See if you
see a pattern here. Then they took up
the issue of A-F grading of schools.
Delegate Davis’s HB1313 and Delegate Orrock’s HB1566 were tabled and
Subcommittee Chairman Greason’s HB1672 became the vehicle for addressing the issue. Although
Greason was the sponsor of the A-F bill in 2013, this bill abolishes A-F (a VEA
agenda item) and calls on “the Board of Education in
consultation with the Standards of Learning Innovation Committee and no later
than July 1, 2016, to redesign the School Performance Report Card so that it is
more effective in communicating to parents and the public the status and
achievements of the public schools and local school divisions in the
Commonwealth and submit such design to the Chairmen of the House Committee on
Education and the Senate Committee on Education and Health for final approval.”
The worst moment of the day was when the committee reported Delegate
LaRock’s HB2238, a voucher bill. This
bill sends public dollars to “Parental Choice Education Savings Accounts” which
parents can then use to pay private, sectarian or nonsectarian, school
tuitions, tutoring, “educational therapies,” online learning programs, and other educational related expenses. The disabled (160,000), foster children
(5,000), and children of active duty military (75,403) are eligible to
participate. The amount of funding would
vary widely – it is “90 percent of the per pupil state funds appropriated for
public school purposes and apportioned to the school divisions in which the
qualified student resides.” The bill was
brought to Virginia by the Heritage Foundation, based on legislation in FL and
AZ, and I am not sure that it anticipates how school funding works in Virginia. A student in Highland County would have $7,477 deposited in his account, while a student in Goochland would have $2,397 deposited.
In part, I testified that we do not need to be creating a new
entitlement in Virginia when we cannot afford to fund existing obligations such
as public education. I also urged the subcommittee
to suggest that the bill go the House Appropriations Committee so that the
fiscal impact of the bill could be considered.
No motion was made when Delegate LaRock finished his presentation. I was hoping it would die. Chairman Greason noted that there was no
montion, Delegate LeMunyon moved that the bill be reported, Delegate Dickie
Bell seconded the motion and the vote was 3-2 to report.
YEAS--Greason, Bell, Richard P., LeMunyon--3.
NAYS--Leftwich, Bulova--2.
ABSTENTIONS--0.
NOT VOTING--Yancey, Tyler--2.
The best legislative action of the day was the
reporting of Senator Colgan’s SB1022 by the Senate Finance Committee. This bill provides
for an increase, beginning July 1, 2015, of the monthly retirement allowance
payable to any person who retired with at least 15 years of creditable service before
January 1, 1990, under the Virginia Retirement System or the State Police
Officers' Retirement System. The
increase would be $4 times the number of years of service. Both VEA and VRTA supported the bill.