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The 2023 Virginia General Assembly is coming to an end, yet Richmond continues to foment the culture wars by trying to remove history from our History curricula, funding from public schools, and social emotional support in our classrooms. All Virginians want true and complete history, fully funded schools, and healthy students ready to learn, yet there is little movement from Richmond on critical issues in our schools. Heck, the administration lost $201 million in public school dollars, yet it is still trying to privatize public school funds. Thankfully, many elected officials, leaders, and parents care about these issues, and are working together across our state and in every community to solve these critical issues while working to attract and retain qualified, caring, and skilled educators. However, these issues require funding for successful solutions, something that Richmond seems to want to take away from our public schools. At the same time, we will invite guest bloggers over the next couple of weeks to provide perspectives and resources on these crucial issues: There is a crisis of opioid addiction and increased fentanyl overdose deaths in our schools and communities. This is a national problem that requires multi-layered regional and local solutions that include parental awareness and involvement. Parents and teachers have reported increased bullying in our schools. A mental health crisis among students has hit an all time high per the CDC, which urges schools to invest in supporting struggling youth. Likely, these concerns are related. Our communities have tools and resources to address bullying and support mental health, but we need to move past divisive rhetoric, return to nuanced discussions, and look to the future of our students. The Virginia Department of Education has removed consequential history from our students’ curricula, despite “nearly universal condemnation from parents, educators, and the community.” We cannot let this stand. Please attend one of the six public hearings planned by the Virginia Board of Education. If you live in Northern Virginia, please plan to attend on Tuesday, March 14th, you can RSVP here on our event page and we will provide more information on how we can organize. We parents, educators, and citizens should be student-focused for student solutions. 4 Public Education wants to hear from you about what you see in your schools and community. Please share with us issues, solutions, and successes at info@4publiceducation.org.

The new, proposed, history and social studies Standards of Learning (SOL) are moving forward despite almost universal condemnation from parents, educators and the community. Along with 75 other speakers, 4 Public Education had three speakers at the recent Board of Education meeting in Richmond to denounce the proposal and to recommend the adoption of a previous version from August 2022. The new proposed standards are inadequate. They require young children to understand concepts for which their brains are not yet developed. They emphasize a euro-centric history reminiscent of the institution during Massive Resistance, ignore or minimize the history of our diverse communities, and lack reflection of the ancestors of many of our children. Additionally, so many new standards have been added (132) that teachers would have to scramble to cover them all, and would have to resort to requiring rote memorization rather than analytical and skill development. Even more egregious- there are errors, omissions of important information, and political terms are used. At the meeting the Board refused to consider an alternative, collaborative draft that would have merged the content produced by the Youngkin administration with the draft produced after years of work by over 600 professionals. That original draft of the revised standards is overwhelmingly preferred by many parents and professionals. The Board of Education is now planning public hearings on the new proposed version six locations in Virginia. The schedule for pubic comment dates and times-around the Commonwealth is can be found here. If you live in Northern Virginia, please plan to attend on Tuesday, March 14th, you can RSVP here on our event page and we will provide more information on how we can organize. If you live in another part of the Commonwealth, please contact us on organizing in your community we want to be sure we have speakers at each of the regional meetings. Finally, if you haven’t already signed the petition Teaching Truth, please do so now. The petition with signatures will be presented during the hearing in Mount Vernon on March 14, 2023. The text of the petition will be edited slightly as the status of the Standard of Learning changes. However, the content of the petition will not change. Your voice now will echo in the quality of instruction our children receive in the decades to come.

They work to include all students, no matter the income, race, country of origin, ability, or gender. Our schools work to support each child based on their needs and challenges to help them succeed in school and beyond. They offer diverse opportunities for each child to learn, play, and expand their horizons. Whether it is in school or after school, there is something to challenge and support each student. Our teachers are the most educated, committed, and experienced. Public schools attract the best teachers who are certified, trained, and supported to be the best teacher for each student. That is why Virginia public schools rank so well - #4 in the country. Virginia’s public schools offer a wide variety of classes and after-school activities including: foreign languages, vocational tech, advanced academics, special education, English as a second language, humanities, college-level courses, and more are offered at nearly every public school. Parents can choose to opt in or opt out of student programs, curricula, and services. Virginia’s public schools offer students the tools to be well-rounded individuals, which prepares them to be active members of our American society: ready to work; continue education; participate in democracy through informed voting; make wise decisions; and understand the social, economic, and legal rules of society.

Tuesday, February 7, 2023 was the Crossover deadline in Richmond for the 2023 General Assembly. Crossover is the last day for a bill to pass out of the chamber in which it was introduced and continue to be considered for passing in the opposite chamber, thus bills approved by the House go to the Senate for consideration and bills approved by the Senate go to the House for consideration after this date. The status of each bill on the day of the crossover deadline gives an early indication of the bill’s viability. If a bill has not made it out of committee by that day, it will probably be “left in committee” and not be considered further for in this 2023 session of the General Assembly. Tuesday, February 7th was crossover in the General Assembly. This session, of the 29 priority education bills we are following, we supported 17 and opposed 12. At crossover, six of the bills we supported passed that chamber, one was still being considered in the chamber where it was introduced, two had been incorporated into other bills, and six failed or were stricken by the patron. Of the 12 education bills we opposed, two passed the chamber where they were introduced, one had been incorporated into another bill, five had failed, and four were left in committee. For the rest of this week, bills that pass each chamber will be assigned to committees for consideration in the other chamber. Readers are encouraged to watch for Calls to Action to continue to support or oppose bills as they work their way through the other chamber. Also, one of Governor Youngkin’s appointees to the Virginia Board of Education was not confirmed. Suparna Dutta, of Fairfax Virginia, lost her bid for confirmation in a 22 to 18 vote. This leaves a vacant seat on the Virginia Board of Education. Photo Credit: Skip Plitt - C'ville Photography, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

The below was published in the Richmond Times Dispatch on February 4th, 2023 . When Jillian Balow arrived in January 2022 as state superintendent of instruction, there were three major issues facing Virginia schools: the pandemic recovery, teacher shortages and revisions to the history and social sciences standards. Pandemic recovery is being addressed by local districts with federal funds and grants. The teacher shortage has been worsened by Balow’s implementation of Executive Order 1, throwing teachers into a double-bind between the standards and being fired over the “anti-divisive” mandate. The history and social sciences standards are another glaring failure. For seven months Balow gave little attention to the revised standards, which came nearly complete from two years of staff and historical experts' work. In August 2022, Balow asked the Virginia Board of Education not to approve because she wanted time to proof for typos and grammar. In September she asked for another delay. When she presented a new draft in November 2022, it appeared to be a 68-page cut-and-paste from conservative internet sources. The draft was so chaotic and developmentally inappropriate even the consultant hired to edit it sent a letter acknowledging "the hastily and irresponsibly prepared" nature of the project. On Jan. 5, a third 60-ish page version was released, with a community standard calling for 5-year-olds to “recognize cause and effect relationships” and “use decision making models such as T-charts and Venn diagrams to make informed economic decisions.” Those are a set of planning tasks most children’s prefrontal cortexes are not able to do until age 6 or later. The Board of Education voted to advance the draft version of the history standards on Feb. 2. Balow’s biggest problems are lack of knowledge about children and educational standards, and her managerial incompetence. It is time for her to resign or be dismissed.

UPDATE: The bill will move to the Senate over the Feb 4th weekend. Please call your Virgnia senator's office now to ask them to "Just say NO to HB 1461." It doesn't matter on what side of the aisle they sit, they should want to keep your kids in school. House Bill 1461 would require the Virginia Department of Education to establish a uniform system for disciplining disruptive behavior in class and removing a student from the classroom. For non-violent “disruptive” behavior, the bill would implement a three strikes and you’re out policy. “Disruptive” in this bill is so broadly defined that it is unclear as to what exactly qualifies a child for removal. Each and every parent should ask themselves: “Could my K-12 child’s common behaviors be considered disruptive?” For parents of neuro-diverse children, this bill is our worst nightmare. Underlying neurodivergence, like autism or ADHD, is impulse control, or more specifically, lack-thereof. These children have trouble “self-regulating” and struggle to control their initial responses to certain situations. Any parent of a neurodiverse child can tell you, if a situation isn’t just right or if there is a change to a regular schedule or if for some reason his shirt just “doesn’t feel right,” the odds of an impulsive (read, “disruptive”) response increases. Crying, yelling, ripping paper. He acts first…thinks about consequences later. This isn’t because he doesn’t want to, it is because he isn’t able to. It takes years of practice, therapy, and patience to turn this around. But under HB 1461, he no longer has years. Before he has had a chance to calm down, a task that can take an excruciatingly long time for a kid who has to work twice as hard to overcome his own brain to do so, he’s out. And let’s be clear, “out” in this context will most likely mean “seclusion,” a practice that is traumatizing and creates worse behavior. Before he has reached the end of first grade, he’s been effectively criminalized for something he cannot control yet. Criminalized for being different. Criminalized for being a kindergartner. Parents of neurodiverse children know our kids are different. We know that we are different when we are taking our kids to expensive occupational therapy (usually not covered by insurance) to learn impulse control skills. We know they are different when we are spending hours of our day calling different pharmacies to track down medications that are in short supply. We know they are different when we are trying to navigate the byzantine 504 plan/ IEP process, sometimes begging school administrators to give our kids what they need to thrive in school. We spent nights awake worrying that despite all we do to help, if we even have the time and money to get that help, the world may still be cruel to them. With HB 1461, Delegates Wiley and Fowler are guaranteeing that our kids WILL be singled-out, punished, and excluded based on behaviors that they cannot control.. Not only does this violate the terms of their individualized education plans, but this also violates their right to Free and Appropriate Public Education. Please share your opposition to HB 1461 by clicking on the button below. State clearly to “Vote NO on HB 1461” and provide your reasoning or story, knowing that your comments will be public. UPDATE: Please call your senator Our guest blogger, Melissa Alfano, is a mother of an extraordinary kindergartener in Fairfax County. When she is not fighting for her kids (and yours) she is an energy policy expert focusing on climate change issues.

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 based on when they will be heard in the General Assembly. Click on the links to advocate for change in the General Assembly. Please answer the call. TAKE ACTION. These bills will be heard on Wednesday, click to take action: To attract and retain teachers we must increase Compensation–The House Teacher Compensation bill has been approved by the House Education committee and is now in the House Appropriations committee. The Teacher Compensation bill has been approved by the Senate Appropriations committee and is now being heard in the full senate. These bills will be heard on Thursday, click to take action: Protect vulnerable students by protecting gender identity expression Public schools need more mental health resources Students need better access to mental health counseling Support English Language Learning Improve education with work-based Learning for School Staff (Senate) Improve Academic achievement with Individual Education Plans These bills will be heard on Friday, click to take action: Improve education with work-based Learning for School Staff (House) Photo Credit: Skip Plitt - C'ville Photography, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

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 same process in that chamber. Thus a bill that originates and passes in the Senate will be debated and possibly approved by the House of Delegates, and vice versa. Bills that pass both houses then go to the Governor for signatures, or the Governor can sink the bill by vetoing it instead of signing it. This year, crossover is planned for February 7, 2023 and the General Assembly will be in session until the end of February. Twenty-nine education bills were identified as priority bills by 4 Public Education in a collaboration with other advocacy groups. These bills are listed at this link, where the status of each is updated daily. To help ensure that the bills we support pass and those we oppose fail, 4 Public Education and the Virginia Grassroots Coalition have developed one-click calls-to-action that send emails to committee members to petition them about the bills. These tools are shared with 4 Public Education members with the hope that those interested in public education will complete and share each tool. Closely related bills are grouped below as “Calls to action” to offer a tool that enables you to directly contact the legislators involved. Calls to action in support of bills: School Mental Health Programs Increase Counseling Resources Increase compensation for School Employees Work-Based Training and Mentoring of School Staff Support English Language Learners Improve Academic Achievement Calls to action in opposition to bills: Diverting funds from Public Schools Banning Resources from Public School Libraries Limiting Expression of Gender Identity in Public Schools Photo Credit: Skip Plitt - C'ville Photography, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

In Virginia, we have a limited, but frenzied, time in which to influence legislation at the Statehouse. This year the legislature runs through the end of February. Just like a freight train, legislation builds momentum, or stalls, during the early weeks, and in subcommittees of both houses. That's why your voice (and your finger) are so important this week. With one click on your computer you can weigh in, and make a difference, on a vote for or against publc education. Please use your superpower to help students, and defend democracy, today. Just click on the links and follow the instructions. This will take less than 60 seconds. 4 Calls to Action for Education Bills: Click for bill details and one click action tool Pay teachers higher salaries Greater mental health resources Greater access to mental health counseling Vote NO to diverting funds from public schools Thank you! We'll be back next weekend with an update and actions for the next week. Your team at 4 Public Education To help us spread the word, please consider a small donation to assist our all volunteer team. No amount is too small. Photo Credit: Skip Plitt - C'ville Photography, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

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, despite these critical needs. Hopefully, everyone with a vote realizes that now is the time we can do what is needed for our public schools that are deprived of what they need when budgets are tight. Thus, we are following priority bills closely for this 2023 Virginia General Assembly. Calls to action for support or opposition to these bills will be posted in the Take Action part of our website as advocacy is needed, or with other pro-public education partners. 4 Public Education supports the following proposed bills: Fully funding Virginia’s public schools with bills HB1497, HB1566, HB2111, SB1215, SB1325; Providing mental health support to students with bills HB1938, SB818, SB856, SB1043, SB1257, SB1268, SJ228, and; Ameliorating Covid’s impact on academics with bills . HB2145, SB819, SB1118, SB1334. 4 Public Education opposes the following proposed bills: Censorship of school library material by bills HB1379, HB1448, SB787; Attacking students based on gender or gender identity by HB1387, HB1399, HB1434, SB911, SB962, and; Diverting funding from public schools in the name of school choice HB1371, HB1396, HB1508, SB823. Legislators continue to recognize the need to increase compensation for our teachers and support staff; therefore, Delegate Convers-Fowler, Delegate Rasoul, and Senator Lucas have introduced bills that should help compensate and retain our valuable teachers. This year we have bills that intend to increase learning and mentorship opportunities for principals, teachers and sta ff, and also reduce the ratios of principals, teachers and staff to the number of students in each school. Those bills were introduced by Delegate Bourne and Senator McClellan. The pandemic impacted K-12 students and teachers in many ways. Thankfully, our legislators stepped up and introduced bills this year to mitigate those impacts. One of the most publicized impacts was what some call “Learning Loss” due to online school during the pandemic, where much of the greatest impact has been on rural, low income, and immigrant communities. We ask legislators to support those bills including ones that: 1) increase in English Language Learner resources (introduced by Senator Hashmi), 2) improve communication with parents of English Language Learners (introduced by Delegate Guzman), and 3) provide early intervention services for reading and math (introduced by Senator Favola). The pandemic has highlighted the increased need for mental health services for K-12 students so our legislators have introduced bills to increase the availability of mental health support in our schools, including bills by Senator Spruill, Senator Favola, and Delegate Plum. Photo Credit: Skip Plitt - C'ville Photography, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons