Advocacy in Virginia

Governor’s Office

Governor Terry McAuliffe

Communicating with the Governor’s Office (webmail and phone)

Bob Brink, Senior Legislative Advisor,

Jennie O’Holleran, Senior Policy Advisor,

News Releases: You can sign up for the Governor’s News Updates on this page.

Virginia General Assembly

Virginia General Assembly

Who’s My Legislator?

Members of the Senate

Members of the House

Senate Education and Health Committee (meets Thursday, 8:00 a.m., Senate Room B)

House Education Committee (meets Monday and Wednesday, 8:30 a.m., House Room D)

2017 Legislation

Tracking Bills

Lobbyist-in-a-Box allows you to sign up to have the journey of a bill sent to you.

To track certain bills, you can input the bill number and track its status.

2017 Bills of Interest:

HB 1401: Public institutions of higher education; speech on campus.(R. Steven Landes, R-25) Prohibits public institutions of higher education from abridging the freedom of any individual, including enrolled students, faculty and other employees, and invited guests, to speak on campus, except as otherwise permitted by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.

HB 1402: Governing boards of public institutions of higher education; leadership; residency. (R. Steven Landes, R-25)Requires each chairman, vice-chairman, rector, and vice-rector of the governing board of a public institution of higher education and each chairman and vice-chairman of each committee of the governing board of a public institution of higher education to be a resident of the Commonwealth.

HB 1408: Student vision screenings; requirements for certain students. (R. Lee Ware, R-65)

HB 1410:Certain educational institutions; designation of governing boards; financial assistance; enrollment. (David Albo, R-42): requires at least 75 percent of the undergraduate students have established domicile [HB 1413, HJ 543, HR 141]

SB 203: Public schools; Standards of Learning assessments.(John C. Miller – deceased) Reduces the total number and type of required Standards of Learning assessments to the minimum requirements established by the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. The bill requires the Board of Education to adopt and implement a transition plan over two years beginning with the 2017-2018 school year.

SB 428:Standards of Learning assessments; administration time frame.(John C. Miller – deceased) Provides that, beginning in the 2016-2017 school year, the Standards of Learning assessments in grades 3 through 5 shall be administered over two consecutive school days and limited to two hours each day.

SB 505: Standards of Learning assessments; reporting results.(Glen H. Sturtevant Jr., R-10) Requires the Department of Education to report the results of individual students on the Standards of Learning assessments to the local school divisions by June 30 of each year.

SB 759:Public schools; dyslexia advisor.(Richard H. Black, R-13) Requires each local school board to employ one full-time equivalent advisor who specializes in the identification of, and the appropriate interventions, accommodations, and teaching techniques for, students with dyslexia or a related disorder.

SB 763:Special education; recording of classrooms.(Rosalyn R. Dance, D-16) Requires a local school division, upon written request by a parent or school board employee, to place, operate, and maintain one or more cameras in each self-contained classroom or other special education setting in which a majority of the students in regular attendance are (i) provided special education and related services and (ii) assigned to a self-contained classroom or other special education setting for at least 50 percent of the instructional day. [SB797]

SJ 81: Study; Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission; teacher salary compression; report.(Glen H. Sturtevant Jr., R-10) Directs the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission to study compression in the teacher salary scale in local school divisions, analyze the effect of compression on teacher recruitment and retention, and identify necessary adjustments. [SJ225]

Education Agencies

Virginia Department of Education

Virginia Board of Education has a link for Education Legislation.

Virginia Secretary of Education: Dr. Dietra Trent,

Deputy Secretary of Education: Holly Coy,

Educational Initiativeslists the focus and intent and timeline of ESSA implementation, Profile of a Virginia Graduate, Standards of Accreditation, and Standards of Quality.

Public comments can be submitted to

Write Melissa Luchau, Director for Board Relations, o receive notices of hearings conducted by the Department of Education and to submit comments.

Virginia Schools

Virginia School Boards Association (has a number of resources, including a legislative blog)

Virginia Public Schools – School Division Menu by Region (click each region to get a listing of the schools)

Advocacy Opportunities through NCTE

  1. Virginia Every Student Succeeds Act: This site outlines information, communications, and stakeholder engagement opportunities in Virginia.Stakeholder Engagement & ESSA State Plan lists webinars being held in October.NCTE encourages its members to (1) submit comments regarding the listening tours to ; and (2) submit comments related to the roundtables to . Teacher voice is critical as Virginia creates its plans.
  2. Policy Analysis Initiative: NCTE has two policy analysts representing each of the50 states, plus the District of Columbia. One covers education issues from preK through grade 12 and the other covers higher education. Leila Christenbury ()serves as Virginia’s P12 policy analyst and Mabel Khawaja ()is the higher ed analyst. The reports that policy analysts post on the NCTE website describe trends and critical issues within their states. NCTE encourages members to read and act on their state’s policy analysts’ reports, as well as volunteer to serve as policy analysts.
  3. NCTE Intellectual Freedom Center:NCTE provides resources and guidance for teachers facing book challenges.Millie Davis is the director and you can write her at . Some school districts have policies regarding the selection of books and procedures when books are challenged. Others do not. If your school district does not have a policy, please feel free to write Millie to help you draft a policy to present to your school board. See The Students’ Right to Read.
  4. NCTE joined with VATE and the Virginia Association of Science Teachers to successfully persuade Governor McAuliffe to veto HB 516 (the “Beloved” bill).
  5. Literacy & NCTE Blog: The blog offers a wonderful way to illustrate and advocate for an issue or position.VATE member Leila Christenbury described her experience meeting with the governor’s staff in Losing – And Then Winning: The Story of Virginia’s HB 516. Another Virginia teacher, Shauna Mayo, published Dismantling the School-to-Prison Pipeline One Child at a Time, which NCTE shared with then-Virginia Secretary of Education Anne Holton. Deputy Secretary of Education Holly Coy invited Shauna to serve on the Classrooms, Not Courtrooms Task Force.Blogs are published every day. They average 300–500 words.Writers submit a photo of 2MB or less and a one- to two-sentence bio.Writers also share their Twitter handle, if they have one.
  6. NCTE Position Statements: Educate yourself on NCTE position statements on key issues.
  7. NCTE Resolutions: NCTE members may submit resolutions on important literacy education topics for consideration by the Committee on Resolutions during the Annual Convention. If the resolution is approved by the NCTE membership, it becomes an official position of NCTE, serving as a guide to NCTE advocates. Position statements are shared widely with educators, administrators, policymakers, and the public. Resolution submissions were due October 15, but consider submitting a resolution next year.
  8. Advocacy Day and Month:NCTE members have gone to Capitol Hill every year to meet with congressional representatives and continued that advocacy throughout the month of March.NCTE is in the process of reworking both the day and the month.
  9. Everyday Advocacy: Changing the Narrative about Literacy Education: This is a wonderful toolkit of resources for teachers about advocacy in the classroom and beyond. Sessions on honing advocacy skills will be offered at the Annual Convention in Atlanta.
  10. The NCTE DC Office is now located in the Hall of States, 444 North Capitol Street, NW, Washington, DC, within walking distance of the Capitol and Senate and House Buildings.Given Virginia’s proximity to Washington, DC, all are invited to visit the office. NCTE staff is happy to set up appointments with yourcongressional representatives or to attend congressional coffees and events they host.

Recommendations for Advocacy in Virginia

  1. Get to know your state senator and delegate. Set up a meeting with them, preferably in their home office when they are not in session. However, even though they are incredibly busy in Richmond, they welcome meetings with constituents. Attend their town halls. Subscribe to their newsletter if they have one or sign up to receive their emails.
  2. Once you have established a relationship with them, you can ask them to patron or co-patron a bill or legislation you would like passed. If they are unwilling, meet other representatives who might be more open to your issue. I have found that asking a member of the majority party is usually but not always helpful, so find someone who is willing to work with you and others.
  3. If you have the time to take a day off to go to Richmond, visit as many committee members as you can. Face-to-face meetings will eventually make an impression.
  4. If you know who your opponents might be, ask to meet with them. Virginia legislators like parties that work together and create compromise.
  5. If you do ask a legislator to sponsor legislation, be prepared to be called at short notice to testify before either a subcommittee or the full committee. See the standard meeting hours above. When you testify, keep it short, succinct, and simple. Speak clearly and confidently. Be prepared to answer questions. Also be prepared for the opposition (when you could not compromise).
  6. The first rule of politics is to pack the room. If you can, have your colleagues attend the hearing with you; if they are willing to speak and can, encourage them to do so. Sometimes just having them there is great support. Many times, supporters will stand with the speaker.
  7. During those times you cannot attend, email the committee members with your remarks.Avoid the canned language that many organizations ask their supporters to send. Staff will not read those; they just keep a tally of who supports and who opposes. You can send snail mail to Richmond, but email is quicker. Write a heartfelt message—with your personal story—and details. Staff will read those and often give them to their legislators to read. Encourage your supporters to write letters and to include their personal stories as well.
  8. You might also want to peruse legislation that has been introduced tosee if there are bills you support or oppose. If you support a bill, write the patron to ask if there is anything you can do to help with its passage. Write all of the committee members, telling them why you support the bill. If you oppose it, ask to have a meeting with the patron to see if he or she will listen to your point of view. Again, tell the committee members why you oppose the legislation.
  9. If you strongly oppose a bill, you might want to attend the hearing of the subcommittee or full committee so the members can hear your point of view. Again, mobilize your supporters.
  10. Other effective means of advocacy for supporting or opposing bills include writing a letter to the Richmond Times-Dispatch during the legislative session. All the legislators read this newspaper during session. Or write your local newspaper. Post on social media. If you know a print, TV, or radio reporter, get that individual to run a story. Write an op-ed. Circulate a petition. Legislators want to get reelected; if they think their constituents are with them, they will ignore you, but if they think their constituents support you, they’ll listen.
  11. You will find in Virginia that swing districts have legislators of both parties who are more moderate, and they are the most willing to compromise. You will also find that if you take the time to meet with your representatives and committee members, you will have more sway. Remember, you are competing with paid lobbyists who are in daily contact with legislators.