The Latest from VEA

Once again, teacher objections were completely ignored by the passage of HB 9.  HB 9, patroned by Delegate Lee Ware, passed the House of Delegates by a vote of 52-47. HB 9 rolls back protections for teachers by:

• Giving the local school board the option of increasing the probationary term of service from 3 years to 5 years.
• Adding a definition of “incompetency” to include “consistent failure to meet the endorsement requirements for the position of one or more unsatisfactory performance evaluations.”
• Eliminating the option of a three-member fact-finding panel.
• Reducing from 10 days to 5 days the written notice of the time and the place of a hearing.

Rolling back these changes enacted in 2020 could very well exacerbate the problems we are having with the recruitment and retention of teachers. Three years is enough time for an employer to see what the teacher is capable of doing and where improvements are needed if the district provides appropriate guidance and direction for their educators when they enter the profession.

Currently, 35 states require three probationary periods for teachers.  We believe this is the right amount of time for teachers to serve a probationary period.

Research shows that by extending the probationary periods of teachers judged to be less effective, these “extended” teachers were substantially more likely than other teachers to leave their schools. https://cepa.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/Performance%20Screens.pdf

The identical bill in the Senate, SB 178, sponsored by Senator Mark Peake is expected to be up for hearing in the Senate Health and Education subcommittee on Thursday. Contact members of the Senate Education and Health Committee and ask them to oppose SB 178.

Lucas(Chair), Saslaw, Howell, Newman, Locke, Barker, Petersen, Cosgrove, Lewis, Dunnavant, Suetterlein, Peake, Edwards, Hashmi, Pillion