Updated Friday January 20, 2006

The 2004 General Assembly is now in session

Week 3 Update—January 30, 2004

“Cross-over day,” the last day for each house to act on its own bills, is February 17. House and Senate versions of the two-year budget for fiscal years 2005 and 2006 will be released on February 22.  

The House Education Committee is scheduled to meet on Mondays at 9:00 a.m. in House Room C and Wednesdays at 8:30 a.m. in the Appropriations Room.  The Senate Education and Health Committee will meet on Thursdays at 9:00 a.m. in Senate Room B.  Sub-committees will meet periodically throughout the session. Click here for a schedule of weekly meetings (http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?021+oth+MTG

The Budget

Legislators requested hundreds of amendments to the introduced budget totaling millions of dollars. Approximately 50 education-related amendments were submitted in the House, while about 30 were requested by senators.

Among the proposals submitted include a pair of $614 million amendments that would fund the Board of Education’s initiatives approved last summer. Those recommendations proposed additional state funding for principals and assistant principals, elementary resource teachers in music, art and physical education, speech language pathologists, reading specialists, teacher planning time and technology resource and instructional specialists. A separate amendment proposes $148 million for funding elementary school resource teachers.

Concerning the November 2001 JLARC recommendations, one amendment proposes to complete the 100% restoration of the administrative personnel costs dropped from SOQ calculations ten years ago (thus far, the General Assembly has restored 72% of the state share). An $837 million amendment would fully fund all the recommendations contained in Tier I of the JLARC recommendations. Another amendment proposes restoration of the state non-personal technology costs that were deleted in the introduced budget.

Funds also are requested for a five percent teacher salary increase and to bring teacher salaries to the national average. Several amendments suggest adjusting the composite index calculation, which would necessitate the need for additional state dollars. Amendments also request $3 million to increase funding for regional alternative education programs (for expelled or suspended students), to partially or fully restore funding for school construction grants, for Project Discovery and for school resource officers.  A language amendment would transfer money currently in the Student Achievement Grant program (enacted last year) to basic aid.

Again, the House Appropriations and Senate Finance Committees face a February 22 deadline for releasing their versions of the budget.

Click here for additional information about Governor Warner's proposed education budget for 2004-2006, as summarized by money committee staff  (http://leg2.state.va.us/MoneyWeb.NSF/sb2004 )

Legislation:

            All bills in the House Education Committee that proposed to alter the education funding formula will be held in the committee, with no action on them expected this year.

The Committee has approved the following legislation:

HB 396, which provides for the Department of Education (DOE) to conduct efficiency reviews in school divisions. Such reviews would examine noninstructional expenditures and identify opportunities to improve operational efficiencies. The introduced budget includes $2.5 million in FY05 to conduct 15 reviews, and $3.3 million in FY06 to conduct 20 reviews (this bill has been sent to the House Appropriations Committee).

HB 573, which directs the Board of Education (BOE) to require passage of the School Leader's Licensure Assessment (SLLA) as a condition of initial licensure for principals, effective July 1, 2005. This measure, a recommendation of the HJR 20/SJR 58 Commission to Review, Study and Reform Educational Leadership, was unanimously approved.

HB 575, which allows the BOE to waive the requirement that school divisions provide additional teaching days to compensate for school closings due to a declared state of emergency.

HB 576, which authorizes school divisions to employ “turnaround specialists” to assist failing schools, and to provide enhanced retirement benefits for such personnel. This bill, which has been sent to the House Appropriations Committee, represents an incentive to put highly-trained specialists in failing schools to help turn them around and achieve success.

HB 1014, which contains numerous revisions to the Standards of Quality as proposed by the BOE (see budget section above); a second enactment clause states that amendments requiring additional state funding (such as increasing the number of principals) will not take effect unless funded in the budget. The Senate Education and Health Committee also approved its version of the legislation, SB 476. Both measures have been referred to their respective money committees.

HB 1294, which modifies the current school corrective action plan process within the SOQ to authorize the BOE to require an academic review of schools that have not achieved full accreditation and to pursue circuit court enforcement of the corrective action plan when the school division fails to develop or implement it. This bill was unanimously approved.

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