Governor Bob McDonnell announced his education agenda for the 2012 General Assembly. The agenda, outlined below, advances his administration’s ongoing “Opportunity to Learn” K-12 education platform. For the issues outlined below, the governor’s proposed budget also includes $438 million in new, additional K-12 funding over the next biennium.
Raise Standards – College and Workforce Readiness
- Streamlining Diploma Requirements
- Positive Youth Development
- Dual Enrollment
- Advancing Literacy
Reducing Mandates on Local School Divisions
- Calendar Flexibility
Expanding Educational Options for Virginia Students
- Provide Structured Support for Innovative Learning
- Virtual Schools Legislation
- Alternative Licensure Virtual Teachers Legislation
- College Partnership Laboratory School Enhancements
- Educational Improvement Scholarship
Enhancing Teacher Quality
- Strengthening Teacher and Administrator Contracts, Evaluation Policies and Streamline Grievance Process
For a more detailed description of these endeavors, see the press release issued by the Governor’s office.
These issues will be hashed out over the coming months in the General Assembly. Also, look for many of the issues to be raised at public meetings of the Virginia Board of Education. The next meeting of the VBOE is this Thursday, January 12 at 9:00 a.m. The agenda has been posted, and includes key items such as the First Review of Revised Guidelines for Uniform Performance Standards and Evaluation Criteria for Principals.
[NOTE: The Virginia Education Report provided "live" coverage of the press conference on our events page. You can see the transcript of the "Cover It Live" session there. Look for more live coverage of key education events across the Commonwealth in the coming days and months.]
