The Latest from VEA

If you want positive change, if you need something for your colleagues, your students, and yourself, you have to let people know. The chances of educators’ issues being addressed to everyone’s satisfaction without our intervention is somewhere between nil and zip. Across the Commonwealth, VEA members are being proactive—speaking up in public forums, like before school boards and other governing bodies, in media interviews, and in conversations in their communities. Here’s a look at some of what your fellow members are doing. What needs to be said in your locality?

 

Safety: It May Not Be in the Bag

In an attempt to make the city’s school buildings safer, Richmond Public Schools rolled out a policy this school year that requires all students to use clear bookbags. While well-intentioned, there have been some problems with the policy and the Richmond Education Association brought them before the school board.

The clear bookbags are already breaking and are expensive and wasteful to replace. What’s our long-term plan for the use of these bags? One of my students very correctly pointed out that plastic production and waste is bad for the planet and so he doesn’t understand why he has to use one. Further, athletic bags don’t have to follow this policy, and I’m not saying they should. Our students already walk through metal detectors. If we are serious about safety, we have to start at the root of the problem: relationships. We continue to see student conflicts treated like criminal investigations, with students writing statements and being given talking to’s in private, away from the peer they have a conflict with. We need real conflict mediation, real restorative justice. Expressing harm done, admitting harm caused, looking someone in the eye and apologizing, and a handshake or a dap goes a long way to restoring each other’s humanity.

—Anne Forrester, Richmond Education Association

 

Pay Us What You Promised!

I represent the dedicated educators who serve the children and families of our community every day, and I am here to address a matter of urgency and fairness – the release of the retention bonuses that have been promised to us.

Our educators have worked tirelessly, often going above and beyond what is required, to ensure that our students receive the best possible education despite numerous challenges. These bonuses were intended to acknowledge and reward that dedication, yet we find ourselves in a situation where these funds are at risk of being delayed.

Delaying the release of these bonuses sends the wrong message to our educators – the very people who keep our schools running and our students learning. We have upheld our commitment to the community and are asking the City Council to uphold theirs.

These retention bonuses are not just a monetary reward; they are a symbol of appreciation for the countless hours and efforts our teachers, support staff, and educators invest in our schools. The decision to delay these payments would erode trust and create additional stress for individuals who are already stretched thin in their duties.

I respectfully urge this Council to prioritize the immediate release of these funds. Our educators should not have to wait any longer for what was promised to them. They have earned this compensation, and they need to see that the City of Portsmouth values their hard work and commitment.

This is not just a financial issue – it is about showing our educators that we recognize their value and their essential role in the future of Portsmouth. We cannot afford to delay any further. We ask you to honor your commitment and release the retention bonuses without any further delay. Our schools, our students, and our entire community are counting on you to do the right thing.

—Laura Hamilton, Portsmouth Education Association

 

‘This Process will Make the Division a Better Place for Everyone’

I am speaking tonight on behalf of the Albemarle Education Association, to express our excitement and hopefulness as we begin a new era at ACPS with the passage of tonight’s [collective bargaining] resolution. Collective bargaining means that employees in every area of our schools: classrooms, cafeterias, buses, offices, and more will now have a real voice when it comes to our pay, benefits and working conditions. I can tell you as someone who taught for 17 years in a collective bargaining state before moving to Virginia that having a multi-year contract that provides guarantees that employees help negotiate will make a huge difference for us, in terms of tangible benefits as well as in overall morale. Collective bargaining is the best system this country has figured out in order to get workers in education to feel valued and to reach their highest potential. That in turn helps create the best possible conditions for our students’ learning and growth. It’s not a coincidence that the strongest performing states in K-12 education also happen to have strong collective bargaining practices in their schools.

The partnership that AEA and ACPS will forge through this process will make the division a better place for everyone associated with it. Already other divisions in the Commonwealth who have adopted collective bargaining have achieved significant victories related to pay, leave policies, and more. It’s been a long, difficult road to get to this point, both for Virginia and for ACPS. But we know that the road doesn’t end here. We still have an authorization card campaign and an election to conduct before we can get to the actual collective bargaining process: That’s when the real work of negotiating a contract begins. However, the knowledge of the work ahead is now accompanied by the faith that we have a collaborative relationship with ACPS and that together we can help make our schools the best they can be.

—Tim Klobuchar, Albemarle Education Association (since he delivered this message, AEA has won an election to represent county school employees in contract negotiations)

 

Harrisonburg Members Appear on Local Media

Collective bargaining means that we are working together to bargain for dialogue about our working conditions. We’re trying to create healthier working conditions for staff and educators, which then means that we are healthier when we educate or teach, which creates a better, healthier environment for the children. There’s so much that’s involved in educating and teaching and there’s so much expected of educators and we want to help others understand how we can try to make that more reasonable or more healthy for everybody involved.

—Glenda Leonard of the Harrisonburg Education Association, in an interview with a local television station prior to a school board meeting at which collective bargaining was to be discussed

 

We are feeling really good about the energy right now. I think we have a lot of good school board members who are trying their best to help us. They are trying to do what they can.

—Cody Polk, Harrisonburg Education Association president, quoted on a local news website, adding that members turned out for the school board meeting, many dressed in red, to show “positivity and support” for a newly-proposed collective bargaining resolution to replace an initial one passed last year

 

Let Experts Do What They Know to Do

Nearly a year ago, this body established a policy that notifies parents of what and when their children check out books from the library, allows parents to restrict their own children’s access to certain portions of the collection, and allows for the reexamination, restriction, or removal of materials deemed to have no educational value. This is sound practice, thorough in its scope and reflecting deep commitment to parents’ rights.

And yet, here we are again, this time hearing from the same voices that the policy doesn’t go far enough to suit them. They now want the power to make that same decision for everyone’s children, in the form of a library selection parent committee. So what’s wrong with that?

For starters, they’re lay people. Media specialists are professionals who undergo years of study in media science, literature, the science of reading, child and adolescent development, gifted education, special needs populations, adult literacy, and so on. They are tasked with selecting books and materials that are age-appropriate, timely, accurate, accessible, and reflect a wide variety of perspectives and experiences, and to constantly be mindful of the diverse populations they serve.

Nor do they make these decisions alone. They extensively review professional publications for reviews and suggestions, consult with other specialists to monitor trends and learn more about new authors and titles, and consult teachers and students regarding topics of interest and areas of study.

So, what happens when we give the final say-so over those decisions to a committee of untrained, potentially highly biased citizens with no oversight? Well, it means that this board effectively turns over taxpayer dollars to support private citizens’ personal agendas within the schools. And if that’s not illegal, it’s at the very least an interesting lawsuit waiting to happen.

Friends, this has all the earmarks of a solution in search of a problem, at the expense of the problems we really have.

There is a small but loud faction in this county who believe they should be able to tell the rest of us what our children can and cannot read, can and cannot know, and even can and cannot be. And we have a word for that. It’s indoctrination. And we all agree, it has no place in our school system, or our libraries.

You have good policies in place, and they work. Let them do their job. While we’re at it, let’s let parents do their job and you do yours. And let’s all get back to the real issues facing this division.

—Shannon Brooks, Franklin County Education Association

 

Act Now on Behalf of Students and Educators in Special Education!

I’m here as a special education teacher and a proud member of the Virginia Education Association, representing tens of thousands of school staff statewide. Today, I’m asking you to act on JLARC’s near-term recommendations to address our urgent funding needs—changes that can’t wait.

Since the pandemic, our classrooms have seen an exodus of qualified professionals, especially in schools where students need us most. Special education is one of the hardest-hit areas, with teacher shortages so severe that classrooms are often led by substitutes or adults with no training in education—in many schools, this is more than half of the classrooms. Imagine being a student with unique learning needs, rotating through multiple teachers in one year, never getting the consistency or attention you deserve.

I know some of you may be considering long-term reforms, including shifting to a student-weighted funding model. But while those conversations are critical, they don’t address the immediate needs we face today. That’s why I urge this committee to advance JLARC’s near-term recommendations for the 2025 session, especially lifting the Support Cap and adjusting the Linear Weighted Average that artificially lowers our state’s investment in teacher salaries. These changes alone would bring us much closer to addressing the needs of our highest-need schools right now.

The JLARC report shows we’re only funding one-seventh of special education aide positions and should double state funding for these students as a starting point to meet current division staffing standards. This underfunding leaves teachers like me with impossible caseloads. I see students waiting weeks for the support they need to keep up, often falling further behind.

And while the costs may seem steep, I’m asking you to think about the costs of inaction. Each day, students are slipping through the cracks. I’ve seen children with disabilities struggling without consistent support, becoming frustrated, and losing confidence. I’ve watched talented teachers leave because they feel they can’t give students the help they need under current conditions. And we’re at risk of failing a generation if we let these patterns continue.

So, I am asking for this committee’s leadership. Endorse these near-term recommendations to stabilize and rebuild our teaching force, especially for special education. We have the expertise and commitment in our schools to ensure students succeed. Now we need the resources to match.

—Terry Jones, Henrico County Education Association, speaking to members of the General Assembly’s Joint Subcommittee on Primary and Secondary Education Funding

 

Speechifying about Speech and Debate

I know this will come as a shock, but I am not here as a representative of our awesome union, AEA. Instead, I am here as the head coach for the Speech and Debate team at Yorktown High School. I want to take a moment to celebrate our two APS speech and debate captains who spoke before me, Hunter and Daisy. As you saw, speech and debate teaches great skills.

This year our program nearly doubled. We went from between 40 and 50 team members to about 75. Sadly, our funding did not keep pace with our growth. We still get the same amount we have received for the nearly 10 years I have been coaching: Just over $1000 for an almost year-round activity.

While I am excited about the growth that my team and I have worked hard to achieve, I am saddened and frustrated that the opportunities I can offer these talented students have not grown as well. We cannot compete at a higher level, and we do not have a class, which I argue would be as challenging as AP seminar and research, but with the added bonus of being able to test the skills learned in a real-life arena. According to the Wall Street Journal, state and national speech and debate award winners have a 22 to 30 percent higher acceptance rate at top-tier colleges, and even speech and debate students who don’t win such awards still have an above average acceptance rate when compared to their peers.

Obviously, speech and debate helps students gain skills such as effective reading and research, but also these students do for fun what many other people fear more than death!

When you are preparing the FY26 APS budget, please give a thought to funding and support for our speech and debate teams at a level commensurate with the skills these students gain.

—Dani Jones, Arlington Education Association