ROANOKE, Va. – As the 2024 Virginia General Assembly session continues, educators are supporting bills that could improve classrooms.
The Virginia Department of Education said it has several legislative priorities this year.
Some of the laws the department supports include modernizing its high schools, improving career and technical education programs and prioritizing competency-based learning.
“Right now, if I take Algebra 1, I’m in Algebra 1 for the whole year. I might be a really advanced learner and not need a whole year of Algebra 1. I might be able to finish Algebra 1 by Christmas and then be able to do geometry by the spring. There’s legislation that allows that flexibility and allows students to demonstrate competency that we’re really excited about,” said Superintendent of Public Instruction Lisa Coons with the Virginia Department of Education.
Meanwhile, Roanoke City Public Schools said it would like to see laws that would improve school safety.
Constituent Services and Government Relations Officer Alan Seibert with Roanoke City Public Schools said there is outdated language in the Code of Virginia that limits holding adults accountable for failing to prevent access to weapons by children.
“We think it’s important that weapons be secured from younger children. We think that it’s just reasonable for any responsible gun owner to ensure that their weapon is secured from younger children. So right now, there are some laws on the books related to this. We have some position papers we’ve offered with some improvements we’d like to see made with improvements to make that more clear and more useful,” said Seibert.
Roanoke City Public Schools also wants to see protections for staff.
“We would like to see support and protections for teachers and staff in schools, but the section of the code that addresses teachers also addresses emergency room workers, [and] people in health care that help safeguard them from abuse that can sometimes come from very angry public. So, we would like to see our employees have additional protections as well,” said Seibert.
Seibert mentioned that he’d like to see salaries for employees in the state reach the national teacher average as well.
10 News reached out to Montgomery County Public Schools, and the school district sent us an email about its priorities for the Virginia General Assembly session.
“We hope to see state education funding become more aligned with JLARC (Joint Legislative Audit & Review Commission) and move away from SOQ (Standards of Quality) funding formula,” said Montgomery County Superintendent Bernard Bragen Jr. in an email.