HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 17 Offered January 11, 2006 Prefiled December 8, 2005 Commending the Virginia School Boards Association on the occasion of its 100th birthday. ---------- Patron-- Tata ----------

WHEREAS, in 2006 the Virginia School Boards Association, a voluntary organization that is committed to quality education throughout the Commonwealth, celebrates its 100th birthday; and

WHEREAS, founded in 1906, the Virginia School Boards Association (VSBA) is a private, self-supporting, nonpartisan organization whose primary mission is the advancement of education through the unique American tradition of local citizen control of, and accountability for, the Commonwealth’s public schools; and

WHEREAS, the VSBA represents the Commonwealth's 134 school boards, which in turn develop the educational policies that govern the public schools  in Virginia; and

WHEREAS, the mission of the VSBA is to provide member boards with quality services, training, advocacy, and support so that they may exercise effective leadership in public school governance; and

WHEREAS, the VSBA represents the interests of the Commonwealth's school boards before the legislature, state agencies, Congress, and state and national regulatory bodies; and

WHEREAS, the VSBA is a superlative and valuable organization that supports and serves the local public school boards and all of the public school students of Virginia with great care and competence; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly commend and congratulate the Virginia School Boards Association on the occasion of its 100th birthday; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to the Virginia School Boards Association as an expression of the General Assembly’s appreciation for its many contributions to the welfare of local school boards and its outstanding service to the citizens of the Commonwealth.