VIRGINIA EDUCATION ASSOCIATION. eal ANTONE MAUI NSLS On January 16 the Virginia General Assembly will con- vene, As there are very im- portant issues related to your Jobs, we will, as always, keep ‘you up to date on all ac tions. Listed below are some of anticipated legislation for the upcoming session. Support for challenged schools © VEA supports the expansion ‘of teacher residency programs to serve all challenged schools — urban, suburban, and rural. ‘EA supports expanding access tothe Virginia Preschool Initia- tive (VPI), and increasing pre- school services for economically- disadvantaged children. “Is School Funding Fair? A National Report Card’ found that only 34 percent of Virginia’s low-income students are enrolled in early childhood education programs, Rising health care costs.. more expensive premiums and higher deductibles. disappearing pay raises when coupled with a year when the price of the insurance provided by the school system inereas- es. Ifany of this sounds famil- iar, then we have your atten- tion. School systems in New York State, just like every other state in the past twenty or so ‘years, have been dealing with Legislative Agenda for the 2016 Session of the General Assembly compared to 56 percent of stu dents who are not from low- income families. Voices for Vi ginia’s Children noted that “disadvantaged young children are less likely to participate in preschool and most at-risk of not being prepared for school.” K-12 Funding VEA supports restoring schoo! funding to a least pre- recessionary levels, Salary \VEA proposes significantly clos- ing the 12-percent gap between the Virginia teacher average sala- ry and the national teacher aver- age salary. Legislative leaders should create a clear policy for offering the compensation need- ed to attract and retain high- quality teachers. VRS Funding Regionalized Health Insurance those very issues. Between the years of 2002-03 and 2007 -08 schools outside of Butta- lo, NY dealt with costs for ‘employee insurance increas- ing 57%, averaging out to 11.4% per year. In those same schools (Tonawanda City) for the 2007-08 school year 8.6 percent of the budget ‘was spent on the health insur- ance line item in the budget. It was time for something to be done. verse \VEA supports continued move- ‘ment toward meeting the VRS Board of Trustees certified con- tribution rate; 89.84 percent of that rate will be contributed for ‘each of the next two years. Implementation of statewide health insurance option VEA supports a statewide insur- ance option for local schoo! di sions. This option could save $44 10 $66 million annually (LARC estimate), which could be used for needed school funding. The ‘Commonwealth would have much greater leverage in rate negotiations with insurance pro- viders than any one of the 132 individual school divisions. National Board for Profession- al Teaching Standards VEA supports reinstating the NBPTS state candidate subsidy program. Teachers seeking Na- What happened next is that these school systems formed a health insurance consortium. In the Rochester area, in 2009 that consortium for western New York expected to save $67 million for the 17 school districts who joined. Another consortium in the Erie area saved $2 million per year in the early 2010s per school division. To break that down, that is money that can be used for school supplies, buildingPAGE 2 UPCOMING VEA EVENTS Te ee ED NORMS een Reo ere) fore Legislative Agenda Continued. tional Board Certification must pay a $75 ap- plication fee each year ofthe process and a $475 assessment fee for each of four assess- ment components. Virginia used to provide ‘grants to teachers to help defray these costs, but these funds are no longer available. Individualized Educati SOL Testing VEA will initiate legislation saying a student's TEP dictates if he or she should not take SOL. test(s), and that the student’s non-participation Will not count against the school’s accredita- tion Plans (IEPs) and ir Dismissal VEA will initiate legislation to bring needed fairness to teacher dismissal procedures. School boards should be allowed to use a three person pane! chaired by a hearing officer who is not an active or retired school board employ- €¢ or related to one. Also, hearing officers should be appointed in a public meeting, after ‘an opportunity for public comment. ‘Teacher Personnel Records VEA will initiate legislation to clarify that teacher performance evaluations are not a pub- record Education vs. Incarceration VEA will support sensible sentencing reform, which could reduce incarceration costs and free and maintenance, and salary and benefits. What does a consortium look like? It is a group of school districts who join together to purchase group insurance in bulk. Such plans provide full medical, hospital, and prescription coverage, and many include dental and vision. They save money be- ‘cause by representing a massive number of ‘employees, they can leverage better deals for the school system. Claims tend to be less expensive when buffered by a larger ‘number of plan participants. Your VEA has supported for consecutive ‘years now a bill in the General Assembly \\ that would provide a statewide health in- s ISSUES AND ANSWERS Regionalized Health Insurance Continued. up funding for schools. Virginia curre 4st in preK-12 state per-pupil funding; howev- er, Our state ranks 14th in state corrections ex- penditures. This is not an accurate reflection of our priorities. Medicaid Expansion VEA supports closing the health insurance cov- ‘erage gap to free up funds for public education, ‘Transparent, Bipartisan Redistricting Pro- VEA supports the legislative agenda of On- Virwinia2021 to provide a fair and open redis- trcting process ‘Oppose further erosion of VRS pension bene- fits VEA opposes any further reduction of employee VRS benefits. In recent sessions, some current ‘educators saw their retirement benefits cut, and future employees face substantial reductions. Oppose HB324 VEA opposes HB324, which would create the Virginia Virtual School and take the power to govern virtual education away from local school boards Oppose $3256 VEA opposes $1256, which grants the authority to approve charter schools to the Virginia Board ‘of Education rather than local school boards surance consortium, That bill goes back to the General Assembly again this year, as in previous years it has been put out to study before it could leave the committee to which it was assigned. In the mean- time, your local VEA in central Virginia is investigating, with the help of local and national resources, if such a consortium would be a savings to educators in this area. Stay tuned for updates from your local VEA office and your local associa tion on information related to this effort. Please feel free to call us at 434-239-7016 ‘or email your UniServ director at fglov- er@veanea.org if you have any questions. °VOLUME xxxtt PAGE 3 BCEA Provides Numerous Equipment to Schools through Grants ‘The Bedford County Education Association has been working on awarding needed equipment to various schools through the use of grants. Such technology includes Chromebooks, money to assist in the cost of materials for a theater set design, materi- als fora science exploration lab, headphones that can be * © ay used for mathematics through Khan Academy, o MobyMax and/or Reading A~Z, lap desks (for whole group instruction as well as independent work), as well phone chargers for students to utilize in the classroom when working on assignments, Such resources will greatly improve the learning environment for students. By Cindy McKinney, BCEA President For more information on BCOK Hee" Visit http://www. veanea.org/home ints its-and-awards.htm LOBBY DAY MAKE SURE YOUR VOICE IS HEARDVOLUME Xxxit Local Legislator Contact Information Delegate Kathy Byron Email: DelKByron@house.virginia.gov Office Phone: (804) 698-1022 ‘Serves Counties of Bedford, Campbell Franklin, Lynch- burg City Delegate T. Scott Garrett Email: DelSGarrett@house.virginia.gov Office Phone: (804) 698-1023 Serves Amherst, Bedford Counties, Lynchburg Delegate Benjamin L. Cline Email: DelBCline@house.virginia.gov Office Phone: (804) 698-1024 Serves Counties of Amherst, Augusta, Bath, Rockbridge, Lynchburg City Delegate Terry Austin Email: DelTAustin@house.virginia.gov Office Phone: (804) 698-1019 Serves Alleghany, Bedford, Botetourt Counties, Coving- ton City Delegate Matt Fariss Email: DelMFariss@house.virginia.gov Office Phone: (804) 698-1059 Serves Appomattox, Buckingham, Campbell, Nelson Counties Senator Creigh Deeds Email: district25@senate. virginia gov Phone: (804) 698-7525 Serves Charlottesville City, Nelson County, and part of Albemarle County Senator Steve Newman Email: district23@senate. virginia.gov Phone: (804) 698-7523 Among others, serves: Bedford, Campbell Counties, and Lynchburg Senator Tom Garrett Email: district22@senate.virginia.gov Phone: (804) 698-7522 Among others, serves: Amherst, Appomattox Coun- ties, Lynchburg City