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2023 SESSION

23103616D
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 521
Offered January 11, 2023
Prefiled January 10, 2023
Requesting the Advisory Board on Teacher Education and Licensure to study the impact of the Commonwealth joining the Interstate Teacher Mobility Compact. Report.
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Patrons-- Sewell, Adams, D.M., Bagby, Bennett-Parker, Bourne, Clark, Glass, Guzman, Helmer, Hope, Jenkins, Kory, Maldonado, Mundon King, Plum, Price, Roem, Shin, Simon, Simonds and Subramanyam; Senators: Deeds and Locke
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Referred to Committee on Rules
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WHEREAS, the Commonwealth is experiencing an ongoing teacher shortage, with more teachers leaving the workforce in 2022 than newly licensed teachers entering it; and

WHEREAS, statewide, the number of new teaching licenses being issued has steadily decreased, dropping by 15 percent in the 2021–2022 school year; and

WHEREAS, recruiting and retaining teachers is crucial to ensuring high-quality education and sustaining and expanding educational opportunities for students in the Commonwealth; and

WHEREAS, recruiting and retaining teachers who are licensed in other states is one strategy that is likely to help address teacher shortages and strengthen the teacher pipeline in the Commonwealth; and

WHEREAS, teacher licensure requirements vary across several states, and such variations can serve as a barrier to the recruitment in the local school divisions of the Commonwealth of teachers who are licensed in other states; and

WHEREAS, The Council of State Governments, in partnership with the U.S. Department of Defense and the National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification and with input from various interested stakeholders, has drafted the Interstate Teacher Mobility Compact to support the mobility of licensed teachers by establishing reciprocity among states that join such compact, thereby reducing the barriers to teacher license portability and employment; and

WHEREAS, no states have yet joined such compact, but it is imperative for the Commonwealth to thoroughly and comprehensively review its provisions in order to determine whether membership would be beneficial; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the Advisory Board on Teacher Education and Licensure be requested to study the impact of the Commonwealth joining the Interstate Teacher Mobility Compact.

In conducting its study, the Advisory Board on Teacher Education and Licensure shall review each provision of the Interstate Teacher Mobility Compact in order to determine any benefits, detriments, or unintended consequences of joining the Interstate Teacher Mobility Compact and shall make a recommendation to the General Assembly regarding whether the Commonwealth should join such compact, including the full results of its review and a detailed explanation for its recommendation.

Technical assistance shall be provided to the Advisory Board on Teacher Education and Licensure by each local school board in the Commonwealth. All agencies of the Commonwealth shall provide assistance to the Advisory Board on Teacher Education and Licensure for this study, upon request.

The Advisory Board on Teacher Education and Licensure shall complete its meetings by November 30, 2023, and shall submit to the Governor and the General Assembly an executive summary and a report of its findings and recommendations for publication as a House or Senate document. The executive summary and report shall be submitted as provided in the procedures of the Division of Legislative Automated Systems for the processing of legislative documents and reports no later than the first day of the 2024 Regular Session of the General Assembly and shall be posted on the General Assembly's website.