The VEA initiated bill, HB2332, carried and championed by
Delegate Roslyn Tyler passed the Senate today 40-0, and was engrossed and sent
to the Governor’s desk to sign! The bill passed the House 100-0 earlier in
session. In case you think this was a no-brainer bill, the VEA has tried many
sessions, and in many ways, to get this type of bill through the General
Assembly, and we have not been successful. Here is the language in the bill:
It is a goal of the Commonwealth that its public school teachers be
compensated at a rate that is competitive with the national average teacher
salary in order to attract and keep highly qualified teachers. As used in this
section, "competitive" means, at a minimum, at or above the national
average teacher salary. The Director of Human Resource Management shall conduct
a biennial review of the compensation of teachers and other occupations
requiring similar education and training and shall consider the Commonwealth's
compensation for teachers relative to member states in the Southern Regional
Education Board. The results of these reviews shall be reported to the Governor,
the General Assembly, and the Board of Education by June 1 of each odd-numbered
year.
This is big news for us and a big victory to our organizing
efforts on salary. This bill doesn’t fix anything, but it gives us leverage. It
also forces Virginia to take a hard look at where we stand as they review their
efforts on compensation.
Today the Senate also passed a Resolution commending VEA and
NEA on the 20th Anniversary of Read Across America. And in more good
news, the Senate passed by HB2251, the Defined Contribution VRS plan, today.
Our cyber lobbyists have put the pressure on the Senate to kill that bad bill.
Here’s hoping they just keep passing it by until session ends. That kills the
bill. So, overall, a good day.
Please don’t think, though, that public education is sailing
through this session. The Senate and House will each take up Charter School
bills on Monday. Delegate Landes’ HB2342 will be on the Senate floor Monday and
SB1283 from Senator Obenshain, will be on the House floor. We have an active
cyber lobbyist alert on those bills. Urge you legislators to vote NO. Click on the
link below to send an email to your member of the House and Senate.
HB1605, Delegate LaRock’s voucher bill will also be on the
Senate floor on Monday.
Next week is the last week of this short session. Budget
conferees are working well together and, all reports indicate that Teacher
Salary will be included. The devil will be in the details. Next week we will
know what happens with some really big bills including the optional defined
contribution retirement plan, vouchers, charters, and long-term suspension bills.
As is usually the case, big public school bills wait until the last week, and
there is always nail biting and heartburn involved.
