Your VOTE Is Your VOICE in the Virginia PTA 2007 Proposed Legislation Program (PLP)

“Your VOTE is Your VOICE” in the Virginia PTA 2007 Proposed Legislation Program (PLP)

Please review the following 2007 Virginia PTA Proposed Legislation Program (PLP) information. You will have the opportunity to vote on it when you become a PTA member. This is a wonderful opportunity to let our state PTA representatives know where we stand, so please take a few minutes to familiarize yourself with this proposed legislation. Thank you!

Legislation Action Items (LAI): requests for the introduction, passage or defeat of specific legislation by the General Assembly and/or regulations by the Board of Education or other appropriate agencies.

Policy Statements (PS): statements of the Virginia PTA on general issues and may be used as the basis for addressing issues before the General Assembly, Virginia Board of Education or other appropriate agencies.

LAI #1: Virginia PTA seeks and supports legislation requiring state standards for high school graduation rates to be part of the criteria for High School Accreditation. Rationale: The drop-out/push-out problem is an acute crisis for many school children and is likely to grow more severe with the continued emphasis on test-based accountability. Schools and districts may find it easier and more cost-effective to raise overall test scores by removing low performing students from the test-taking pool, rather than investing in the resources and programs needed to improve the academic performance of struggling students. Without countervailing incentives to keep children in school, test score accountability creates incentives for schools to push low-performing students out the back door. If the Virginia General Assembly sends a strong message to schools to prioritize graduation rates, schools will find creative ways to engage low-performing students and keep them in classrooms. Just as test scores have gone up since the Standards of Accreditation set passage rate targets for schools to become “Fully Accredited,” graduation rates will go up when the state sends the same message about high school completion.

LAI #2: Virginia PTA seeks and supports legislation to require local school divisions to offer state funded pre-K programs that would be available but not mandatory for children. Rationale: Research on early childhood development has revealed that 75% of brain growth occurs before the age of 6 and that without sufficient mental stimulation, children may fail to develop synapses that facilitate learning throughout their lives. Today, more than 58% of all 3 and 4-year olds are in pre-K, daycare, nursery school, or Head Start programs, but many families still lack access to affordable, high-quality early childhood education programs. Graduates of high-quality early learning programs are less likely to be arrested, less likely to be held back in school, less likely to need special education, and more likely to pursue higher education. The Abecedarian Project found that low- income children who received comprehensive, quality early childhood education intervention had higher scores on cognitive, reading, and math tests than a comparison group of children who did not receive the intervention. These effects persisted through age 21. Children who received early childhood education were also more likely to attend a four-year college or to delay parenthood. A study conducted by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development found that children in high-quality child care demonstrated greater mathematical ability, greater thinking and attention skills, and fewer behavioral problems. These differences held true for children from a range of family backgrounds, with particularly significant effects for at-risk children. Because of such effects, early childhood education is highly cost-effective. According to the National Institute for Early Education Research, early childhood education generates savings of as much as $7 for each dollar invested. Traditionally, high-quality early learning programs have been available only to affluent families; yet, good early learning programs have a particularly strong impact on low-income children who are at greater risk for school failure. There is a great need for high-quality early childhood education programs that these children’s families can afford. As of 2001, 56% of all pre-kindergarten, 3 to 5-year olds were enrolled in center-based early childhood care and education programs, but only 47% of children living in poverty were in such programs.

LAI #3: Virginia PTA seeks and supports legislation to require that all elementary school students receive unrestricted daily recess that promotes physical activity and social interaction and cannot be used as a means of discipline without written parental consent. Rationale: Despite mounting evidence that children need an outlet to blow off steam, learn to interact with others and get the exercise they need, nearly 40% of American elementary schools have either eliminated or are considering eliminating recess. Due to school budget cuts and an increased focus on academic standards, millions of American school children may miss out on unstructured play with their peers during the school day. Recess also functions successfully as an established school-based activity and should be carefully considered as part of any school health and wellness policy. However, in Virginia, regulations establishing Standards of Accreditation Public Schools state, “…shall provide these (elementary) students with a daily recess during the regular school year as determined appropriate by the school.” This does not prevent teachers and administrators from using recess as a tool for modifying behavior. A new survey recently conducted by the National PTA showed that nine out of ten teachers say recess and the free time spent with peers is an important part of the school day and is crucial to a child’s social and emotional development. Other key findings from the survey include:  99% of parents and teachers think recess is important for elementary school students  Three out of four agree that recess should be mandatory  More than half of PTA leaders think kids are less disruptive in class if they have recess  More than 75% disagree that all school time should be spent on academics  Two-thirds think kids need unstructured play during the day  Three-fourths say taking a break in the day help kids concentrate  More than half of PTA leaders think their daily recess is at risk  73% say it is because of the need to focus on academics; 30% say it is due to lack of supervisory staff  Only 9% are confident that recess will not be reduced at their school

LAI #4: Virginia PTA seeks and supports legislation to require that students have access to curriculum materials, including necessary textbooks at home and in the classroom. Rationale: Although most school divisions provide textbooks and materials to each student, some divisions only provide access to curriculum during the school day. The Virginia PTA believes that each child should be provided without cost such textbooks and workbooks required for courses of instruction and that the local division should ensure that such textbooks and workbooks are available in sufficient quantity to provide each student an individual copy that may be used at home unless all required course materials are available on school-issued computers that may be used by students at home.

LAI #5: Virginia PTA seeks and supports legislation to create and fund an Office of Children Services Ombudsman for students with special needs in each school division. Rationale: Currently each locality handles parental grievances on a case-by-case basis. An Ombudsman in each locality would serve as an advocate for parents and their children for the purposes of resolving and mediating complaints regarding any activity, practice, policy, or procedure of any facility or program operated, funded, or licensed by any state or local agency, that is adversely affecting the health, safety, welfare, or rights of any child. This Office would assure a higher level of accountability and advocacy to parents with special needs children.

POLICY STATEMENT #1: Virginia PTA supports policy that ensures the uniform assessment of high school graduation rates. The Board of Education will collect, analyze, and report high school graduation and dropout data using a formula prescribed by the Board. Rationale: Last year, the federal Government Accountability Office (GAO) identified and reviewed five intervention programs aimed at increasing graduation rates. The review found that certain interventions – school wide restructuring efforts, alternative forms of education for students who do not do well in regular classroom and supplemental services (tutoring and mentoring) for at-risk students – had demonstrated potential to increase attendance and graduation rates. Some enterprising schools here in Virginia have started successful programs to address low graduation rates. For example, the SUCCESS Program at Chesterfield County’s Manchester High School is a transition program geared towards reaching 9th grade retention rates. Ninth grade failure is a strong predictor of attendance, academic, and behavioral problems as well as students eventually dropping out of school. Since the program began in 2000, freshman failure rates at Manchester have dropped precipitously from 10.3% to 2.7%. The Board of Education should take this important step to generate measures to collect data and provide increased accountability for graduation rates. Localities that now struggle to graduate students will be able to focus resources in low-performing areas.

POLICY STATEMENT #2: Virginia PTA supports a statewide education campaign to highlight the needs and benefits of parental involvement in a child’s education at all levels from pre-K through high school.

Rationale: A parent involvement campaign reinforces the National Standards for Parent and Family Involvement and will request a complete listing of the written policies of each school division on parental involvement and a request for documentation of the program adopted in each division that comply with the requirements of NCLB. Additionally, the Virginia PTA supports an annual reporting to the Board of Education that includes the benefits of the volunteer involvement of parents including the compilation of volunteer hours in school and, if available, the time released from employment for school volunteer purposes. Virginia PTA believes that parent and family involvement policies and practices should create opportunities for parents and families to be involved in substantive tasks such as school restructuring and setting higher learning standards, and should be well structured and result in consistent parent participation throughout children’s academic program. All barriers to parent and family involvement (such as not getting time off from work, scheduling conflicts, lack of transportation, lack of child care, and language and cultural differences) need to be removed.