Top Legislation - View All
Latest Action: 02/12/2008 - Left in Education Bill Text
Require 65% of each education dollar be spentin the classroom. Requires each local school divisionto allocate 65% of its operating budget to instructional spending.Local school boards must report annually to the Board of Educationthe percentage of their operating budgets allocated to instructionalspending. Any school division that fails to meet the 65 percent requirementmust present a plan to the Board of Education to increase instructionalspending by 0.5% in the following year. School divisions failing tosubmit such a plan must be audited by the Auditor of Public Accountswho in turn must submit recommendations to the Board including instructionon how such school divisions can increase their instructional spendingto 65%. In addition, the Board must annually report to the SenateCommittee on Finance and the House Committee on Appropriations theamount of spending allocated by the local school divisions to instructionalspending based on the reports submitted annually by the local schoolboards.
Latest Action: 02/12/2008 - Left in Appropriations Bill Text
Standards of Quality; average teacher salary. Requiresthat the state average teacher salary not be less than the annual nationalaverage teacher salary in order to ensure high-quality instructional personnelin the public schools.
Latest Action: 02/28/2008 - Signed by President Bill Text
Summary as passed House: Advanced technical diploma. Clarifies thediplomas available to students who complete both the requirementsfor an advanced studies diploma and a concentration in career andtechnical education.
Latest Action: 02/12/2008 - Left in Education Bill Text
Public schools; grade placement test. Requires the Boardof Education to develop or approve a standardized test to be used to determinethe appropriate grade placement for a student transferring from a privateschool to a public school.
Latest Action: 02/12/2008 - Left in Appropriations Bill Text
Education; computation of composite index. Requiresthe General Assembly to adjust the state share of providing an educationalprogram meeting the Standards of Quality, for all localities that have adopteda land-use plan. The state share for such localities will be increased by anamount equivalent to the state share if a real property tax value indicator oflocal wealth were used that incorporates the land-use assessment value forthose properties within a land-use plan.
Latest Action: 02/12/2008 - Left in Militia, Police and Public Safety Bill Text
Definition of "school" for the purposes ofprohibiting weapons on school grounds. Defines "school" for thepurposes of prohibiting weapons on school grounds as any public school fromkindergarten through grade 12 operated under the authority of any localitywithin the Commonwealth, or any private or religious school that offersinstruction at any level or grade from kindergarten through grade 12. Currentlythe definition is limited to any elementary, middle, or secondary school.
Latest Action: 03/03/2008 - Signed by President Bill Text
Summary as passed House: Textbook purchasing contracts. Permits local schoolboards to enter into contracts with publishers for the purchase of textbooks.The bill expands the definition of textbook to include print and electronicmedia. The bill reorganizes the textbook purchasing process and repealsseveral sections of outdated code. Also provides that if consumable materialsare sold to students, the local school board must provide those materials at areduced price, or free of charge, to students who are unable to afford them.This bill is identical to SB 356 (Watkins).
Latest Action: 02/28/2008 - Signed by President Bill Text
Local governing bodies and local school boards. Requires local governing bodies and local school boards to annuallypublish their approved budgets online. If there is no local governmentwebsite or local school board website, the budgets must be availablein hard copy.
Latest Action: 02/12/2008 - Left in Education Bill Text
Local school boards; safety hotline established.Directs local school boards to establish a division safety hotline forstudents, parents, or school personnel to anonymously report specific threatsof imminent violence or other suspicious or criminal conduct.
Latest Action: 02/12/2008 - Left in Education Bill Text
Automatic admission to institutions of higher education.Directs the governing boards of public institutions of higher education toprovide for the automatic acceptance of those resident students applying foradmission who: (i) have graduated from a public or private high school inVirginia with a grade point average in the top 10 percent of such student'sgraduating class; and (ii) have completed 320 hours of community service in aprogram approved by the Secretary of Education, in the year preceding theacademic year for which the student is seeking admission.
|
Latest Legislation - View All
Latest Action: 01/25/2008 - Incorporated by Rules by voice vote Bill Text
Study; Dedicated revenue stream for teacher salaries.Establishes a joint subcommittee to study the feasibility of creating adedicated revenue stream for teacher salaries. In conducting its study, thejoint subcommittee shall examine the salary levels of beginning and veteranteachers in Virginia, review methods and initiatives employed by other statesto increase and maintain competitive teacher salaries, and evaluate thefeasibility of and identify appropriate sources for creating a dedicatedrevenue stream to fund teacher salaries. The joint subcommittee must report itsfindings and recommendations to the 2009 Session of the General Assembly. Thisresolution has been incorporated into SJR 55.
Latest Action: 03/03/2008 - Left in Rules Bill TextStudy; early reading proficiency and comprehension; report.Establishes a joint subcommittee to study ways to promote and ensure earlyreading proficiency and comprehension among third graders in public schools. Inconducting its study, the joint subcommittee shall (i) determine the number ofthird graders who read at grade level; (ii) rank the school divisions accordingto the number of third graders who passed the most recent third grade readingtest; (iii) identify best practices utilized by school divisions with thehighest percentage of third graders who read at grade level; (iv) examine thefindings and recommendations of state and national studies pertaining to theefficacy of early reading proficiency and comprehension and its relationship toacademic success, and recommend those recommendations appropriate forimplementation in Virginia; and (v) determine strategies to increase the numberof third graders who pass the third grade reading test and ways to improve andsustain the early reading [...] show full description
Latest Action: 03/03/2008 - Left in Rules Bill Text
Summary as passed Senate: Study; teacher shortage; report. Establishes a joint subcommitteeto study the teacher shortage in the Commonwealth. In conducting its study, thejoint subcommittee shall review current teacher certification and licensurerequirements as well as teacher preparation programs in Virginia; examine theeffectiveness of existing programs designed to recruit and retain teachers,including Teach for America, and other alternative certification routes;identify barriers to teaching as a career choice and possible solutions;evaluate other states' initiatives aimed at teacher recruitment and retention;and identify incentives for bringing out-of-state teachers to Virginia. Thisresolution incorporates SJR 79.
Latest Action: 01/31/2008 - Passed by indefinitely in Education and Health Bill Text
Legal presence verification; public schools and highereducation. Requires all public schools to verify each child's legalpresence, and, if appropriate, to develop a plan to assist the child inattaining legal presence, or to take other appropriate action as determined bythe locality. Specifies that no child shall be denied admission to a publicschool for failure to provide evidence of legal presence. Also requires publicinstitutions of higher education to require proof of legal presence prior toenrollment.
Latest Action: 03/04/2008 - Enrolled Bill Text
Summary as passed Senate: Higher education; high school records. Allowseach public and private institution of higher education to requestfrom its students complete student records, including any mental healthrecords held by the originating school. These records shall be keptconfidential as required by state and federal law, including the FamilyEducational Rights and Privacy Act, 20 U.S.C. § 1232g.
Latest Action: 04/23/2008 - Senate concurred in Governor's recommendation Bill Text
Summary as passed: Licensure of group homes and residential facilities forchildren. Eliminates the interdepartmental regulation of children'sresidential facilities and group homes, and provides that the Departments ofMental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services, SocialServices, and Juvenile Justice shall regulate and license children'sresidential facilities and group homes for which they are the primary licensingagency. This bill provides that each licensing agency shall conduct backgroundchecks of persons working or volunteering at children's residential facilitiesand group homes. This bill further provides that the Department of Education shallbe the sole entity responsible for licensure of educational programs inchildren's residential facilities and group homes.
Latest Action: 02/25/2008 - Signed by President Bill Text
Summary as passed Senate: Career and technical education; industry certification.Requires the Board of Education to develop a plan for increasing the number ofstudents receiving industry certification and state licensure as part of theircareer and technical education.
Latest Action: 02/25/2008 - Signed by President Bill Text
Summary as passed Senate: Martin Luther King, Jr. Living History and Public PolicyCenter. Clarifies that voluntary contributions from state tax refunds shallbe paid to the Board of Trustees of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Living History andPublic Policy Center, a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization under IRS rules.
Latest Action: 03/10/2008 - Left in Privileges and Elections Bill Text
Elections; lists of registered voters. Permitsthe State Board of Elections to furnish address lists of registeredvoters, but not names, at a reasonable cost to local school divisionsuperintendents solely for use in conducting the triennial censusof school population. This bill is identical to HB 199.
Latest Action: 02/13/2008 - Left in Finance Bill Text
Virginia Retirement System; average final compensation retirementmultiplier for teachers. Increases from 1.7 to 2.0 the average finalcompensation retirement multiplier for teachers with five or more years ofcreditable service earned as a teacher. The 2.0 multiplier would apply to thetotal amount of creditable service at the time of retirement, regardless ifsome portion of the total amount of creditable service relates to other thanteaching. The bill applies to current and future retirees.
|
