GOVERNOR'S RECOMMENDATION

Line 13, enrolled, after of

insert

nationally recognized

Line 14, enrolled, after purpose of

insert

enhancing the quality of career and technical education and

Line 15, enrolled, after for

insert

elective

Line 63, enrolled, after examinations

strike

remainder of line 63 through line 70

insert

. No more than one such substitution may be allowed for the standard or advanced diploma.

Line 226, enrolled, after examinations

strike

remainder of line 226 through line 233

insert

. No more than one such substitution may be allowed for the standard or advanced diploma.

GOVERNOR'S VETO

Pursuant to Article V, § 6, of the Constitution of Virginia, I am vetoing Senate Bill 1056.

In 1995, Virginia embarked upon a path of educational reform with the objective of ensuring each student graduating with a Virginia diploma possesses minimum competence in the four basic academic areas of English, math, science and social studies. Each student needs to be competent in those four foundational subjects to adapt to dynamic social and economic throughout life and in order to assume his or her responsibilities as a citizen in out democracy. Employers need assurances that a Virginia diploma signifies competence in these core subjects, especially reading, writing and math, in order to hire high school graduates to fill the jobs of the 21^st century.

Toward this objective, currently, for Standard Diploma, a student must earn six verified credits (pass six SOL tests or substitutes) as follows: English (2) and four of his own choice. Beginning with the ninth grade class of 2004, the student will be required to earn six verified credits allocated as follows: English (2), math (1), social studies (1), science (1), and one of the student’s choice. To earn an Advanced Studies Diploma, a student must earn nine verified credits (pass nine SOL tests or substitute tests) as follows: English (2), math (2), history (2), science (2), and one of the student’s choice.

It has always been recognized that, in addition to learning the four core academic subjects, but not in its place, many students may choose to augment their liberal arts education with vocational and technical courses. Some of the students may even choose to obtain a national certification and/or state licensure in a specific vocational area of their choice, such as drafting, or cosmetology, or auto mechanics. The Standards of Learning reforms accommodate these choices.

As drafted, Senate Bill 1056 calls for substituting vocational and industry certification and licensure exams for Standards of Learning tests in core academic subjects such as English and Algebra. As such, the bill retreats from Virginia's commitment to every student, parent and employer that each student graduating with a Virginia diploma will possess minimum competence in the four basic academic areas of English, math, science and social studies.

Because the language of this bill is vague and does not differentiate between verified credits in core academic areas and verified credits in elective areas, I proposed amendments to clarify that vocational and industry certification tests could be substituted for the verified credit that is the student's choice but not core subjects such as reading, writing, math or social studies. That would have preserved the core liberal arts curriculum while encouraging more students to choose a vocational course to round out their education. Unfortunately, the Senate rejected these amendments.

For these reasons, I am returning Senate Bill 1056 without my signature.