VASCD Policy Update: February 9

THANK YOU for subscribing to our policy updates.

Our goal is to keep you informed about issues and actions in state

and federal education policy that relate to VASCD's mission.

Thank you to our Partners:

Policy Priorities

The Policy Team of VASCD is committed to elevating teaching and deepening learning through advocacy work as well as strong relationships with legislators and policymakers.

Our three policy priorities are:

Outstanding Educators for Virginia's Students: We must elevate the profession and and champion "autonomy with integrity" from policy to the practitioner.
Modernizing Virginia's Assessment System: Virginia's student assessment system must support and align with today's student learning goals.
Personalized Learning Opportunities for Educators: Educators must have relevant, competency-based professional learning opportunities.

Please access our Policy Priorities Brochure.

You can also access our 2023 General Assembly Priorities.

VASCD's Advocacy Work -

Assessment, Accountability, and

Accreditation Reform

Over the next few months, there will be an opportunity for VASCD to help shape the future of Accountability in Virginia. We are currently working on a Position Brief that when finalized we will share out. We will draw largely upon research, experience, and our Assessment Summit Executive Summary. Stay tuned!

PDF of Executive Summary

VBOE Update

on Tuesday, the Senate denied the appointment of Virginia Board of Education member, Suparna Dutta. We are still working to understand the details of implications and next steps. The Richmond Times-Dispatch article covering the story is linked below.

Read More Here

General Assembly Update

Make sure you bookmark our Advocacy Website. It is a one-stop shop with resources for advocacy as well as our Bill Tracker and Archived Policy Updates.

Here is a quick-stop of links you can use during General Assembly:

Find your legislator: https://whosmy.virginiageneralassembly.gov/
Track bills in the Legislative Information System: https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?ses=231&typ=lnk&val=02
Find meeting times: https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?ses=231&typ=lnk&val=05

Up-Front Summary:

With cross-over underway, some of our predictions are holding true - bills that made their way through with bi-partisanship will most likely make it out of the General Assembly and onto Governor Youngkin's desk, provided funding is accounted for in the budget. We also predicted that the bills we oppose that make it out of the House will be defeated in the Senate. There are still a few more bills to be acted upon as cross-over continues
Both chambers voted on and released their budget reports on Sunday. There is a stark contrast between the Senate and the House versions when it comes to funding public schools (reports included below). The additional challenge was for the chambers to compensate for the $200M+ mistake that was made recently (Read more on that mistake HERE).
House Budget for Elementary and Secondary Ed
Senate Budget for K-12

Below is a list of bills (still in play) our Policy Team supports and those we oppose. Other bills we are either watching or have decided not to track. You can see our full bill tracker HERE, which contains more information including each bill's current status. Additionally, each bill listed below is linked to its page in LIS.

Bills we Support

HB 1526 Student literacy measures; scope; students in grades four through eight. (2/2 - House block vote pass (100-0))
HB 1762 School boards; Teacher Reengagement Program established. (2/7 - House Block Vote (99-0)
HB 1884 Board of Education; students with disabilities; assessment frequency. (2/7 - House Passed (99-0))
HB 2124 School psychologists; staffing flexibility. (1/30 - Block Vote Passage (98-0), Referred to Senate Ed and Health)
HB 2457 Public elementary and secondary school teachers; certain training activities; frequency; report (2/3 - House Pass (99-0); Referred to Senate Ed and Health on 2/6)
SB 890 Veterans' Teaching Licensure Support Fund and Program; established. (2/3 - Pass Senate (38-0); Referred to House Ed on 2/9)
SB 1109 Board of Education; College and Career Readiness for English Language Learners Grant Program and Fund; established. (2/6 - Senate Passed (39-0); Referred to House Ed on 2/9)
SB 1175 Student literacy measures; scope; students in grades four through eight. (2/2 - Senate pass (40-0); Referred to House Ed on 2/9)
SB 1215 Compensation of public school teachers and other Standards of Quality-funded positions; competitive rate. (2/8 - Reported from House Ed with Substitute, Referred to Appropriations)

Bills we Oppose

HB 1461 Department of Education; uniform system of discipline for disruptive student behavior. (2/1 - Passed the House (52-46), Referred to Senate Ed and Health)
HB 1909 Public elementary and secondary schools; establishment of opportunity classrooms. (2/3 - House Passes (51-48); Referred to Senate Ed and Health on 2/9)
HB 2269 Certain federal pandemic relief funds for public education; certain conditions; emergency. (2/7 - House Passed (53-46); Moving to Senate for cross-over)

If there are bills we may have missed or bills you have a question about, please reach out to our Executive Director, Chris Jones at vaeducatorcmj@gmail.com.

If you know someone who might like to be added to our Policy Priorities mailing list, forward this message and ask that they sign up HERE.

Virginia ASCD is a non-partisan, non-political organization.

Like you, we are interested in policy decisions that affect teaching and learning in Virginia.