EDUCATION
Senate panel endorses Bible classes for public schools
The Senate’s Education and Health Committee advanced legislation Thursday that would allow public high schools to offer an elective Bible study course. The legislation is part of a nationwide push in Florida, Indiana, Missouri, North Dakota, Virginia and West Virginia, according to USA Today. “It teaches a lot about all other religions. It teaches a lot about where people […]
Legislative proposals address rising costs of college
By Adrian Teran-Tapia/Capital News Service Since 2007, tuition at Virginia’s public colleges and universities has increased an average of 80 percent, with schools like Virginia Commonwealth University and the College of William & Mary more than doubling their tuition. The rising cost of a college education prompted Del. David Reid, D-Loudoun, to file a bill […]
Panel OKs Rules for Using ‘Dangerous’ Room Dividers at Schools
By Saffeya Ahmed/ Capital News Service On an afternoon last spring, Wesley Lipicky, a third-grader at Franconia Elementary School in Fairfax County, was helping his teacher in the gymnasium when he became caught between a motorized room partition and a gym wall. The 9-year-old boy suffered traumatic head injuries and died that night. On Monday, […]
Lawmakers kill legislation to protect student journalists
By Saffeya Ahmed/ Capital News Service A legislative panel rejected a bill protecting student journalists from administrative censorship on a tie vote Monday. House Bill 2382, sponsored by Del. Chris Hurst, D-Montgomery, would have protected free speech for student journalists in public elementary, middle and high schools, as well as public institutions of higher education. […]
A march, not a strike: Hundreds rally for Virginia education funding
Hundreds of teachers and public education advocates marched through Richmond on Monday to demand more money for teacher pay, school support staff and other educational needs. Teachers from across the state told stories of not being able to afford supplies to make the signs they carried, limiting how often they buy their own children shoes […]
Richmond-area senator wants to restore pre-recession school staffing levels
Lifting a decade-long cap on certain state-funded school staffing won’t come cheap, but Sen. Jennifer McClellan, D-Richmond, is asking the General Assembly to do it — again. “I know last year I broke the bank with my budget amendments and this year, I might have again,” McClellan said in a Senate Finance committee meeting last […]
UVA study finds increase in middle school bullying in parts of Virginia that voted for Trump
Researchers at UVA found an 18 percent increase in reports of bullying in Virginia middle schools last year in localities where Trump won. A survey before the 2016 election found no difference in bullying rates between the localities. The results, based on a semi-annual survey of 150,000 state middle school students, were published last week […]
Study: Allowing immigrants to pay in-state tuition is cost-effective for Virginia
A new study by the Commonwealth Institute suggests that allowing students with deferred action immigration status to pay in-state tuition at Virginia colleges and universities does not create a cost burden for the state. In the fall of 2017, there were only 418 students with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, status at the […]
Some school districts may struggle to find local match for proposed teacher pay raise
Danielle Kinder has teaching in her family tree — her mom presides over a high school classroom down the hallway from her in Russell County and her sister used to be with them too before switching to elementary school. But teaching in Russell County is difficult. It’s the second lowest-paying county in Virginia for teachers […]
Northam proposes $36 million to add more counselors to schools
Gov. Ralph Northam announced that his proposed budget will include $36 million to increase the number of counselors at schools across the state in an effort to ramp up school safety and provide more support to students facing mental health challenges. Suicide is the leading cause of death among school-aged children both nationally and in […]
With a positive economic outlook, Northam proposes teacher pay raise, more money for school construction
Gov. Ralph Northam wants to give teachers a 5 percent pay raise starting next July, an increase from a previously approved 3 percent raise. It would be the largest, single-year raise for educators in the state in more than 15 years, Northam said Tuesday while presenting parts of his proposed education budget. He’ll formally share […]
A change that would make Virginia’s prepaid college savings plan more affordable
A proposal to change a prepaid college savings plan would make it more affordable and flexible for future college students, state auditors found. Prepaid529, one of several options through the Virginia529 program, currently allows buyers to pre-purchase semesters at public Virginia colleges and universities. Residents pay today’s tuition rates and the state guarantees to pay […]