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1999 SESSION

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993839666
SENATE BILL NO. 1307 Offered January 21, 1999 A BILL to amend and reenact § 22.1-298 of the Code of Virginia, relating to teachers of the blind and visually impaired. ---------- Patrons-- Hanger; Delegate: Christian ---------- Referred to Committee on Education and Health ----------

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That § 22.1-298 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:

§ 22.1-298. Regulations governing licensure.

A. The Board of Education shall, by regulation, prescribe the requirements for licensure of teachers. Regardless of the authority of any other agency of the Commonwealth to approve educational programs, only the Board of Education shall have the authority to license teachers to be regularly employed by school boards, including those teachers employed to provide nursing education.

B. Such regulations shall include a requirement that:

1. A requirement that every Every teacher seeking initial licensure take a professional teacher's examination prescribed by the Board;.

2. A requirement that persons Persons seeking licensure on and after July 1, 2000, complete study in attention deficit disorder and gifted education, including the use of multiple criteria to identify gifted students;.

3. Persons seeking initial licensure on and after July 1, 2002, to have completed complete study in, among other things, (i) methods of improving communication between schools and families; (ii) ways of increasing family involvement in student learning at home and in school; and (iii) the Standards of Learning.

4. A requirement that, on and after July 1, 2000, persons Persons seeking licensure with endorsements as teachers of the blind and visually impaired on and after July 1, 2000, demonstrate minimum proficiency in reading and writing Braille; and.

C. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, the Board may provide for the issuance of a provisional license, valid for a period not to exceed three years, to any person who does not meet the requirements of this section or any other requirement for licensure imposed by law.

D. The Board's licensure regulations shall also require that licensure for superintendents and principals, on and after July 1, 2000, be contingent upon acquiring the skills established in the Board's leadership standards.

E. Persons seeking initial licensure who graduate from Virginia institutions of higher education shall, on and after July 1, 2002, only be licensed as instructional personnel by the Board of Education if the endorsement areas offered at such institutions have been assessed by a national accrediting agency or by a state approval process, with final accreditation by the Board of Education.