What seemed impossible now seems sure. Senator Ben Chafin's SB364 gained unanimous passage
of a bill which could lead to a Statewide Health Insurance option for Virginia’s
school divisions and local governments.
VEA initiated SB364 first cleared the Compensation and Retirement
Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee on a unanimous vote. This subcommittee had killed similar measures
year after year. Just minutes later, it
cleared full committee on another unanimous vote. The bill new heads to the House floor on the
uncontested calendar.
Once again Governor McAuliffe vetoed the Tebow bill,
Delegate Rob Bell’s HB131. The Governor’s veto message read in part as follows:
Allowing
home-schooled students to participate in interscholastic competitions would
disrupt the level playing field Virginia's public schools have developed over
the past century. For example, VHSL rules state that a student must pass five
subjects or the equivalent in the previous semester, and be enrolled in five
subjects or the equivalent offered for credit toward graduation, in order to
participate in the league's events. While the bill provides that home-schooled
students must demonstrate evidence of progress in order to participate in
interscholastic activities, the unique nature of their educational situation
precludes conformity to the same standards.
Virginia's public schools provide a complete package of
scholastic offerings and access to extracurricular activities. Participation in
athletic and academic competitions is a privilege for students who satisfy
eligibility requirements. Opening participation in those competitions to
individuals who are not required to satisfy the same criteria upends Virginia's
extracurricular framework and codifies academic inequality in interscholastic
competition.
The House failed to override the veto on a 57-Y 42-N vote.
HB8, the virtual school bill, reported from the Senate
Finance Committee (SFC) 10-Y 4-N this morning, but not before Senator Emmett
Hanger amended the bill. The amendments
delay implementation until 2017-18, and cap enrollment at 5,000.
Another amendment calls on the Department of Education (DOE)
to do what VEA has sought for decades: “develop a proposed methodology for
estimating the cost of fully online programs.”
HB8 now heads to the Senate floor where passage seems a sure
thing. Let's hope for another veto!
HB389, Delegate LaRock’s voucher bill, was also reported. The vote was 9-Y 5-N. However, this bill, too, was amended thanks
to Senator Hanger. The amendment reads, “That
the provisions of this act shall not become effective unless reenacted by the
2017 Session of the General Assembly.”
Even after the amendment the vote reflected bipartisan opposition. The bill now heads for the Senate floor where
we hope to see it fail.
