Sen. David Suetterlein

Commending health care workers in Virginia.

Commending Rita Carter Forrester.

Board of Education; evaluation of and recommendations for certain current and proposed policies and performance standards for public elementary and secondary schools. Requires the Board of Education to collaborate with the Superintendent of Public Instruction and the Secretary of Education to evaluate, to implement where possible, and to otherwise make recommendations to the General Assembly regarding the following goals: (i) promoting excellence in instruction and student achievement in mathematics, including elimination of the Virginia Mathematics Pathways Initiative and an evaluation of any other proposed changes to the Mathematics Standards of Learning, in advance of the next revision of such standards by the Board, to maintain and increase the rigor of mathematics instruction in public elementary and secondary schools and permit students demonstrating aptitude and high achievement in mathematics to accelerate their progress through core mathematics classes and concepts and take advanced mathematics courses before the eleventh grade; (ii) increasing the number of academic year Governor's Schools in the Commonwealth and maintaining standards of excellence for students in all such schools; (iii) preserving the Advanced Studies Diploma as an option for students in public high schools in the Commonwealth while maintaining or increasing course and credit requirements for such diploma; (iv) increasing the transparency and honesty of performance measures for public elementary and secondary schools in the Commonwealth and ensuring that such measures do not obscure or conceal disparities in performance among student groups; (v) ensuring that performance measures for public elementary and secondary schools prioritize the attainment of grade-level proficiency in reading and mathematics for all students, especially in grades kindergarten through five; (vi) ensuring that the Commonwealth's proficiency standards on Standards of Learning assessments in reading and mathematics are rigorous in comparison with assessments administered by other states and national assessments in reading and mathematics; and (vii) restoring a strong accreditation system that promotes meaningful accountability year-over-year. The bill requires the Secretary of Education and the Superintendent of Public Instruction, no later than November 30, 2022, to report to the chairmen of the House Committee on Education and the Senate Committee on Education and Health the results of such evaluation and recommendations to achieve such goals.

Public charter schools; applications; reviewand approval. Permits the Board of Education (the Board) to receive, review, and rule upon applications for public charter schools andenter into agreements for the establishment of public charter schools.Under current law, the power to grant or deny a public charter schoolapplication and enter into an agreement for the establishment ofa public charter school rests solely with local school boards. Thebill also provides that the decision of the Board or a local schoolboard to grant or deny a public charter school application or to revoke or fail to renew a public charter school agreement is finaland is not subject to appeal. Current law contains an appeal processfor such decisions.

Killing the fetus of another; manslaughter;penalties. Provides that any person who kills the fetus of anotherby an intentional act committed while in the sudden heat of passion upon reasonable provocation is guilty of voluntary manslaughter,which is punishable as a Class 5 felony. The bill also provides thatany person who kills the fetus of another accidentally, contraryto the intention of the parties and while engaged in conduct so gross,wanton, and culpable as to show a reckless disregard for human life,is guilty of involuntary manslaughter, which is also punishable asa Class 5 felony.

Department of Education; task bank for performance-based assessments. Requires the Department of Education to developa task bank for performance-based assessments that is built usingvetted tasks that have been developed by practitioners and alignswith (i) the Department's Virginia Quality Criteria Review Tool forPerformance Assessments, (ii) the content in the standards of quality,and (iii) the skills in the Profile of a Graduate. The bill providesthat school divisions may select tasks from the task bank.

Campaign finance; political action committees;certain large pre-election expenditures. Requires in-state politicalaction committees to file a report for any single expenditure of $1,000 or more made between October 1 and the date of the November election. Such reports are to be made electronically and must bereceived by the State Board by 11:59 p.m. on the following day or, for an expenditure made on a Saturday, by 11:59 p.m. on the followingMonday. However, the bill requires that any such expenditure madewithin the 24 hours prior to the election day be reported and a reportthereof received on the day prior to the election.

Campaign finance; fundraising during specialsessions prohibited. Prohibits campaign fundraising on and afterthe first day of a special session of the General Assembly throughadjournment sine die of that session. Currently, campaign fundraisingis prohibited only during regular sessions of the General Assembly.

Income tax; standard deduction. Increasesthe standard deduction for taxable years 2022 through 2025 from $4,500to $9,000 for single filers and from $9,000 to $18,000 for marriedfilers (one-half of such amount in the case of a married individualfiling a separate return). As provided under current law, startingwith taxable year 2026, the standard deduction will decrease to $3,000for single filers and to $6,000 for married filers.

Celebrating the life of the Honorable FrankDuVal Hargrove, Sr.