This was a session of
substantial success in advancing the VEA agenda.
Let me first address
advancing the critical issue of funding our public schools which serve 94% of
Virginia’s students. They are Virginia’s
future.
Governor McAuliffe’s
introduced budget invested $864 million in additional funds for our schools,
setting a high bar for the General Assembly.
The conference report which passed both chambers on March 11, includes a
$892.3 million dollar increase in direct aid for public education.
This is significant
progress, and as you can see from the chart on the screen, progress was made on
recouping funds lost during the Great Recession.
On the school funding
front we can celebrate success with the realization that we have far to
go. And reaching the goal of making up
for lost ground will still leave Virginia with a low ranking in state support
for public education.
In 2012 the General
Assembly passed legislation including a stair-step approach to full funding of
the VRS Board’s certified contribution rate.
This is extremely important, as full funding will reduce the unfunded
liability and reduce the perceived need to reduce pension benefits.
The General Assembly
is not only keeping its promise in this regard, the teacher fund will be fully
funded in July 2017, one year ahead of schedule. This will be the first time the Board
Certified Rate has been funded since 2001.
VEA commends the
General Assembly for achieving the full funding goal in this biennium.
The introduced budget
provided no state incentive funds to provide salary increases for next school
year. We made gaining first year funding
a top priority. Delegate Yost and Senators
Chafin and Sturtevant proposed amendments to provide first year funding, and
with the help of Senators Howell and Newman, the Senate included first year
funding in their budget. You went to
work with messages to the budget conferees, and while we fell short of our
initial salary goal, for only the third time since 2008, we did gain some
funding for the state share of a salary increase for teachers and support
personnel. Something is better than
nothing, but this meager increase will not put Virginia in a position to
attract and retain the high quality instructional personnel in this time of
teacher shortages.
In VEA’s continued
efforts to protect the confidentiality of teacher performance indicators, we
have repeatedly sought the help and advice of
Delegate Jim LeMunyon.
Some of you will
remember his HB1889 in the 2013 session.
This year he sponsored HB524. which preserves the confidentiality of
teacher performance data.
Under Jim’s able
patronage, HB524 passed the House 98 to 0, and passed the Senate 38 to 0.
We deeply appreciate
Senator Norment’s patronage of SB564, which preserves the confidentiality of
teacher licensure and re-licensure applications.
Those who know
Senator Norment know him to be fiercely combative, but that is balanced by his
thoughtfulness and eloquence. He is a
Senator’s Senator, and is deeply respected by all members of the General
Assembly. He also possesses a deep sense
of fairness, and that is why he was the perfect sponsor for this bill.
SB564 sailed through
the Senate, 40-0, and passed the House 93-3.
Sometimes it pays to have the right sponsor.
In 2007 the late
Senator Yvonne B. Miller and Senator Norment, at VEA’s request, successfully
sponsored resolution (SJ372) to study the feasibility of a state-wide health
insurance experience pool for educators and local government employees.” AND we’ve been fighting for it ever since.
This year Senators
Chafin, Vogel, and Delegate Kilgore led the charge for us on this issue. It was Senator Chafin’s SB364 which proved to
be the vehicle for final passage of a bill establishing the framework for a
state-wide pool.
For VEA this is a
major legislative accomplishment, and a lesson in the value of persistence – we
worked it for a decade!
As the 2016
Legislative Session began, it was assumed that the charter school
constitutional amendmet would pass.
Perhaps, they underestimated VEA and our partners in this battle, VSBA
and VASS.
No battle was harder
fought in the 2016 session than our successful efforts to defeat the charter
school constitutional amendment. We owe
deep thanks to the Virginia School Board Association and the Virginia
Association of School Superintendents, who were with us every step of the way
in this battle.
We thank Governor
McAuliffe for vetoing two measures, which passed despite our best efforts.
HB8 was a problematic
virtual school bill which will open Virginia to corporate virtual providers. In
other states such schools have resulted in low graduation rates, poor academic
performance, and high dropout rates.
HB389 was a special
education voucher bill which requires no review of student progress, as is
required by IDEA, and there are no due-process provisions for parents if
progress is not being made, as is required by IDEA. The bill contains no accountability for the
quality of instruction provided and the use of the funds is wide open.
The inclusion of
sectarian schools also raises a serious constitutional question.
According to multiple
studies analyzing voucher programs, students offered vouchers do not perform
better than their public school peers. Indeed, public school students have actually
been found to outperform private school students when test scores are weighted
to reflect socioeconomic level, race, and disability.
We thank Governor
McAuliffe for vetoing both of these bills.
The 2016 Session
established a commission and two committees which will require our
participation.
It is worth noting
that VEA is the only teacher group recognized by the Speaker to serve on the
Pension Commission, and the only teacher group named by the Chairman of the
House Education Committee to participate in the study of the future of public
elementary and secondary education in the Commonwealth. Our voice is a critical one as policy is
developed.
The
battle continues, but as the dust clears on the 2016 General Assembly it is
clear that VEA had a most successful session.