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2005 SESSION

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Senate Committee on Education and Health

Chairman: H. Russell Potts, Jr.

Clerk: Jocelyn Lance
Date of Meeting: February 4, 2005
Time and Place: 8:00 a.m., Senate Room B, GAB

S.B. 767 School boards; increase of salaries for members in City of Salem.

Patron: Bell

School board salaries. Increases from $3,600 to $4,800 the maximum salary to be paid members of the Salem school board.

S.B. 931 Endowment funds; use by higher educational institutions.

Patron: O'Brien

Higher education endowment funds; supplementing salaries.  Clarifies that public institutions of higher education may use endowment funds to supplement faculty salaries and benefits.

Current law provides that the Commonwealth cannot consider the availability of private endowment moneys when determining its fiscal support for public colleges and universities.

Pursuant to various institutions' statutes, the governing boards are typically empowered to employ "all teachers, and fix their salaries..."

S.B. 948 No Child Left Behind Act; Board of Education to seek waiver.

Patron: Potts

No Child Left Behind; waiver applications.  Requires the Board of Education to file an application for a waiver from a specified accountability provision included in No Child Left Behind when requested, by resolution adopted in open meeting by any of the eight superintendents' regions. The superintendents' regions must review the provisions of NCLB and may request the filing of an application for a waiver.

S.B. 949 Teachers; licensure.

Patron: Potts

Teacher licensure by reciprocity.  Provides for teacher licensure by reciprocity for an individual who has completed a state-approved teacher training program through a regionally accredited four-year college or university and who has obtained a valid out-of-state license that is in force at the time the application for a Virginia license is made. The individual must establish a file in the Department of Education by submitting a complete application packet, which shall include official student transcripts. No professional teacher's assessment or service requirements shall be imposed for these licensed individuals.

Current Board of Education regulations (8 VAC 20-21-90) require a professional teacher's assessment (PRAXIS) for out-of-state applicants who (i) have completed a state-approved teacher training program through a regionally accredited four-year college or university, or (ii) hold a valid out-of-state teaching license in force at the time the license application is made. These persons must also provide student transcripts. 

S.B. 958 Standards of Quality; requires employment of speech-language pathologists.

Patron: Potts

Standards of Quality; speech-language pathologists.  Requires local school boards to employ speech-language pathologists in a manner to provide a ratio of one full-time speech-language pathologist for every 60 students. The bill also requires that these positions be supported through state funding.

S.B. 964 Substitute teachers; definition.

Patron: O'Brien

Substitute teachers.  Defines a long-term substitute as a teacher who is employed in the same position for more than 20 days.

Current Board of Education regulations provide that substitutes teachers "[b]e a minimum of 18 years of age (21 years of age preferred); [p]ossess good moral character; [h]ave earned a high school diploma or General Education Diploma (GED); and attend an orientation to school policies and procedures conducted by the local school division"(8 VAC 20-640-10).

Currently, Virginia school divisions typically define "long-term substitute" in employment policy.

The federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act directs states to ensure that, by the end of 2005-06, teachers in the core academic areas are "highly qualified." Ensuring accountability for highly qualified instructional personnel is a required annual "report card" from each state, detailing teacher qualifications and the percentage of classes not served by "highly qualified" teachers.

Pursuant to Title I, Part A, of the Act, schools must give each parent timely notice when their child has been assigned, or has been taught for four or more consecutive weeks, by a teacher who is not highly qualified (Section 1111(h)(6)(B)(ii)).

According to the U.S. Department of Education (No Child Left Behind:  A Toolkit for Teachers (updated 2004)), while "short-term substitute teachers do not need to meet the highly qualified teacher requirements under No Child Left Behind, it is strongly recommended that a long-term substitute teacher meet the requirements for a highly qualified teacher as defined in the law. In addition, as states and districts establish a definition for 'long-term substitute,' they should bear in mind that the law requires parent notification if a student has received instruction for four or more consecutive weeks by a teacher who is not highly qualified."

S.B. 981 Schools or day-care centers; noncustodial parent as an emergency contact.

Patron: O'Brien

Noncustodial parent as emergency contact.  Provides that, unless a court order has been issued to the contrary, the noncustodial parent of a student enrolled in a public school or day care center must be included, upon the request of such noncustodial parent, as an emergency contact for events occurring during school or day care activities.

S.B. 1006 Children in foster care; public schools shall provide free education.

Patron: Hanger

Educational protections for children in foster care.  Clarifies that the public schools in a school division shall be free to children in foster care living in that school division in the same manner as provided to homeless children and youth pursuant to the McKinney-Vento Act and state law.

S.B. 1045 Diplomas; guidelines for awarding.

Patron: Wagner

Diplomas; student-selected verified credits.  Directs the Board of Education to establish guidelines for local school boards, to be effective for the graduating class of 2007, for the award of verified credits, not to exceed two such credits per student, for passing scores on industry certifications and assessments approved by the Board of Education for substitution for the Standards of Learning assessments. Such guidelines shall be designed to ensure that students have acquired the knowledge and skills required to enter a technical or skilled trade upon graduation. School boards shall report annually to the Board of Education the number of industry certifications obtained and will include this number as a category on the school's achievement report card

Currently, the Standards of Accreditation (SOA) require the accumulation of a specific number of standard and verified units of credit for standard diplomas. The verified unit of credit is awarded upon passage of the relevant Standards of Learning (SOL) test (additional tests approved by the Board of Education), as well as the course (8 VAC 20-131-110 A, B). The Standard Diploma requires 22 credits, six of which must be verified units of credit, while the Advanced Studies Diploma requires 24 credits, with nine verified units. The SOA currently require verified units of credit in specific subjects, such as English, mathematics, science, history and social science. The Modified Standard Diploma is awarded to students with disabilities who are "unlikely to meet the credit requirements for a Standard Diploma" (8 VAC 20-131-50).

School accreditation is based on pass rates for the SOL assessments (8 VAC 20-131-300).

S.B. 1053 Higher educational institutions; intellectual property policies.

Patron: Wagner

Public institutions of higher education; intellectual property policies.  Establishes the circumstances pursuant to which public institutions of higher education are required or authorized to transfer or assign intellectual property that is developed through externally-sponsored research to the sponsor of the research.

S.B. 1136 No Child Left Behind Act; Board of Education to seek waiver.

Patron: Hanger

No Child Left Behind Act; Board of Education to seek waiver.  Directs the Board of Education to seek a waiver from compliance with those provisions of the federal No Child Left Behind Act that are duplicative of the Commonwealth's prior educational accountability system as set forth in the Standards of Quality, Standards of Learning, and Standards of Accreditation, or are lacking in cost effectiveness, and that already comply with the spirit and intent of the federal act.

S.B. 1250 Special education in public schools; medically fragile students entitled to services.

Patron: O'Brien

Medically fragile students; special education. Adds medically fragile students to those children with disabilities entitled to special education services in public schools.

The Board of Education shall promulgate regulations defining "medically fragile" students to include, at a minimum, those students with a medical condition that (i) has been diagnosed by a licensed physician; (ii) is unstable, pervasive, intermittent, chronic, progressive, or degenerative; and (iii) affects the student's ability to access effectively the general curriculum. The Board shall promulgate regulations to implement the provisions of this act to be effective within 280 days of its enactment.

S.B. 1251 Higher education; hiring and admission of military personnel.

Patron: O'Brien

Higher education; hiring and admission of military personnel. Requires Virginia's public institutions of higher education to include veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces who were honorably discharged or who are currently members in good standing in the active or inactive Reserves or National Guard as a duly recognized group in any affirmative action plan for (i) hiring as faculty or nonfaculty or (ii) admission as students. The measure also requires institutions to file annual reports on hiring and admission of veterans and military personnel.

S.B. 1262 Learning Technology, Office of; created within Council of Higher Education.

Patron: Potts

Higher education; Office of Learning Technology. Creates the Office of Learning Technology within the State Council of Higher Education to facilitate and coordinate the voluntary participation of public and private institutions of higher education in the Commonwealth that are accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools in technology-enriched learning initiatives.

The Office is empowered to (i) establish and administer agreements with public and private institutions of higher education in the Commonwealth and other entities to conduct studies examining the need for technology-enriched learning initiatives, including distance and distributed learning initiatives, for currently served populations and underserved constituencies; (ii) enhance student access to technology-enriched educational programs and opportunities; (iii) reduce unnecessary duplication in technology-enriched learning initiatives; (iv) assist in the development of standards for improving access to, training for, and efficiency in such learning initiatives; and (v) enter into contracts for related program development.

S.B. 1285 Teachers; salary to equal or surpass nat'l. average for those in public schools, annual evaluation.

Patron: Whipple

Teacher quality; evaluation and compensation.  Establishes as a policy of the Commonwealth that the average salary for Virginia public school teachers equals or surpasses the national average salary for public school teachers, and directs the Board of Education and the General Assembly to implement this policy in prescribing and revising the Standards of Quality.

The measure also requires annual evaluations for all teachers.

Board of Education guidelines would address these annual evaluations of instructional personnel and the review by the division superintendent or his designee of an unsatisfactory evaluation. The guidelines may provide for formal and informal evaluations in alternating years.

Under current law, probationary teachers are to be evaluated annually (§ 22.1-303). The Code also directs the Board of Education to develop criteria for use by division superintendents and principals for the evaluation of instructional personnel; these criteria can be found in the Board's "Guidelines for Uniform Performance Standards and Evaluation Criteria for Teachers, Administrators, and Superintendents."

S.B. 1290 Compulsory school attendance; children 5 yrs. of age on or before July 31 to be enrolled in school.

Patron: Hanger

Compulsory school attendance.  Provides that, unless a waiver applies, all children who will have reached their fifth birthday on or before July 31 of any school year and who have not passed their eighteenth birthday shall be enrolled in a public or private school or receive home instruction. Currently, compulsory school attendance is required for children who will have reached their fifth birthday on or before September 30 of any school year.

S.B. 1296 Shaken baby syndrome; requires nurse midwives and hospital to give information to maternity patient.

Patron: Wampler

Certain information on shaken baby syndrome required.  Requires information on shaken baby syndrome to be made available to maternity patients by nurse midwives and hospitals with maternity services.

S.B. 1310 William and Mary, College of; extending term of Rector, change in number of members of board.

Patron: Norment

College of William and Mary; rector.  Extends the term of the current rector of the College of William and Mary for one year, to June 30, 2006. The measure also authorizes the expansion of the 17-member board to 18 from July 1, 2005, to June 30, 2006.

Finally, the measure deletes obsolete language.

S.B. 1333 Children's group homes and residential facilities; summary suspension of licenses.

Patron: Martin

Summary suspension of licenses of certain children's group homes and residential facilities; penalty.  Authorizes the Commissioner of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services to issue an order of summary suspension of a license to operate a group home or residential facility for children, including homes or facilities licensed under core licensure regulations, in cases of immediate and substantial threat to the health, safety, and welfare of residents.