The ERA passed the Virginia House of Delegates today! On a
vote of 59-41, Virginia is headed to becoming the 38th state to
ratify the ERA. Announcing passage, the Speaker of the House, the first woman
to ever be Speaker in Virginia’s 401-year history, announced, “For all the
women of the Commonwealth and for all the women here today, the motion passes!”
It was a goose-bump moment for sure, and the House gallery was packed with
advocates who’d fought for this for so long. Actual tally vote was not yet
available when this was written, but we’ll post that tomorrow. If you don’t’
think election matter, this should prove that they do.
The House Education Committee met this morning to hear an
update from Dr. James Lane, the State Superintendent of Instruction. The House
Education Chair, Delegate Roslyn Tyler, also names her subcommittees, which is
very important at the General Assembly. Subcommittees are where all vetting of
bills happens—it’s where they get an extensive hearing. In the House, bills can
move on or die on a subcommittee vote. Interestingly, in the Senate even bills
that “die” in subcommittee all come to the full committee, but with a
recommendation to kill them. The House gives more power to the subcommittees.
In a great piece of news, Delegate Lamont Bagby, a very good
friend to the VEA and to our public schools, and a former public school teacher
and administrator, will chair the subcommittee on PK-12. VEA member and
classroom teacher Delegate Schuyler VanValkenburg will chair the subcommittee
that will review all bills dealing with the Standards of Learning (SOLs) and
the Standards of Quality (SOQs). So, we will have a current classroom
teacher leading the review of all bills that effect the SOLs. What a concept,
right??!! The final subcommittee is Post-Secondary and Higher Education, which
will be chaired by Delegate Mark Keam. The VEA will have some bills in that
committee as we continue to work though dual enrollment issues, student loan
and student debt, and teacher education programs. Delegate Keam will be an
outstanding chair for that sub.
This afternoon the House Finance Committee heard some
amazing presentations on school funding from some real experts. You can learnmore about them at the committee web site.
Presentations include a great overview of K-12 funding from
Kent Dickie, State Superintendent of Budget; an analysis of the current
revenues from Jim Regimbal, Fiscal Analyst with First Cities; a review of the equity
challenges of the current funding methodology from Chris Duncombe, Policy
Analyst from The Commonwealth Institute; and finally a review of the
implications of the state funding methodology on local school divisions from
Michael Malloy, Director of Government Relations, Fairfax County Public
Schools. I encourage you to take a look at all these presentations for a summary
of the challenges we face when we look at fully funding the needs of all our
students.
A VEA-initiated bill, SB167, will be heard tomorrow in the
Senate Education and Health Subcommittee. This proposes removing the use of
only one evaluation in the definition of incompetence. Incompetence is one of
the many reasons a teacher can be dismissed. An unsatisfactory evaluation
should lead to support and professional development. It should not lead to a
teacher being labeled “incompetent” and fired from a job. We feel very good
that we’ll get this bill passed. More to come tomorrow.
