HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 170 Offered January 9, 2008 Prefiled January 9, 2008 Establishing a joint subcommittee to study the shortage of classroom teachers in Virginia. Report. ---------- Patron-- Ingram ---------- Committee Referral Pending ----------

WHEREAS, Article VIII, Section 1 of the Virginia Constitution, requires that the Commonwealth provide for a "system of free public elementary and secondary schools for all children of school age throughout the Commonwealth, and shall seek to ensure that an educational program of high quality is established and continually maintained"; and

WHEREAS, essential to meeting the constitutional responsibilities for the education of Virginia's children, the Commonwealth declares in Standard 1 of the Standards of Quality, (§ 22.1-253.13:1) that "the quality of education is dependent upon the provision of the appropriate working environment, benefits, and salaries necessary to ensure the availability of high quality instructional personnel"; and

WHEREAS, teachers are the agents by which the diffusion of knowledge throughout society is achieved to inform, equip, and sustain the present generation and the conduits through which civilization and the ethos of a nation are transmitted and perpetuated for the common good of our progeny; and

WHEREAS, teachers encourage intellectual curiosity and inquiry, nurture innate gifts and creativity, acquaint students with new ways of viewing ordinary things, and challenge students to think, imagine, and dream of possibilities beyond their horizons; and

WHEREAS, the transference of our heritage and the ability to stimulate an appreciation of learning and to provide for an educated citizenry is threatened by a severe shortage of classroom teachers; and

WHEREAS, the National Education Association, citing data from the National Center for Education Statistics, has reported that teacher attrition and retirement, as well as burgeoning student enrollments, will prompt a need for about 2.4 million teachers nationwide in the next 11 years, and, should class size reduction initiatives become more widespread, the projected demand for teachers might reach 2.7 million; and

WHEREAS, similar estimates are offered by the National Governors' Association Center for Best Practices, predicting a need for 2.2 million teachers by 2009, and citing the provision of qualified teachers as "the most significant area" leaders might tackle when seeking to improve public education; and

WHEREAS, the National Commission on Teaching and America’s future, a nonprofit group that seeks to increase the retention of quality teachers, estimated from a national survey of several school districts that teacher turnover costs the nation’s school districts nearly $7 billion annually for recruiting, hiring, and training; and

WHEREAS, demographers agree that the average age of persons in the teaching profession was raised due to a downturn in hiring in the 1980s and 1990s; therefore, the teaching profession has been severely affected by the departure of scores of baby boomers from the work force; and

WHEREAS, the confluence of mass retirements from the profession and the rapid departure of disillusioned young teachers has exacerbated the shortage; and

WHEREAS, adding to the discouraging tone of these statistics are reports that an estimated one in five teachers will leave the profession after only three years of classroom experience, and that the more academically successful college students are less likely to choose teaching and, if they have entered the profession, are more likely to exit; and

WHEREAS, the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future has calculated after five years of service, almost one-half of new teachers have left the profession, far exceeding the past turnover rate for the profession; and

WHEREAS, shortages are expected to be more severe in southern and western states and in urban and rural schools, with more specific shortage areas in the disciplines of science, mathematics, special education, foreign language, and technological studies, among males at the elementary and middle school levels, and among minority teachers in all disciplines and grade levels; and

WHEREAS, the demand for classroom teachers can be attributed to many factors, and reasons most often cited include retirement, low salaries, poor working conditions, school safety issues, lack of administrative support, diminished status of and respect for the teaching profession, increasing demands on the profession with very few rewards, and many more options to pursue more respected, lucrative, and psychologically fulfilling careers; and

WHEREAS, as required by No Child Left Behind, public schools must employ qualified teachers in every classroom, and providing for qualified, competent, and gifted classroom teachers is a shared responsibility between the Board of Education and Virginia's institutions of higher education; however, in 2005 Virginia’s public and private teacher preparation institutions prepared only 3,066 teachers for Virginia’s classrooms; and

WHEREAS, according to recent national studies concerning the need for teachers, "urban schools find it difficult to recruit qualified teachers regardless of background, have vacancies in core subjects that they cannot fill with a qualified teacher, have the greatest difficulty finding qualified teachers for schools with high minority enrollments, and students in inner city, high-minority schools have only a 50 percent chance of being taught by a qualified science or math teacher"; and

WHEREAS, the ultimate responsibility for public education rests with the Virginia General Assembly, which is specifically charged with the duties of establishing a public school system and striving to ensure its quality; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That a joint subcommittee be established to study the shortage of classroom teachers in Virginia. The joint subcommittee shall have a total membership of 11 members that shall consist of seven legislative members, two nonlegislative citizen members, and two ex officio members. Members shall be appointed as follows:  four members of the House of Delegates to be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Delegates in accordance with the principles of proportional representation contained in the Rules of the House of Delegates; three members of the Senate to be appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules; two nonlegislative citizen members, of whom one shall represent the Virginia School Boards Association, to be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Delegates, and one shall represent the Virginia Education Association, to be appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules. The Superintendent of Public Instruction and the Executive Director of the State Council of Higher Education or their designees shall serve ex officio with voting privileges. Nonlegislative citizen members of the joint subcommittee shall be citizens of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Unless otherwise approved in writing by the chairman of the joint subcommittee and the respective Clerk, nonlegislative citizen members shall only be reimbursed for travel originating and ending within the Commonwealth of Virginia for the purpose of attending meetings. If a companion joint resolution of the other chamber is agreed to, written authorization of both Clerks shall be required. The joint subcommittee shall elect a chairman and vice- chairman from among its membership, who shall be members of the General Assembly.

In conducting its study, the joint subcommittee shall consider, among other things, (i) factors affecting teacher recruitment and retention in Virginia; (ii) effective teacher retention initiatives in other states; (iii) ways in which conditions of employment in Virginia public schools might be enhanced to promote teacher retention; (iv) the work and recommendations of recent legislative and executive branch studies addressing teacher shortage and employment issues; and (v) such other related issues as it deems appropriate.

Administrative staff support shall be provided by the Office of the Clerk of the House of Delegates. Legal, research, policy analysis, and other services as requested by the joint subcommittee shall be provided by the Division of Legislative Services.  Technical assistance shall be provided by the Department of Education, the State Council of Higher Education, the Virginia Board for Community Colleges, the House Committee on Appropriations, and the Senate Committee on Finance. All agencies of the Commonwealth shall provide assistance to the joint subcommittee for this study, upon request.

The joint subcommittee shall be limited to four meetings for the 2008 interim and four meetings for the 2009 interim, and the direct costs of this study shall not exceed $8,300 for each year without approval as set out in this resolution. Of this amount an estimated $1,000 is allocated for speakers, materials, other resources. Approval for unbudgeted nonmember-related expenses shall require the written authorization of the chairman of the joint subcommittee and the respective Clerk.  If a companion joint resolution of the other chamber is agreed to, written authorization of both Clerks shall be required.

No recommendation of the joint subcommittee shall be adopted if a majority of the House members or a majority of the Senate members appointed to the joint subcommittee (i) vote against the recommendation and (ii) vote for the recommendation to fail notwithstanding the majority vote of the joint subcommittee.

The joint subcommittee shall complete its meetings for the first year by November 30, 2008, and for the second year by November 30, 2009, and the chairman shall submit to the Division of Legislative Automated Systems an executive summary of its findings and recommendations no later than the first day of the next Regular Session of the General Assembly for each year. Each executive summary shall state whether the joint subcommittee intends to submit to the General Assembly and the Governor a report of its findings and recommendations for publication as a House or Senate document. The executive summaries and reports shall be submitted as provided in the procedures of the Division of Legislative Automated Systems for the processing of legislative documents and reports and shall be posted on the General Assembly's website.

Implementation of this resolution is subject to subsequent approval and certification by the Joint Rules Committee.  The Committee may approve or disapprove expenditures for this study, extend or delay the period for the conduct of the study, or authorize additional meetings during the 2008 and 2009 interims.