The 2006 General Assembly is now in session
Week 3 Update—January 27, 2007
The 2006 General Assembly session began Wednesday, January 11, 2006. The session runs 60 days and is scheduled to end on March 11, 2006. “Cross-over day,” the last day for each house to act on its own bills, is February 14. House and Senate versions of the two-year budget for fiscal years 2007 and 2008 will be released on February 19.
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 meets 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 (Meetings)
New budget to be shaped
Budget amendments submitted by legislators were made available on Wednesday, and Governor Kaine also submitted a handful of amendments as well. Among the governor’s amendments is one proposal to increase teacher salaries by an additional 1% on top of the 3% payraise included in the introduced budget, at an additional two-year state cost of $39.5 million.
Among the proposals submitted by legislators are the following:
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$203 million for the four standards endorsed by the Board of Education (BOE) in 2004 but not funded in the proposed budget (principals, assistant principals, reading specialists, speech language pathologists)
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$102 million to fund a Virginia Retirement System (VRS) teacher rate of 11.18% (VRS Board-certified) rather than 9.2% (introduced budget)
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$426 million for the Virginia Preschool Initiative
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$55 million to restore previously reduced school construction grant funds
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Nearly $45 million for placing librarians and library clerks in schools
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$150,000 to double the amount of funding available for teachers who have attained National Board for Professional Teaching Standards certification
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$160,000 to continue the Commission on Civics Education
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Several amendments to increase the per student allocation for the at-risk program, as well as to increase the amount of money available for at-risk payments
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Several amendments to provide additional dollars for the school breakfast incentive program.
Recall that the introduced budget for the next biennium contains $1.5 billion more for public education over the two-year period, much of which ($942 million) is to update state costs of the Standards of Quality (SOQ).
Click here for additional information about Governor Warner's proposed education budget for 2006-2008 (Budget Bill)
Education Legislation
The House Education Committee has approved measures to:
1) direct guidelines on high school baccalaureate ceremonies held by school divisions;
2) authorize the BOE to initiate a review of any alleged violation of test security regulations by a local school board or school board employee;
3) require that any family life education course that discusses sexual intercourse emphasize that abstinence is the accepted norm and the only guarantee against unwanted pregnancy;
4) allow a parent who holds a high school diploma, rather than a baccalaureate degree, to provide home instruction to their children; and
5) allow local school boards to provide transportation for students to and from nonpublic schools.
The committee defeated a bill to prohibit denying recess to students for disciplinary reasons, unless approved by the parent.
The Senate Education and Health Committee has approved bills to prohibit school fire drills during BOE-required testing, and to incorporate the concept of chronic tardiness into the reporting, recordkeeping, and enforcement provisions of the compulsory school attendance law.
Both committees have approved bills to allow T. C. Williams High School in Alexandria to open prior to Labor Day for the coming school year, due to renovation work being done on the campus.
Here are a few education-related study resolutions that have been submitted:
HJR 25 Establishes a joint subcommittee to study science, math and technology education at the elementary, secondary, and undergraduate levels
HJR 130 Requests the Department of Education (DOE) to collect data and information on the high school dropout and graduation rates
HJR 209 Requests the DOE to include standards on animal safety and the humane treatment of animals in future revisions of the Standards of Learning (SOL)
SJR 105 Requests the BOE to increasing the number of questions on the history and social studies SOL that relate to instruction pertaining to minority persons
SJR 124 Directs the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) to study fiscal autonomy for elected school boards
SJR 171 Requesting the BOE to conduct a survey of family life education programs in the state’s public schools
Please contact CEPI if you have any questions or need additional information about the 2006 General Assembly.
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