The House Education Early Childhood/Innovation Subcommittee met and took action on the following bills:
HB 230 (Coyner) Applications for teacher licensure by reciprocity; military spouses; timeline for determination. Requires the Board of Education's licensure regulations to provide for licensure by reciprocity for any spouse of an active duty or reserve member of the Armed Forces of the United States or a member of the Virginia National Guard who has obtained a valid out-of-state license, with full credentials and without deficiencies, that is in force at the time the application for a Virginia license is received by the Department of Education. Current law requires such regulations to provide for licensure by reciprocity for any spouse of an active duty member of the Armed Forces of the United States or the Commonwealth. The bill requires such an individual to submit an official copy of the military permanent assignment orders of the individual's spouse as part of the complete application packet. The bill requires the Department to determine and communicate such individual's eligibility for licensure by reciprocity within 15 business days of receipt of the complete application packet. The subcommittee recommended reporting 8-0.
HB 271 (Byron) Local school boards and comprehensive community colleges; compensation structure for adjunct instructors; noncredit workforce credentials. Requires local school boards and comprehensive communities colleges to enter into local or regional agreements for the establishment and implementation of a competitive compensation structure to recruit and retain adjunct instructors to be jointly compensated by the relevant school boards and colleges to prepare both high school students and college students to earn noncredit workforce credentials, as that term is defined in relevant law. The subcommittee recommended reporting and referring to Appropriations 8-0.
HB 41 (Scott, P.A.) Early childhood care and education; publicly funded providers; assessment of children. Provides that, except as otherwise required by federal law, no child who is enrolled at a publicly funded provider shall be required to participate in the Virginia Kindergarten Readiness Program or any other program for the assessment of the child's cognitive ability, development, learning, or readiness for kindergarten. The bill was tabled 8-0.
HB 256 (Simonds) New Economy Workforce Credential Grant Program; eligible institutions; contracts. Permits eligible institutions under the New Economy Workforce Credential Grant Program to contract with noncredit workforce training programs and providers, provided that the instructors of such programs and providers are certified and are compensated by the eligible institution. The bill was carried over to 2023 at the request of the patron.
