Bill advances to change teacher contracts in Virginia

RICHMOND

A bill ending a de facto tenure system for public school teachers cleared a major hurdle this morning with a significant change: teachers with existing continuing contracts would keep them, even if they change school divisions.

With the amendment, the House Education Committee voted to approve the bill 13-8. It could get a vote on the House floor as soon as Monday.

Hampton Roads' representation on the committee voted for the measure 3-1. The issue has divided local educators.

Under the proposal, initiated by Gov. Bob McDonnell, new teachers - anyone who isn't up for a continuing contract by July 1, 2013 - would get a three-year contract instead of an open-ended one. School divisions typically offer teachers a continuing contract after successful completion of a three-year probationary period. The proposal also extends that period to five years.

The new version would exempt most of the state's roughly 100,000 teachers from the change, said Rob Jones, director of government relations for the Virginia Education Association. Only about 10 percent don't have a continuing contract, he said.

House Bill 576 by Del. Richard Bell, R-Staunton, initially proposed one-year contracts for teachers, but has undergone several rewrites. A version discussed as recently as Tuesday evening would have required teachers who transfer divisions to give up their continuing contract.

Amending that language will ensure the bill phases out continuing contracts without penalizing teachers who already have them, said Del. Scott Lingamfelter, R-Prince William County, who proposed the change.

The altered proposal has won over some critics, including the Virginia School Boards Association and the Virginia Association of School Superintendants. Proponents in the McDonnell administration say the current system protects lackluster teachers.

The Virginia Education Association and several teachers who addressed delegates this week still oppose the measure. They argue it erodes job security and deprives teachers of due process.

Under the current system, teachers go before a panel to discuss their case before administrators can terminate their continuing contract. The new system would only require one unsatisfactory evaluation for officials to justify not renewing a teacher's agreement after the three-year period.

"This bill allows dedicated teachers who dedicated their lives to service to be fired without reason and without due process," Jones said.

Del. Jennifer McClellan, D-Richmond, whose father is a teacher, also expressed doubts about the bill.

"We don't pay them enough... their benefits are already under attack," she said. "There are ways to get rid of them without demoralizing an already demoralized profession."

The goal is to ensure teachers perform at a high level, Bell said. It also requires all teachers and principals, regardless of contract status, to receive an annual evaluation, taking student performance into account, and requires school boards to consider factors other than seniority during layoffs.

"What we're trying to do is improve the profession, make it a little more competitive," Bell said. "I've never known competition to hurt anything."

Mary Anna White, a Latin teacher at Granby High School in Norfolk, took the day off Tuesday to speak against the bill, which she said will put additional pressure on teachers already facing a new requirement that 40 percent of their evaluations consist of student growth indicators, mostly test scores.

"Are we trying to make our teachers better or are we just trying to pressure them?" White said. "Yes, we need to have high standards for teachers, but we also need to have an environment of support."

Kathy Adams, 804-697-1563, kathy.adams@pilotonline.com