VASCD Policy Update: February 4

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

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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 -

History and Social Science Standards

During VBOE's February 2 Business Meeting, they voted (5-3) to accept the January draft for first review. Public town hall meetings are set for the month of March. We will work toward our goal of ensuring we maintain high levels of collaboration throughout the process and provide our input both electronically and in-person at the meetings. Click the button below for more information. Sign ups are on site at 6:30p, and the meetings begin at 7p.

March 13, Williamsburg
March 14, Mount Vernon
March 15, Charlottesville
March 16, Roanoke
March 20, Abingdon
March 21, Farmville

Public Hearing Information

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:

We are nearing cross-over, when bills that make it through one chamber are then assigned to the other chamber for a similar process.
We predict that the bills making 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 predict that the bills we oppose that make it out of the House will be defeated in the Senate. Of course, this is not a guarantee, just a prediction.
After crossover, the most interesting moments of this year's session will be around the budget amendments and approval process.
VASCD has provided testimony on 7 bills to date, assisted in the drafting of one bill, worked to amend another, and proposed a budget amendment.

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 1566 Compensation of public school teachers and other Standards of Quality-funded positions; competitive rate. (2/1 - Appropriations subcommittee recommends reporting (8-0))
HB 1762 School boards; Teacher Reengagement Program established. (2/1 - Report from Appropriations (22-0))
HB 1884 Board of Education; students with disabilities; assessment frequency. (1/30 - Reported from Education (20-2), House Passed by the day on 2/3)
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))
SB 890 Veterans' Teaching Licensure Support Fund and Program; established. (2/3 - Pass Senate (38-0))
SB 1109 Board of Education; College and Career Readiness for English Language Learners Grant Program and Fund; established. (2/3 - Constitutional reading dispensed (38-0))
SB 1175 Student literacy measures; scope; students in grades four through eight. (2/2 - Senate pass (40-0))
SB 1215 Compensation of public school teachers and other Standards of Quality-funded positions; competitive rate. (2/2 - Senate pass (40-0))

Bills we Oppose

HB 1371 Education Savings Account Program established; Education Improvement Scholarships Tax Credits. (1/25 - Passed by for the Day)
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 1508 Virginia Education Success Account Program; establishment. (2/1 - Appropriations Subcommittee recommends reporting (4-3))
HB 1909 Public elementary and secondary schools; establishment of opportunity classrooms. (2/3 - House Passes (51-48))
HB 2269 Certain federal pandemic relief funds for public education; certain conditions; emergency. (1/31 - Assigned to Appropriations Subcommittee)
HJ 474 Constitutional amendment (first reference); Board of Education; repeal; transfer powers and duties to the Superintendent of Public Instruction. (1/2 - Committee Referral Pending)

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.