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Articles of Interest
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State & Local Policy
Virginia House panel endorses bills to corral college costs
The Free-Lance Star
January 20, 2015
Two bills aimed at making college more affordable were approved unanimously Monday by the House Appropriations Committee.
The bills, both introduced by Majority Leader Kirk Cox, R–Colonial Heights, would cap student athletic fees and give certain schools more administrative flexibility. They now go to the entire House for consideration.
House Bill 1895 would grant several of Virginia’s smaller and midsized public colleges and universities additional administrative authority regarding information technology, procure- ment, and capital projects.
House Bill 1897 would limit the amount of athletic revenue that colleges and universities collect from mandatory student fees. The caps would apply differently to Virginia’s Division I, II and III schools. Institutions would have five years to incrementally reduce mandatory student fees as a percentage of overall athletic revenue.
On Tuesday democratic leaders in Richmond named their priorities for the 2015 General Assembly session, focusing on education, elections, and ethics.
The Senate Democratic Caucus says they want a non-partisan commission to re-draw the district map to make it more representative of the voting public. They're also supporting a bill they say will make day care facilities safer.
Some of their other legislation priorities align with republican leader, such as reforming SOL tests, and put a capping gifts to lawmakers.
Virginia Senate defeats Sen. Dick Black’s in-state tuition proposal
Loudon Times
January 20, 2015
The Senate of Virginia this afternoon killed legislation from Loudoun state Sen. Dick Black (R-13th) that would have prohibited in-state tuition at the commonwealth's universities for students of undocumented immigrants.
The vote was 20-19, with Republican Sen. John Watkins of Powhatan joining 19 Democrats to oppose the measure.
Republican Sen. Jill Holtzman Vogel, who represents portions of Fauquier and Loudoun, reportedly walked off the floor and did not vote. Vogel could not immediately be reached for comment.
First, the president wants to talk about the idea he floated last week of making community college tuition-free. This is new.
Second, the president is expected to push for universal preschool for 4-year-olds, an idea he talked about a lot last year. Congress shot down the president's initial $75 billion proposal because it called for a 94-cent tax increase on cigarettes to pay for it.
Third, the president is likely to talk about revisiting the Bush-era law known as No Child Left Behind. Congress has not reauthorized the main federal education law since 2007. Experts give it about a 50-50 chance this year.
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Should universities be required to report sexual assaults to local police?
In the wake of significant media coverage about sexual assaults on college campuses, this was one of the questions we put to a representative sample of Virginians for our 2015 Commonwealth Education Poll. Legislative proposals, including Senate Bill 712, would require university faculty or staff to report to police within 48 hours any alleged criminal sexual assaults that come to their attention.
According to our poll, an overwhelming majority of Virginians (92%) believe that colleges and universities should be required to report sexual assaults to the police. Support for the idea dropped to 84% among the youngest demographic group, those aged 18-34.
“Rarely is there such a strong consensus on any issue in our public discourse about such a charged issue,” said Dr. Robyn McDougle, Interim Executive Director of the Commonwealth Educational Policy Institute and Associate Professor at the Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs at Virginia Commonwealth University. “Lawmakers in an election year will pay close attention to this type of overwhelming sentiment.”
The margin of error for the poll is +/- 4.1 percentage points. If you'd like to see the other questions as well as topline and crosstab data, you can find the entire release online.
We'll also be breaking down more detailed results of the poll in the coming months in Compass Point, but keep an eye open for the release of the second section of data at 9am on Thursday, January 22nd. Education Funding and Bullying/School Safety are the lead topics of the release. The final release of data will be January 29 (SOL reform, School Accountability and Virtual Education).
The General Assembly is now in full swing. Check out the excerpt below from David Blount's General Assembly Week 1 review. Weekly updates are posted to the website each Monday detailing the progress of education related budget and legislation.
In the midst of the flurry of General Assembly and Poll related activity, we're also privileged to have some words of reflection from Dr. Niraj Verma, our Dean here at the L. Douglas Wilder School about how remarkable Dr. Bosher was in his expertise and commitment. Please take a moment to read Dr. Verma's thoughts and remember Dr. Bosher with us.
Sincerely,
CEPI
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In Memoriam: The Remarkable Dr. Bill Bosher
Dr. William Bosher was a much loved faculty colleague and Distinguished Professor in the L. Douglas Wilder School in Virginia Commonwealth University. Among his many important contributions was his direction of the Commonwealth Educational Policy Institute, which is part of our Center for Public Policy.
There are very few people in Virginia who knew as much about K-12 education and this meant that Dr. Bosher was a frequent presence in the news-media. It was hard to imagine how someone who performed his work at VCU with utmost professionalism and fidelity and who led so many doctoral dissertations, could also find time to inform and educate the broader public. But, I know that discussing education came so naturally to Bill and he was so passionate about it that it wasn’t an issue of time.
Many issues in education are controversial but even while he grappled with these issues he came away deeply respected even by those who did not agree with him. The outpouring of support, the over 3000 people who attended the memorial service in his honor, and Governor McAuliffe’s order that the Commonwealth of Virginia flag fly at half-mast all are evidence of the remarkable legacy that Dr. Bill Bosher leaves behind him.
At the Wilder School, we find this loss immeasurable but are comforted by the many instances in which he led by example. I suspect that many who knew him continue to ask, “What would Bill Bosher do?” when facing a difficult problem or situation. Such is the legacy of the remarkable colleague, Dr. Bill Bosher, who passed away peacefully in his sleep on November 30, 2014.
Niraj Verma, Ph.D. <email>
Dean and Professor
L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs
Virginia Commonwealth University
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General Assembly Update - Week 1
Excerpted from CEPI's weekly General Assembly Update
"State policymakers lined up in advance of the General Assembly convening to lay out their education policy objectives for the session. Members of the House Republican caucus indicated they plan to focus on teacher professional development issues and additional reforms to the state testing system. Specifically, they say they will push for additional funding for teacher professional development and will develop a process to share teaching best practices across the state.
They will also recommend that the Board of Education (BOE) and Department of Education (DOE) consider the inclusion of interdisciplinary assessments in the Standards of Learning (SOL) tests (see HB 1615). This would allow teachers to use different subjects like science, math, reading and writing and to promote critical thinking and problem solving in one test. They also want to provide expedited test retakes for students under certain conditions (see HB 1302, HB 1490 and HB 1706; SB 874 is the Senate version) and to have the State Council of Higher Education (SCHEV) develop a standardized system for granting college credits to students who have successfully completed one or more Advanced Placement tests (see HB 1336).
House Republican leaders also want to reform the Standards of Accreditation (SOA) to provide flexibility in how often schools are accredited. Presently, every school must go through the accreditation process every year. Under this proposal (see HB 1674), schools with a track record of success would be able to apply for a waiver, allowing them to seek an alternative accreditation cycle of three or five years, depending on their past accreditation performance.
Governor McAuliffe also announced education proposals he intends to advance during the session. In addition to proposals he recommended in budget amendments (explained in last week’s report), the governor announced plans to seize upon recommendations of the SOL Innovation Committee he established last year. These include proposals, similar to those laid out above, to have the BOE develop guidelines to create additional accreditation ratings to recognize schools that make significant progress toward accreditation from one year to the next (HB 1873), and to provide expedited retakes of SOL tests for students who barely miss the benchmark for progress to the next grade level (see HB 1668, SB 757, and SB 897). He also would extend a provision allowing retired educators to teach in schools with teacher shortages without impacting their retirement.
Over 1,900 bills and resolutions have been introduced as of this writing, with the final bill introduction deadline a week away. Below is a list of some of the key education legislation introduced so far; additional bills will be listed in next week's report.
HB 324 and HB 1361 would establish the Virginia Virtual School for the purpose of providing online instructional programs and services."
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