Local school boards; teacher career ladder compensation programs. Requires each local school board to establish a teachercareer ladder compensation program (program) whereby each rung onthe ladder corresponds to a specific teacher career and compensationlevel as determined by the local school board. The bill requireseach local school board to design and implement its own program,provided, however, that each program shall include the followingprinciples and components: (i) each teacher shall provide increasinglevels of student academic progress as measured by objective criteriabefore the teacher progresses to the next rung of the ladder; (ii)each teacher shall demonstrate improvement in teaching skills beforethe teacher progresses to the next rung of the ladder; (iii) each teacher shall assume additional teaching and other responsibilitiessuch as curriculum development, team teaching, mentoring, and professionaldevelopment activities before the teacher progresses to the nextrung of the ladder; (iv) the local school board is responsible forproviding teachers in the program with appropriate professional growthand development opportunities; and (v) the local school board shallensure that equal pay is provided to teachers in the program whoare performing at the same level. The bill provides that teacher participation in a teacher career ladder compensation program is optionaland any teacher may opt to be compensated pursuant to the local schoolboard's standard salary scale.
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Constitutional amendment (first reference); taxation; property tax exemption; surviving spouses of soldiers killed in the line of duty. Amends the Constitution of Virginia by allowing localities to exempt from taxation the real property of any surviving spouse of any member of the armed forces of the United States who was killed in the line of duty with a line of duty determination as determined by the United States Department of Defense who occupies the real property as his or her principal place of residence. Under current law, the exemption is only available to the surviving spouse of a member of the armed forces who was killed in action.
Commercial sex trafficking, prostitution, etc.;mistake of age defense. Provides that a defendant's ignoranceof the victim's age, the victim's misrepresentation of his age, orthe defendant's belief that the victim was an adult shall not beraised as a defense in a prosecution for certain crimes related tocommercial sex trafficking and prostitution involving a minor victim.
Certain Standards of Learning assessments; methodof administration. Requires (i) the reading and mathematics Standardsof Learning assessments in grades three through eight and the scienceassessments administered to students in grade five and after the student receives instruction in the grade six science, life science,and physical science Standards of Learning and before the studentcompletes grade eight to be traditional achievement tests and (ii)the Virginia Studies and Civics and Economics assessments to be performancebased and to measure the test taker's ability to apply the skillsand knowledge learned in the class. The foregoing provisions of thebill have a delayed effective date of July 1, 2023. The bill alsorequires the Department of Education, with such funds as may be appropriatedfor such purpose pursuant to the general appropriation act, to developa task bank for performance-based assessments that is built using vetted tasks that have been developed by practitioners and alignwith the Department's Virginia Quality Criteria Review Tool for PerformanceAssessments.
Study; Apprenticeship Council; electric vehicle charging infrastructure apprenticeship programs; report. Requests the Virginia Apprenticeship Council to study the need for electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure and maintenance and repair of EV infrastructure apprenticeship programs in the Commonwealth, noting the stated goal of the Commonwealth to reduce carbon emissions intensity across all sectors, including the transportation industry. In conducting its study, the Apprenticeship Council should consider a number of factors in studying the need for such apprenticeship programs. The Apprenticeship Council is further requested to report the results of an in-depth study of similar apprenticeship programs in other states to the General Assembly and to convene a stakeholder advisory group to discuss the need for electric vehicle charging infrastructure apprenticeship programs in the Commonwealth. The bill directs the Apprenticeship Council to complete its meetings by November 30, 2022, and report its findings to the Governor and the Chairmen of the Senate Committees on Education and Health and Commerce and Labor and the House Committees on Education and Labor and Commerce.
Anti-Human Trafficking and Survivor Trust Fund.Creates the Anti-Human Trafficking and Survivor Trust Fund, whichshall be administered by a Board of Trustees and used for the supportand development of services for the prevention of human traffickingand the treatment and support of human trafficking victims.
Standards of Quality; work-based learning; teacher leaders and mentors; principal mentors; certain personnel positions and initiatives. Makes several changes to the Standards of Quality, including requiring the establishment of units in the Department of Education to oversee work-based learning and principal mentorship statewide and requiring the Board of Education to establish and oversee the local implementation of teacher leader and teacher mentor programs in Standard 5. The bill also makes several changes relating to school personnel in Standard 2, including (i) establishing schoolwide ratios of students to teachers in certain schools with high concentrations of poverty and granting flexibility to provide compensation adjustments to teachers in such schools; (ii) requiring each school board to assign licensed personnel in a manner that provides an equitable distribution of experienced, effective teachers and other personnel among all schools in the local school division; (iii) requiring each school board to employ teacher leaders and teacher mentors at specified student-to-position ratios; (iv) requiring state funding in addition to basic aid to support at-risk students and granting flexibility in the use of such funds by school boards; (v) lowering the ratio of English language learner students to teachers; (vi) requiring each school board to employ reading specialists and establishing a student-to-position ratio for such specialists; (vii) requiring school boards to employ one full-time principal in each elementary school; (viii) lowering the ratio of students to assistant principals and school counselors in elementary, middle, and high schools; and (ix) increasing from at least three to at least four the required number of specialized student support positions, including school social workers, school psychologists, school nurses, licensed behavior analysts, licensed assistant behavior analysts, and other licensed health and behavioral positions, per 1,000 students.
Commissioner of Health; study of the occurrenceof PFOA, PFOS, PFBA, PFHpA, PFHxS, PFNA, and other PFAS in the Commonwealth'spublic drinking water; report. Directs the Commissioner of Healthto convene a work group to study the occurrence of perfluoroalkyland polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), including perfluorooctanoicacid (PFOA), perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), perfluorobutyrate(PFBA), perfluoroheptanoic acid (PFHpA), perfluorohexane sulfonate(PFHxS), perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA), hexafluoropropylene oxide-dimeracid (HFPO-DA), perfluorohexanoic acid (PFHxA), perfluoropentanoicacid (PFPeA), and perfluorobutane sulfonic acid (PFBS), in drinkingwater in the Commonwealth. The work group shall report its findingsand recommendations to the Governor and the Chairmen of the HouseCommittees on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources and Health,Welfare and Institutions and the Senate Committees on Agriculture,Conservation and Natural Resources and Education and Health by December1, 2023.
Jury duty; allowance increase. Increasesthe jury duty allowance from $30 to $40 for each day of attendanceupon the court effective July 1, 2022; to $45 effective July 1, 2023;and to $50 effective July 1, 2024, and thereafter.
Teacher compensation; at or above national average.Requires that public school teachers be compensated at a rate thatis at or above the national average. Under current law, compensationat such rate is aspirational. The bill requires state funding tobe provided pursuant to the general appropriation act in a sum sufficientto fund a 4.5 percent annual increase for public school teacher salaries,effective from the 2023-24 school year through the 2027-28 schoolyear. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2023.