Education Subcommittee, SB142 moved out of the Senate Committee on Education and Health and is now on the Second Reading Uncontested calendar for Monday, February 12, 2024. Find your Senator Here, then call your Senator’s Capitol Phone and urge them to oppose SB142.
SB142 provides up to two years of a new provisional local license before the teacher would start a standard provisional license. Anyone who qualifies for this local license could already qualify for a provisional license, and this bill would extend the length of time teachers are not fully licensed. Since many teachers request a two-year extension after three years of holding a standard provisional license, this bill would tack on another two years, leading some teachers to be in the classroom for seven years without meeting full licensure requirements. Sadly, this is longer than the average teacher career in Virginia. All students deserve a fully trained and high-quality teacher in their classroom, and sadly this bill threatens to transform the teacher landscape in Virginia to all individuals to spend their teaching career never receiving this background or experience.
SB142 further allows local school boards and superintendents the sole authority to grant a license without state board approval, takes away the right of these teachers to earn continuous status (due process protections), reduces teacher quality, diminishes teachers’ professional status even further, and ultimately hurts student learning outcomes. Nowhere in the JLARC Teacher Pipeline Report, released in September of 2023, does it recommend loosening teacher licensure requirements in the way that is being proposed in SB142. This is a reaction by the administration who don’t seem interested in pursuing the top recommendations, all of which cost money.
SB142 is not the way to fix the teacher shortage issue we are facing in Virginia. Currently, 46% of school divisions surveyed by JLARC reported that provisionally licensed teachers are very poorly or poorly prepared to be teachers, while only 3% of school divisions reported poor preparation among individuals who attended traditional higher education preparation programs. The number of applications for provisional licenses in Virginia has grown exponentially, from 117 in 2015 to 2,698 in 2021 (most recent data publicly available—a more than 2,000% increase. SB142 would exacerbate these trends.
Better alternatives to recruit and retain the best and brightest educators are to boost compensation, stop micromanaging and focus on the well-being of educators, show them respect, bring more people into the profession by covering the cost of teacher preparation courses in exchange for a commitment to teach in a district, and establish teaching apprenticeships — programs that pay for aspiring teachers’ education and allow them to work and be paid while they earn their degrees. Loosening teacher licensure requirements is not the answer.
VEA is greatly concerned about allowing teachers to simultaneously complete their teacher training while serving as the teacher-of-record. This practice is especially troubling because it is so often concentrated in high-poverty and high-needs schools. While understanding that many, not all, school divisions in the Commonwealth have persistent shortages in specific content areas, VEA encourages education stakeholders to recognize the disservice that occurs when underprepared teachers who lack the skills and expertise needed to promote student learning and success are allowed to teach groups of students. The lack of preparation of some is an injustice to all who believe in the power of education to level the access field.
What: Fund Our Schools (FOS) Lobby and Rally Day
When: Monday, Feb. 19, 2024 (President’s Day); Lobby 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., Rally begins at 1:00 p.m.
Where: Lobby Day starts at 8:30 a.m. at John Marshall Ballrooms, 101 North 5th Street, Richmond, VA, 23219; Rally starts at 1:00 p.m. at the Bell Tower at Virginia State Capitol, 101 N 9th Street, Richmond, VA, 23219.
Join us for a lobby day! We’ll be visiting our elected officials to urge them to fight for public school funding. Breakfast and lunch will be provided. RSVP Today.
Join Us for a VEA Briefing on Sunday, February 18th at 5:00 p.m. for FOS Lobby/Rally Day.
Use the following link to join the briefing on Sunday, Feb. 18th
https://veanea.zoom.us/j/89143721893?pwd=NFkxNlFuOUZJelZjdnNKM2RVcGpJdz09
8:30 a.m. – Meet at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church for Briefing (Breakfast Provided starting at 8:00 a.m.)
9:15 a.m. – Walk over to the General Assembly Building to Lobby Lawmakers
11:30 a.m. – Return to John Marshall Ballrooms, 101 North 5th Street, Richmond, VA, 23219 (Lunch Provided)
12:30 p.m. – Attend Fund Our Schools Rally at Capitol Bell Tower (across the street from the church)
1:00 p.m. – Rally Begins
Paid parking for Capitol Square visitors is available from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. Monday through Friday excluding state holidays the 9th and Franklin Street Parking Deck. Parking rates are (debit or credit cards only) $5/hour or $20/day. This parking deck can be accessed by heading North on 9th Street after turning onto or crossing Main Street. Immediately after the Bank Street stop light the parking deck entrance is on the left. Along with the Google Directions below is a map showing the paid public parking deck.
The first pedestrian entrance to the Capitol Grounds, which is ADA accessible, is opposite the parking deck on 9th Street at the historic Capitol Bell Tower.
The public entrance for the General Assembly Building is on 201 North 9th Street through the south-facing doors with steps and ramp.
Capitol Police, in collaboration with the State Fire Marshal, enforce the occupancy loads for the GAB and Capitol Buildings and have a process for tracking these numbers in real-time. If capacity is reached, access will be temporarily halted until numbers decrease.
The maximum capacity for the Capitol Building is 1,958 and the General Assembly Building is 12,169.
Self-guiding brochures of the Capitol and Square are available for download and from Capitol Tour Guides.
Metered parking is available on Main Streets and Cary Streets and is controlled and enforced by the City of Richmond. You can access downloadable maps and rates on the various parking decks and lots around the General Assembly Building. Please note that during the legislative session parking in the area may be limited.
Private vehicles with handicap placards or plates can unload passengers on Bank Street near the new public entrance at 10th Street. Five parking spaces zoned for handicapped drivers are located on the north side of Bank Street, between 9th and 10th Streets with a two-hour limit.
Please note with the exception of handicapped parking, there is no other public parking on the Capitol Square grounds.
Pay parking lots and decks are nearby on 9th and Franklin, Grace, and 7th and Marshall Streets.
Downloadable maps of nearby parking lots and decks are available, as well as rates for these areas.
Note: Due to ongoing construction projects in Downtown Richmond, some parking lots listed on the links above may not exist any longer. If you have any questions about parking lots in the Capitol vicinity, please call the Capitol Tour Desk at (804) 698-1788.
Please click on the links below to get VEA’s discounted hotel rates in case you need overnight accommodations.
Omni – https://www.omnihotels.com/hotels/richmond/meetings/virginia-education-association-lobby-day-02182024 Attendees can also call in to make their reservation: 800-the-Omni (800-843-6664) and reference the Virginia Education Association Lobby Day Room Block
Courtyard – https://www.marriott.com/event-reservations/reservation-link.mi?id=1706640225073&key=GRP&app=resvlink
Marriott – https://book.passkey.com/event/50765883/owner/12987/home
The average pay of Virginia public school teachers in 2023-24 was $65,830. That is $4,260 below the national average of $70,090.
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