The 2023 General Assembly adjourned on Saturday, February 25th. During this session, things played out as predicted for a divided legislature where each party blocked efforts of the other party which resulted pretty much with the status quo as a result. Regarding 4 Public Education’s priority bills, all the bills we opposed failed, but most of the bills we supported also failed with two exceptions: A bill to increase mental health resources in K-12 went to conference but was

After the General Assembly adjourns on February 25, 2023, all bills that pass both chambers will go to the Governor for his signature or veto; however, the General Assembly will reconvene on the sixth Wednesday after adjournment (April 6th) to consider any of the Governor's recommendations and vetoed legislation. Bills that are signed by the Governor will become law on July 1 of this year. Now the attention turns to the 2024 State Budget. The Governor provided his proposed bu

At this the first full week after Crossover, only five of our original 29 priority bills remain active. We oppose three of those bills and support two. The following information about those bills is current as of Wednesday morning. You can help oppose or support them by answering the easy one-click call to action. HB1448 and HB1379 will be heard in the Senate Public Education subcommittee on Wednesday. These bills are part of the attempt to ban books in public school libra

Tuesday, February 7, 2023 is the Crossover deadline in Richmond for the 2023 General Assembly. Advocacy by the public has been successful.

Things continue to be hectic in the General Assembly with the House and Senate both trying to finish hearing bills before crossover (to the other chamber) next week. Education bills are progressing, thus we are continuing to update Calls to Action as the bills change status. Another update will be sent out via email on the weekend Take Action Alerts. If you haven’t subscribed to get email updates, please do now here. These bills are current as of 1/31, and are broken out base

If it is the end of January in Richmond, Virginia, then the General Assembly is in session. The General Assembly consists of state Senators and Delegates who make new or change existing laws. Bills can be introduced by either Senators or Delegates, be debated in committees, and if successful, can advance to the chamber floor. If the bills pass the chamber where they are introduced, they will be passed to the other chamber during ‘crossover’ where the bill must go through the

We are fortunate in Virginia to now have a surplus in our budget. We are pleased to have legislators who advocate to apply that surplus toward public education to solve critical problems such as overcrowding, deferred maintenance, and inadequate staffing. These needs have gone unfilled in past years because the budget could not stretch far enough to meet those needs. However, other officials in our executive and legislative branches intend to use that surplus to cut taxes, de

Dark money's influence on public education is not new. For decades, groups funded by billionaires have worked to push policies and proposals that pull teachers, funding, and other resources from public schools, including efforts to promote school privatization, charter schools, vouchers, and other so-called “education reform” schemes intended to defund and dismantle public education. In 2022, dark money groups are continuing these efforts to undermine and defund public educat

Governor Glenn Youngkin and his allies used attacks on public education to win the governorship in 2021. National and local dark money groups managed to paint a fearful, failing picture of Virginia public education. Nevertheless, overwhelming support for public schools continued among most community members. It is now 2022, so why are Governor Youngkin’s allies and groups like Moms for Liberty (M4L), Independent Women’s Forum (IWF), and Parents Defending Education (PDE) conti

Saturday, March 12 was the last day of the 60-day 2022 General Assembly. However, the legislature had not completed their work so there may be a need for a special session. In addition to dozens of bills left unresolved, the budget has not been passed. Here is a description of the status of each high-profile education bill and the K12 education issues left unresolved in the Budget. High profile education bills that were defeated in the Senate include the "divisive concept"