LOCAL

ASSOCIATION
PRESIDENTS

Melanie Lewis,
Amherst
Clara Jo Cunningham,

Issues and Answers

V O L U M E

X X X I I

www.veadailyreports.com articles posted by Robley Jones

Friday, February 6, 2015

Cheryl Sprouse,

Calendar Bills Revived, Three

Person Panel Dead, Sometimes
They Listen, A Bad Choice,
Check in Sunday

Christel Coman,
Campbell Co.
Connie Finney and
Kathy Hudson,
Lynchburg

2 0 1 5

Midterm Report from the Virginia General Assembly

Appomattox

Bedford Co.

F E B R U A R Y

Yesterday the House school calendar bills came back to life when they
were reconsidered and reported by
the House Education Committee.
Delegate Greason's HB1550 and
Delegate Robinson's HB1838 both
eliminate the post-Labor Day opening requirement.
This morning, Delegate Hugos
HB1744, the bill to give local school
boards the option of employing a
three person panel rather than a hearing officer for teacher dismissals,
was heard in the House Committee
on Counties, Cities, and Towns.
They re-referred the bill to House
Education on a voice vote. The problem is that House Education will not
meet again before crossover
OUCH! We requested another meet-

ing of House Education to no

avail. Thats one way they kill
bills no fingerprints. Every vote
on this bill was procerdural in
nature. This bill is dead, but no
one can be held accountable for
its death by the voters. Welcome
to the Virginia General Assembly.
It is very good news that the
House Appropriations Committee
on Elementary and Secondary
Education tabled Delegate Cline's
HB2374, a bill to require dyslexia
training for initial licensure and
license renewal. VEA's message
that training for teachers should
be provided by our employers not required of the teacher for
licensure, often at the teacher's
expense. Delegates Cox, Landes
and Greason offered very helpful
remarks.
This same committee reported
Delegate LaRock's HB2238,
which creates Parental Choice
Education Savings Accounts,
transferring public dollars to pri-

vate schools and home schoolers at

a time when insufficient funds are
provided to our public schools.
The House and Senate will report
their budget bills on Sunday, so
please check this blog on Sunday
evening for VEA's first take. Carol
Donohue will offer an in-depth
analysis during next week.

Sunday, February 8, 2015

First Blush (My Face is Red!)
This first report out on the House
and Senate budget bills, which were
reported from the money committees today, is cursory in nature, and
we will follow with a much more
thorough analysis in the days ahead.
I will address only the salary issue
from the high level.
VEA requested the state share of a
6% salary increase for SOQ funded
teachers and support personnel.
Senator Chafin, Delegate Plum, and

Appomattox County Teachers Among Lowest Paid in Area

www.timesvirginia.com
Wednesday, February 4, 2015
By STEPHANIE A. JAMES
Staff Writer
A recent study and survey revealed
that pay for division teachers is behind other surrounding counties.
The Appomattox County Education
Association, presented results of the

survey and study to the Appomattox County School Board last

Thursday as the budget process
begins.
In a presentation referred to as
What are Our Teachers Worth?
Glover shared information about
how the school division compares
with other localities as far as pay,
comments from teachers, and pay
at a certain time period.

Thirty-five percent of teachers were

in favor of unlimited accumulation
of personal days as alternate compensation.
Appomattox starting salary for new
teachers is $38,000, which makes
the pay competitive, however, as
teachers gain experience, the area
lags behind in compensation. Teacher pay has been stagnant since 2009.

PAGE

UPCOMING
VEA EVENTS
Sparks Weekend
Wintergreen:
March 6-8
VEA Convention
Hampton: March
26-28
Rally in Richmond:
April 18

For more
information: http://
www.veanea.org/
home/upcomingevents.htm

Midterm Report Continued

Delegate Torian carried the amendments.

Certainly the House is more equitable in its approach.

The Governor included no salary increases in his

budget amendments, but vowed to work with both
chambers to address the issue.

It would take a 15.1% increase to raise Virginias teacher salary to the national average.

The Senate reported its budget first, so Ill start

there. Here is the breakdown of salary increases:
3% for state employees, with a 2% base
adjustment for targeted state positions with
high turnover
3% for state supported local employees
2% for college faculty
1.5% for teachers and support personnel (10
months)

Monday, February 9, 2015

The disparity in the raises offered certainly raises

questions regarding the priority that the Senate
affords public school teachers school employees
got the short end of the stick. This is one more
reason to come to Richmond on April 18th.
The House salary increase breakdown is as follows:
1.5% for state employees, plus funding to
address salary compression
2% for state supported local employees
2% for college faculty
1.5% for teachers and support personnel (11
months)

Flying Blind
It appears that both the House and the Senate will pass
resolutions regarding a topic of great significance for our
schools and for the teaching profession.
Senator Janet Howell's SJR218 "Requesting the Department of Education to study the feasibility of implementing a program in the Commonwealth to track teacher
turnover by developing exit questionnaires and other
means" passed in the Senate and heads for the House.
Delegate Bobby Orrock's HJR558 "Requiring the State
Council of Higher Education for Virginia to analyze the
teacher shortage and critical teaching endorsement areas
in the Commonwealth" passed to third reading in the
House today and appears to be headed for passage tomorrow.
As usual, the two chambers have taken very different
approaches to the same topic. One can only hope that
the two chambers can come to an agreement as to how to
do this important analysis of teacher supply and turno-

Appomattox County Teachers Continued

VEA CenVaServ

The highest starting salary among 7 other surrounding

division includes Nelson County, which pays a starting salary of a teacher $43,000. The starting salary for
the state average is $39,000.
On average a teacher earns $39,167 in 10 years,
which is behind the state average of $42,500. That is
$1,731 behind seven other localities. The division
with the highest pay for teachers with 10 years experience is Nelson County, which sets at $45,000.
At the 20-year mark, teachers make $44,188, which is
behind the state average of $50,000.

shortage in pay, 65 percent of the teachers surveyed

say that they have to work a second job.
Glover highlighted the most notable comments from
the survey, which include: We are expected to do
more and more every year with less and less incentive
and less and less time allotted, and We work night
after night and weekend upon weekend which is crazy. It affects our families which affects everything
else!
Another comment: As a single parent on my salary
we qualify for state aid including free lunches. This
is not acceptable for a professional with a degree to
have a salary that requires state aid to feed
my children.

Also the survey revealed that

nearly 60 percent of
teachers were in favor
ACEA will be presenting
of reinstating a
to B.O.S. on March 2nd
step increase to reflect the years of
experience. Due to a

ISSUES

AND

ANSWERS

ACEA plans to present the results of the

survey to the Appomattox County Board of
Supervisors at an upcoming meeting.

VOLUME

XXXII

PAGE

Midterm Report Continued from Page 2...

ver. Some years back the Department of
Education stopped keeping track of teacher
demographics when budget cuts eliminated
positions.
Virginia is flying blind in this regard when a
huge cohort of baby-boom teachers are readying for retirement. Finding the answers regarding teacher demographics, turnover, and
supply will enable the Commonwealth to
make appropriate decisions regarding attracting and retaining a high quality teacher workforce. Best case scenario is that both pass.

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

One Step Closer to Abolishing A-F
With the passage of HB1672 it appears that
VEA will likely succeed in our effort to
"Abolish A-F grading of schools." Ironically,
the bill's sponsor, Delegate Tag Greason,
carried the bill to create "A-F" in 2013
(HB1999).
Senator Black carried the Senate bill to repeal
"A-F" (SB727), but the language that has
passed out of the Senate is flawed, as it allows "A-F" enactment for one year.
The House language is an outright repeal.
Do you believe the dead shall walk again?
Well that is certainly the case with the House
bills to eliminate the post-Labor Day opening
requirement, Greason's HB1550 and Robin-

son's HB1838. These two bills were pronounced dead on 2/4, but rose again on 2/5.
Again, the House in on record in support of
ending the post Labor-day opening requirement.
Three Disappointments
A public money to private schools bill,
HB2238, passed the House today on a very
interesting vote. One Democrat, Johnny Joannou voted wrong, and ten Republicans sided
with us (Bloxom, Campbell, Helsel, Kilgore,
O'Quinn, Pillion, Rush, Rust, Yancey and
Yost). I'll be providing much more information about this bill in the future.
Delegate Dickie Bell's HB1361, which opens
the door to corporate virtual education providers, passed the House 62-38. K-12, the corporate provider thrown out of Carroll County
when the academic performance of student in
their K-12 virtual school proved to be disappointing, was deeply involved in writing this
legislation. All Democrats and six Republicans (Edmunds, Helsel, O'Quinn, Rust, Ware,
and Yost) voted right.
Delegate Rob Bells Constitutional Amendment (HJ577) to transfer the authority to grant
a charter for a charter school from local school
boards to the Board of Education passed on a
58-41 vote. Two Democrats voted wrong
(Filler-Corn and Joannou) while 12 Republicans voted right (Albo, Bloxom, Campbell,
Edmunds, Helsel, Hugo, Kilgore, Miller,
OQuinn, Pillion, Rust and Yost). An identical measure, Obenshains SJ256, already

passed the Senate. We will have one more

chance to defeat this amendment in the
2016 session. It must pass in two sessions
with an intervening election if it is to go on
the ballot.

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

House Kills Accountability Measure for
Private School Receiving Public Dollars
Having passed the Senate 24-15 with good
bipartisan support, Senator Janet Howells
SB 905, a VEA initiative, was defeated on a
voice vote in House Finance Committee
Subcommittee #2 on a voice vote. No fingerprints!
You may remember that the tuition tax
credit provisions in the Code of Virginia
prescribe insufficient accountability requirements for the eligible schools, and
dont provide adequate information to facilitate an accurate comparison of these
schools for interested parents. Requiring
these schools to compile the results of any
national norm referenced test seems wholly inadequate if parents are to make informed choices of schools.
It is incredible that the General Assembly,
which is so intent in holding our public
schools accountable has no interest in holding the private schools receiving public
dollars accountable.

Campbell County Schools Brace for Revenue Slump

www.newsadvance.com

Written By Katrina Dix

The Campbell County School Board began
formal discussion of the 2015-16 budget with
a public hearing at its meeting this week.
Superintendent Robert Johnson discussed
supporting a 3 percent raise for teachers, as
well as bracing for a decrease in kindergarten
enrollment and the accompanying revenue as
a result of the record low birth rate in 2010,
among other issues.
Johnson started his discussion by talking
about state support for raises for teachers. The
current budget proposes a 3 percent raise,

added before the division was aware of any possible money from the state, he said.
That the state only recommends one and a half
percent for teachers, I think that sent a message
to what they truly think about public education, if
you look at the other areas that received greater
raises than public school teachers did. I think
it says something about your priorities.
Johnson noted the birth rate for 2010 was the
lowest on record in Campbell County, meaning
next years kindergarten class will be small. The
state is projecting the countys enrollment will
contract by about 200 students, he said. The
county expects the contraction will be closer to
128, which still amounts to a revenue reduction

of more than $600,000, he said

. Weve got to nail that [number] down,
he said. We dont want to estimate a budget thats too high and the students dont
materialize, then obviously you know what
happens, theres a shortage in our budget.
We wont get that money. We dont
want to, obviously, underestimate and get
an additional amount of revenue in that we
have to go to the supervisors and ask to
keep.
The contraction looks to be an anomaly, he
said, with enrollment expected to return to
levels closer to normal for the school year

PAGE

UPCOMING
VEA EVENTS
Sparks Weekend
Wintergreen:
March 6-8
VEA Convention
Hampton: March
26-28
Rally in Richmond:
April 18

Rally in Richmond!
In the past seven years, our childrens public education has come under attack due to budget cuts in recessionary times and opportunistic politicians who took advantage of hard times to underfund our quality schools in
Virginia. This attack has taken the forms of altered standards of quality that reinforce underfunding, to salaries being frozen, to your retirement system being greatly altered. The time to show up and fight back is now.
In a partnership with the Virginia PTA, your Virginia Education Association is working together to rally at the
Virginia Capitol building to show in force that we will not stand for this any longer. On Saturday, April 18
buses from the Lynchburg area will leave that morning carrying all who can walk with us to the Capitol to say
that enough is enough. Will you be on board with us? If you are frustrated with the lack of funding for your
school, lack of pay, or lack of professional respect, then you need to be. All people from the community are
welcome to ride down with us. Call our Central Virginia UniServ office today at (434) 239-7016 to reserve
your spot on the bus. Spots will go fast, so call today!

Campbell County Schools Continued from Page 2...

For more
information: http://
www.veanea.org/
home/upcomingevents.htm

VEA CenVaServ

beginning in 2016.
Johnson also said the division is not yet sure what
kind of health care-associated cost increases it may
incur, since health care costs operate on a calendar
year schedule rather than a school year schedule,
but the division plans to try to absorb as much of
any increase as possible rather than passing the cost
on to employees.
Were going to have another tough budget year,
board member Leon Brandt said. Since we have
no dollars, and we depend on the state for a few
dollars and the local supervisors, I would strongly
encourage you all to take your strong comments to
those Southern gentlemen to help us in any way we
can so that we can have some dollars that we can
pass out. It is very needed and justified to the
teachers and all of our employees.
Only two people spoke during public comment
Christel M. Coman, president of the Campbell
County Education Association, and Amy Witt, the
president of the Special Education Advisory Committee. Coman spoke from a prepared statement
urging the division provide raises for teachers and
an adjustment of pay steps, saying the county had
prioritized buildings over people.
I believe what was forgotten in the big debate
was that the true bricks and mortar of our school
system are the employees who came to work each
day and gave it their all while every facet of our

ISSUES

AND

ANSWERS

school system was nickeled and dimed to death, she

said. You can clearly tell what a community values by
where it places its funding.
Witt asked the board to maintain professional development for special education aides as a priority in the
budget.
I cannot begin to tell you the amount of parents that
has contacted me with growing concern over the professional aide that has either been assigned to their
child or their classroom that need additional training.
Parents feel that instructional aides are not equipped to
handle children with various special needs due to this
lack of training, she said.
Witt said it was SEACs understanding the current
budget included money for professional development
as well as specialized training and urged the board to
approve that section of the budget.
The superintendent responded during his discussion of
the budget, Im pretty confident thats still there in the
instruction budget. But now, understand we have lots of
priorities, and sometimes we have to make that executive decision about what is it we do. I can tell you
weve already taken out a lot of things that came to us
from those departments. We have to sit down and be
realistic.

CCEA Speaks Out For Its Members

Good Evening. I am Christel Coman, a resident of Altavista, a taxpayer in Campbell County, and the President of the Campbell County Education Association.
I find myself...again sharing comments about the upcoming budgetand quite frankly, its disheartening
and.to be more precise...disgraceful...that providing for our school employees continues to need someone
to advocate for it.
For the past several years, this community has been inundated with debate on how to spend hundreds of
millions of dollars...should it be for new bricks and mortar in consolidating schools...or should the old
bricks and mortar be made to shine again and the communities keep their schools. And yet, here I
am.again...talking about the need to provide our school employees with a decent, respectable raise and a
long-overdue adjustment of the pay steps. I believe what was forgotten in the big debate was that the true
bricks and mortar of our school system are the employees who came to work each day and gave it their
all...while every facet of our school system was nickeled and dimed to death.
So the big debate ended...for a while...and the communities kept the schools they wanted. But that cant be
where it stops. We cant hang on the hope of the pittance that the General Assembly may or may not throw
our way. Our communities must make a collective...and loud statement, that they value their schools and
those who keep their schools moving forward. You can clearly tell what a community values by where it
places its funding. You cant sy that education and your hometown schools are vital..and not back it up.
If you talk the talk, well...you know how the rest goes.
Its unfortunate that we have some elected leaders who would even vote against a library, YES folks, a library how short sighted. You dont have to be a Harvard economics major to know that everyones property value...whether you have children in school or not...whether you use the library or not...is worth more
if these are valued parts of our communities. Ask any real estate agent...one of the pivotal factors in property values for everyone...even during less than wonderful economic times...is how the community values its
school system and the services a community provides.
We have held up our end of the bargain. We have kept on keeping on...through every cutback, through every new directive and reinvention of the wheel.through every unfunded mandate.through every negative comment hurled at public education. We kept on educating the children.we kept on serving them
breakfast and lunch, we kept on driving them back and forth to school..EVERY ONE OF
THEM.continued to be the primary focus of our day.
Now we are asking our School Board.to advocate for us.to say...loud and clear.to our community, to
neighboring communities, to anyone who wants to move here and bring their tax dollars with them..that
the Campbell County School system and its employees are valued.

Teachers, Parents Campaign for Higher Pay at Bedford County

School Board Meeting
Teachers and parents told stories of second
jobs, leaving for other divisions, or even
leaving the profession as they pleaded for
raises for teachers during public commentary Thursday night at the Bedford County
School Board meeting. The board also
approved funding request resolutions on
construction of the new Liberty-area Middle School and a sewer line extension to
Moneta Elementary. Public comment went
on for 45 minutes as 13 people spoke to an
audience of about 100 community members. Many remarked the small raise two
years ago went to increases in health care
costs, and it has been anywhere from six to
10 years since teachers have had a true cost
of living increase.
Many speakers held the Board of Supervisors as largely or even primarily responsible.
We didnt get a lot of the things that we
think were getting, said Cheryl Sprouse,
a Bedford Middle School teacher. I dont
want to say were being deceived, but
sometimes I think were being deceived.
No, you directly do not hold the purse
strings. But you do develop a budget
Until we rise to the call and have a backbone ... were going to continue to have
people leaving.
Paul Martin, a former teacher in the division, came forward to say he had left the
profession because he couldnt afford to
stay.
It didnt matter how hard I worked, how
diligent I was, he said, adding his family
qualified for welfare, food stamps and
Medicaid for the first 10 years on his pay
scale. We have to make the ink work out
on the end of the sheet [but] if this was
a business, it would be bankrupt because
youd lose all your people. Dont let the
ink make your decisions. You have the
ability to make this happen.
Montvale Elementary teacher Mike Roebuck said many of his colleagues who
would have liked to come couldnt; one
was working a second job as a caterer,
another couldnt afford a babysitter and
one was taking masters coursework in
order to make enough money to stay in
education. Others didnt see the point of

www.newsadvance.com
asking and still more felt they shouldnt
have to.
Many of them voiced their distaste for
having to come to a meeting and beg for a
raise, he said.
Staunton River Middle School teacher Kristina Childress said she passes through two
divisions that pay better on her way to
work. She is devoted to teaching, and to
teaching in Bedford, she said, but she needs
help convincing others, and even herself,
that its worth it to stay in the division.
Loyalty doesnt pay my mortgage, she
said. Intrinsic rewards dont pay back ridiculous student loans. ... Dedication
doesnt pay hospital bills when the [high
deductible plan health savings account] runs
out.
After public comment closed, Gary Hostutler, board chairman, said there has been
some discussion at the state level of support
for a raise, but they might see a funding
amount that covers, for example, a 2 percent raise for half the staff.
I do appreciate all you teachers, he said.
Its a noble profession, but it shouldnt be
a profession where you live in poverty or
[cant] afford ... for your own children to go
to college. Hopefully, we can find the funds
ourselves and then get some help from our
local and state government.

businesses into a community.

They [the Board of Supervisors] think the
trick to bringing people to this county is
keeping taxes low. It isnt, he said.
Superintendent Doug Schuch urged the
community to return for the board's budget
discussion Feb. 26. The Board of Supervisors will have a meeting on Feb. 23, which
members of the community, board and
administration also suggested the public
attend to show support for raising teachers'
pay.
The board also voted on resolutions to
request the Board of Supervisors move
forward on funding the construction of the
new Liberty-area Middle School and the
sewer line at Moneta Elementary.
The resolution on the new middle school
states the school board is requesting the
supervisors proceed in borrowing $47.7
million for the cost of the school and a
competitive gym for Liberty High School.
The resolution on the Moneta sewer line
states the school board is requesting assistance with repair costs. The total project
will cost an estimated $358,000. The
school board decided during its meeting to
set the request amount at $100,000 from
the Board of Supervisors based on the
supervisors resolution to support that
amount last summer.

Later in the meeting, Chad Honeycutt, of

the Bedford County Education Association,
made a presentation to the board. A survey
of 100 educators in the division found 56
percent work second jobs and/or take on
extra paid duties within the school system
to make ends meet each month, he said.
Bedford has the lowest average teacher
salary about $41,000 among 11 other
divisions within commuting distance, according to the presentation.

We have been accused of moving the

goalpost on the school board ... [so] I
would like to just stick with $100,000.
That might be an easier get, Board member Jason Johnson said.

I know this isnt comparing apples to apples ... but this is still what a new teacher
looks at when they come in, Honeycutt
said.

The board unanimously approved both

resolutions.

He concluded the presentation by saying

research consistently shows the quality of
the educational system is the most important element in bringing residents and

Vice chairman Julie Bennington said, I

originally was going to say we could request 50 percent, but I think in light of
what just happened with them ... I think
we should go in with $100,000.

BCEA will be presenting to the B.O.S.

at 6:00 on February
23

PAGE

VEA Regional Pre-Retirement Meeting 2015

March 12 Fairfax
(4:30-6:00 pm)
FEA Building
3917 Old Lee Hwy
Fairfax, 22030

April 8 Winchester
(5:00-6:30 pm)
Wingate by Wyndham
150 Wingate Dr.
Winchester, 22601

April 21 Chesterfield
(6:15-8:00 pm)
Meadowdale Library
4301 Meadowdale Blvd.
Richmond, 23234

March 18 Richmond
(4:30-6:00 pm)
Holiday Inn Express
201 E. Cary St.
Richmond, 23219

April 9 Staunton
(4:30-6:00 pm)
Hampton Inn Fisherville
15 Four Square La.
Fisherville, 22939

March 19 Chesapeake
(4:30-6:30 pm)
Chesapeake Public School Admin. Bldg.
312 Cedar Rd.
Chesapeake, 23322

April 13 Emporia
(4:30-6:00 pm)
Country Inn & Suites
107 Sadler La.
Emporia, 23847

April 29 Abingdon/
Washington Co.
(5:30-7:00 pm)
Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center, Room 240
Partnership Circle
Abingdon, 24210

March 25 Newport News

(4:30-6:00 pm)
Point Plaza Suites
950 J. Clyde Morris Blvd.
Newport News, 23601
April 2 Virginia Beach
(4:30-6:00 pm)
Va. Beach Educ. Association
445 Kings Grant Rd.
Virginia Beach, 23452

April 14 Loudoun
(4:30-6:00 pm)
Harper Park Middle School
701 Potomac Station Dr.
Leesburg, 20176
April 15 Arlington
(4:00-5:30 pm)
Kenmore Middle School
200 S. Carlin Springs Rd.
Arlington, 22204

EASY PAY GOALS

Amherst: 2
Appomattox
Bedford: 5
Campbell
Lynchburg: 3

ISSUES

AND

April 30 Roanoke
(4:30-6:00 pm)
Jefferson Center Rehearsal Hall
541 Luck Ave.
Roanoke, 24016

ANSWERS

For the Fairfax meeting (FEA

office on 3/12/15), please contact
the FEA office at 703-352-7300
and make a reservation. Or you
can email savila@fairfaxea.org

New Members Since Aug

1, 2014
Amherst +19
Appomattox +7
Bedford +17
Campbell +7
Lynchburg +22

VOLUME

XXXII

PAGE

Local Legislator Contact Information

Delegate Kathy Byron
Email: DelKByron@house.virginia.gov
Office Phone: (804) 698-1022

Delegate Terry Austin

Email: DelTAustin@house.virginia.gov
Office Phone: (804) 698-1019

Serves Counties of Bedford, Campbell Franklin, Lynchburg City

Serves Alleghany, Bedford, Botetourt Counties, Covington City

Delegate T. Scott Garrett

Email: DelSGarrett@house.virginia.gov
Office Phone: (804) 698-1023

Delegate Matt Fariss

Email: DelMFariss@house.virginia.gov
Office Phone: (804) 698-1059

Serves Amherst, Bedford Counties, Lynchburg

Serves Appomattox, Buckingham, Campbell, Nelson

Counties

Delegate Benjamin L. Cline

Email: DelBCline@house.virginia.gov
Office Phone: (804) 698-1024
Serves Counties of Amherst, Augusta, Bath, Rockbridge,
Lynchburg City

Senator Tom Garrett

Email: district22@senate.virginia.gov
Phone: (804) 698-7522

Senator Steve Newman

Email: district23@senate.virginia.gov
Phone: (804) 698-7523

Among others, serves: Amherst, Appomattox Counties,

Lynchburg City

Among others, serves: Bedford, Campbell Counties, and

Lynchburg