V
irginia
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apitol
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onnections
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pring
2013
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State funding of public education has consistently decreased over
the last several years, putting increased pressure on localities. “It is
one thing to fairly and realistically address budget shortfalls. It is
quite another to balance the state’s budget by ignoring any realistic
relationship between state funding and the actual local costs of
providing an education,” Lacy said.
Another issue to be addressed is the “King’s Dominion Law.”
Haney said that the VSBA will seek a repeal of the law, which
mandates that each local school board must start school after Labor
Day unless it has obtained a waiver from the Board of Education. A
key argument behind pursuing the repeal is that students from divisions
without waivers are at a disadvantage in International Baccalaureate,
Advanced Placement, and Standards of Learning testing, because they
are receiving less pre-test instruction time than students in Virginia
and the nation who start school prior to Labor Day.
Leaders, Advocates, and Supporters
VSBA leadership is optimistic about the future and looks forward
to continued dialogue about ways to improve and enhance public
education. Citizen involvement is the key toVirginia’s success, Coyle
said. “We must all work together as leaders, advocates, and supporters
of public education. Our educational system is what will define the
future of our communities, our state, and our nation,” she said.
For the Virginia School Boards Association (VSBA), advocacy
is a year-round process that doesn’t end when the General Assembly
adjourns. The VSBA recently held a press conference addressing the
impact new legislation will have on the future of public education in
Virginia, and to outline future legislative priorities.
“Education was a major focus of this year’s General Assembly
session, and we plan to keep education a priority going into this fall’s
elections,” said Barbara Coyle, executive director of the VSBA.
Two of the most widely discussed topics during the 2013 General
Assembly session were the A-F School Report Card rating system
and the Opportunity Education Institution (OEI). Members of the
VSBA said that there have been concerns with both.
A-F School Report Cards
Each school in Virginia will now receive a single A to F letter
grade, with a goal of making school performance more clear and easy
to communicate. “An A through F system will convert robust and
detailed information into a simplistic grade that will not provide a full
picture of school status and progress,” said Juandiego Wade, VSBA
board of directors member and federal relations chair.
TheVSBA points out that detailed school and division report cards
are already available on the Virginia Department of Education web
site, which include data on school performance, teacher experience
and education, school enrollment and composition, and more.
Opportunity Education Institution (OEI)
The OEI is a state-run school board that will take over under-
performing schools. The VSBA believes that the OEI disregards and
duplicates turnaround efforts underway in struggling schools. It also
creates another layer of bureaucracy, and local citizens, who have
funded the community’s schools through their local taxes, have no
direct representation or role on the appointed takeover board.
Perhaps the greatest concern is the question of constitutionality.
Roy Boyles, VSBA president, said that the state constitution assigns
the responsibility of supervising schools to local school boards,
not a state-run board. The VSBA is investigating to determine if
establishment of the OEI is a violation of the Virginia Constitution.
Despite concerns about A-F School Report Cards and the OEI,
VSBA leadership is optimistic about other legislation that is having
a positive impact on public education. In particular, Standards of
Quality Staffing Provisions legislation granted flexibility to school
boards to assign librarians, guidance counselors, and school based
clerical personnel to schools in the division with the greatest need.
Another positive outcome was the Teacher Fairness Act, which
streamlines the grievance process for teachers who are not succeeding
and provides divisions with flexibility to give provisional teachers
more time to progress. Boyles was particularly pleased because the
passing of this legislation was an example of collaborative effort
between political leaders and education stakeholders.
Already Looking to the Future
VSBA Lobbyists Pat Lacy and Stacy Haney outlined the
VSBA’s future legislative plans and priorities. “The Virginia School
Boards Association intends to ask the General Assembly to direct
the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission to conduct a
comprehensive review of the funding of the Standards of Quality,”
Lacy said. “It has been over a decade since the funding of the SOQ’s
has been studied. It is time to conduct such a study and to rectify
the funding imbalance that currently exists in the funding of public
education in Virginia.”
Educational Advocacy a Focus for State Association
The Virginia School Board Association reflects on legislation,
outlines future plans
By Peter J. Sengenberger
For more information scan this
Quick Response Code to visit
the Virginia School Boards
Association website.
VSBA Executive Director Barbara J. Coyle.
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