{"id":2143,"date":"2013-03-04T10:23:49","date_gmt":"2013-03-04T15:23:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.vassp.org\/?p=2143"},"modified":"2013-03-04T10:23:49","modified_gmt":"2013-03-04T15:23:49","slug":"2013-g-a-session-ends-with-a-historic-budget-deal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.vassp.org\/?p=2143","title":{"rendered":"2013 G A Session Ends with a Historic Budget Deal"},"content":{"rendered":"

True to his word, the Governor<\/em> pushed through most of his ambitious education agenda during the 2013 General Assembly Session, albeit on some very close votes and without the support of any of the major education associations for his A-F legislation or that which would provide for takeover of local schools denied accreditation. Visiting legislators minutes before votes, sponsoring statewide conference calls with Bobby Jindal and Jeb Bush, and covering the halls of the General Assembly building with messengers every day, the Administration pulled out all the stops and executed a well-planned strike. \u00a0The new grading system, \u201cborrowed\u201d from those adopted in such states as Louisiana and Florida, as well as the \u201cadopted\u201d plan to take over failing schools, each came within one vote of failing in the Senate Education and Health Committee.\u00a0 On the Floor, the same scenario played out in the Senate; however, the stage had been set, and both legislative initiatives passed.\u00a0 \u00a0The new statewide school board was vigorously supported by those representing private chartering, testing and management companies.\u00a0 No one believes that an appointed state school board (not the State Board of Education), consisting of politicians and government appointees, can or want to actually run divergent local schools. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0The public school system ranked #4 in the nation is now on point to follow in the uncertain footsteps of states ranked as low as 38, 24 and 14 so \u201cparents will better understand\u201d how their schools rank when compared to others (like apples and oranges) and an unelected, unrepresentative state-run school board can take over schools designated as failing (representing only .3% of over 1,800 schools) and demand local money to do it with \u2013 all without a stated plan of action or local oversight.\u00a0 Bold is one thing; unconstitutional is another.\u00a0 And Pat Lacy, a respected and seasoned attorney for the Virginia School Boards Association, has stated on many occasions that the Governor\u2019s so called \u201cOpportunity Educational Institution\u201d is unconstitutional.\u00a0 That underlying concern could be why the Senate voted down the Governor\u2019s corresponding bill asking legislators to \u201cseal the deal\u201d by amending the state\u2019s constitution.\u00a0 The answer to why senators voted against the amendment but voted for the bill is mired in politics.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>A \u2013 F:\u00a0 HB 1999\/SB 1207<\/span>:\u00a0 Although the so-called \u201cA-F\u201d bill was handily hurried through the House of Delegates,<\/em> where the Governor\u2019s party enjoys a substantial majority, pressure from principals, teachers, superintendents, school boards and even the PTA threatened to thwart the Governor\u2019s plan.\u00a0 And that\u2019s when the games began in earnest.\u00a0 VASSP and other education associations were not allowed to testify in the final committee meeting on the grading bill, and the PTA was unable to publicly state their opposition \u00a0\u2013 and so A-F was able to jump over its final hurdle. The one positive note, however, was that the Senate bill called for a 2-year delay to allow the Department of Education to complete its growth measures study so that the grades assigned to schools might actually be based on some type of measureable growth.\u00a0 Sadly, that hope was dashed when the patron of the bill made it clear to the State Superintendent, who indicated to House Education Committee members that the study results would not be ready before 2015, that the Department \u201cshould be able to have that data ready by 2014.\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0And so it went.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0The information derived from the growth measures study will be used in SOA, teacher evaluation and as part of an A-F grading system.\u00a0 Although the effective date of the bill was moved forward to 2014, one positive outcome of the amended version was that defined parameters for specific grades\u00a0 were not included in the final language.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

True to his word, the Governor pushed through most of his ambitious education agenda during the 2013 General Assembly Session, albeit on some very close votes and without the support of any of the major education associations for his A-F legislation or that which would provide for takeover of local schools denied accreditation. Visiting legislators … <\/p>\n

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