VSRA is committed to advocating for literacy issues with Virginia’s General Assembly each year. Troilen Seward serves as VSRA’s Legislative Advocate on these issues.
Marilyn Schempf, Chair
Sue Hirsh, Co-Chair
Choose from the links below to read the 2009–2011 General Assembly Updates, or to see the latest calendar of activities.
Legislative Report 2010-2011
February 2011 Update
CALENDAR OF ACTIVITIES 2010 – 2011
What an exciting this year has been for VSRA in Advocacy!
In July, the legislative committee met in Richmond to plan the year’s advocacy events.
At the September Governing Board meeting, the Legislative Chairs and Legislative Advocate, Troilen Seward were part of round table discussions involving local councils. At our table we talked about involving local councils in advocacy and suggesting each council have a legislative representative. Forms for that purpose were distributed.
In October, paperwork was submitted to IRA to apply for the Advocacy Award.
At the November Governing Board Meeting, the Legislative Chairs and Advocate, Troilen Seward, made a powerpoint presentation and held a discussion about the requirements for the IRA Advocacy Award. In the first part of the application, the state’s advocacy goals are delineated. The body of the application requires documentation for evidence of five activities in each of these three categories: Organize, Educate and Activate. Ten copies of the award packets are submitted to IRA by October 31st each year.
January 18, 2011 was our Advocacy Day at the General Assembly Building in Richmond. We invited all the Virginia legislators to a Breakfast and to be read to by children from Richmond City Schools. VSRA members were on hand to talk with legislators and their staff members. In addition to an introduction of VSRA, we were prepared to offer our support of House Bill 1792. This bill would codify the Board of Education’s recommendations that are presently written in the Appropriations Act, specifically the part referencing reading specialists. This would allow school divisions to use the Early Intervention Reading Initiative (EIRI) funding from the Lottery Fund to employ reading specialists to provide reading intervention services. At this event we also Honored Senator John Miller with the VSRA Friend of Literacy Award. Afterwards, he invited the children to his office where he gave each a bookmark that read, “Reading is the Key.”
At the VSRA Conference in March, an Advocacy Booth was set up and Advocate, Troilen Seward was there to share information from the recent legislative session and answer questions. Legislative Committee member Dr.Tamie Fartro, presented a session entitled, “Next Stop Washington, D.C.: Advocating for Literacy on Capitol Hill.”
Recently, we received notification from IRA that we will be receiving the Advocacy Award at the IRA Convention in Orlando in May. Yeah!!!
Submitted by:
Marilyn Schempf
Legislative Chair
Subject: General Assembly #4
I indicated I wouldn’t write last week because it was crossover and there would be little to report since there were no education sub-committees and full committees would deal only with bills that had passed with no controversy. It has been much the same this week. I am writing this morning because there is nothing in Education Committee. Many bills that were introduced were left in committee, meaning they were never acted upon. Only 20 bills of about 72 that were introduced in the House Education Committee passed over to the Senate and only 16 of the approximately 31 introduced in the Senate came over to the House. Many of the bills that survived were bills of technical correction or bills that would not be of interest to you.
The most important bills for us were HB 1792 and SB 1270. These were identical bills which provide flexibility in the provision of reading intervention services. School divisions are allowed to use the state Early Intervention Reading Initiative funding and the required local match to employ reading specialists to provide the required reading intervention services. Divisions using the funds in this manner shall employ only instructional personnel licensed by the Board of Education. Both of these bills have now passed in the opposite house so they are a “done deal.” They, of course, have to be signed by the Governor by April 6 (Veto Session), but since there was no opposition, it would be unlikely that he would not sign. He actually endorsed the bills.
The P.E. bills, HB1710 and SB803, have passed their respective bodies and have been heard in sub-committee and committee in the opposite body. The two bills contain slight differences and will have to be reconciled in conference, but there is little question they will pass. Passage will, of course, depend on what happens on the floor, but since both passed their body of origin, unless the school board members who visited last week have had an impact we haven’t seen, they will pass. We have spoken against the bills for many different reasons, but it was obvious that they were going to go. Our opposition (VSRA) was based on the time needed for remediation…when figuring the time left after we accounted for the required recess, the required teacher planning time and the required instructional time, it seems that 22 minutes is the average left for real remediation. These two bills have delayed implementation…2014-2015, the same school year that a 100% NCLB pass rate is required. If school divisions employ additional PE teachers to provide the extra time needed to meet the 150 minute per week requirement, there will be a significant local cost. (I say that because there is no state impact since they say elementary teachers can teach PE.)
The conferees are talking about budget, but it is never obvious exactly when and where they meet. The Senate budget is much better to education than the House; the House budget actually takes from us while the Senate adds to our appropriation. If you are inclined, you may want to e-mail your delegate and say you support the Senate budget as it provides more for education, and you may want to tell your senator that you support the Senate budget.
Next week will wrap it up…Saturday, Feb. 26. Will provide a summary after everything has gone through the floor votes.