Next week is the last full week before crossover. There is a
lot of maneuvering and behind the scenes activity to get all of the bills ready
to head over to the other body. We anticipate a very long week of committee
meetings and floor sessions next week. Your VEA lobby team will be here
fighting the good fight.
We will see the House and Senate budgets on February 5th.
There is a lot of talk and activity on teacher and support staff salaries. We
are being pulled into meetings with both sides of the aisle trying to figure
out what the state can do for SOQ funded positions. Some of the rumors are not
great. Throwing spare cash into a bucket and saying, “Here you go!” when the
spare cash won’t cover the full cost of a salary increase, and without any
requirement that school divisions actually get the cash to our school staff,
doesn’t get us where we need to be. We need to keep the pressure on for state
support for at least a 2% salary increase for all SOQ
positions. Contact your legislators, tell your stories. Take action as a cyber lobbyist.
There are some updates on some concerning bills. Senator
Stanley’s school discipline bills (SB995, 996, and 997) would put strict limits
on a school’s ability to suspend. The bills all were all sent back for a second
visit to subcommittee in an effort to gain compromise on the bill so that
school divisions would have some flexibility to keep classrooms and schools
safe. The bills were amended to limit long term suspensions to 90 days (current
language is 364 days) and to allow suspensions to go beyond a grading period.
The subcommittee also rethought the prohibition on suspensions in grades K-5 in
SB997 and amended that bill to limit the suspensions to 5 days in those grades.
Schools need resources to help support the student behaviors
that lead to suspensions. We need social workers, psychologists, Assistant
Principals, In School Suspension monitors, additional instructional aides, more
counselors, and more funding for alternative education programs and family support
programs. Without the proper resources in the buildings and in the community,
we do not serve all of our students well. The state should have an obligation
to support our schools in this important work. Ignoring the lack of resources
limits the fixes that should be available to change course on suspension rates
in Virginia.
The House versions of the same bills are all up this
afternoon. Delegate Bell’s HB1534, 1535, and 1536 are identical to the Senate
bills and we anticipate the bills will look the same after sub today.
Happy Friday everyone. We will be very busy next week.
