2021 VEA Legislative Agenda

VEA Will Initiate Legislation To:

• Fully implement and fund the revised Standards of Quality, as adopted by the Virginia Board of Education.
• Require at least one registered nurse in every school building.
• Reduce the total number and type of required Standards of Learning assessments to the minimum federal requirements.
• Study the impact of COVID-19 on our public schools, students, and school employees, also measuring our public schools’ emergency preparedness for another pandemic or crisis.

VEA Supports Legislation That:

• Provides resources to ensure that school employees earn a living wage and that teacher salaries are at or above the national average.
• Attracts and retains high-quality teachers and school personnel and improves professional development opportunities for all school employees.
• Protects professional teaching licenses.
• Ensures statewide implementation of an appropriate and equitable teacher evaluation model.
• Increases funds directed towards Virginia’s most at-risk students.
• Supports the needs of and addresses the inequities in Virginia’s small and rural school divisions.
• Improves, implements, and funds programs, resources, and professional development for educators to support student behaviors that reduce suspensions and expulsions.
• Increases state support for public school construction and infrastructure.
• Creates new revenue sources that supports public education needs across Virginia.
• Improves equitable access to technology and broadband for all students and school staff.
• Supports and protects the safety and mental health of our public school educators and students and provides resources to fully implement safe school reopening plans.
• Maintains designated school property as gun-free zones.

VEA Opposes Legislation That:

• Undermines the efforts of the Virginia Board of Education to meet their constitutional authority to define the standards for high-quality public education in our commonwealth.
• Creates any new requirements of our public schools or public school employees without the appropriate state share of funding to implement the requirement.
• Provides public dollars to non-public schools.
• Transfers the authority for granting charter schools away from the local school board.
• Undermines the health or retirement benefits of school personnel.
• Undermines our newly enacted collective bargaining rights.

We’ll Keep You Informed

Keep up with all the latest legislative news affecting schools by reading VEA’s daily updates during the General Assembly session. You’ll find them here.

Download the 2021 VEA Legislative Agenda Here