Virginia

National Council on Teacher Quality Report Card: Virginia Teacher Policy

Legend

	Best practices.
	State meets goal.
	State nearly meets goal.
	State partially meets goal.
	State meets a small part of goal.
	State does not meet goal.
Full Report – National Council on Teacher Quality

Meeting NCLB Teacher Quality Objectives: C

	Goal A Equitable Distribution of Teachers
	Goal B Elementary Teacher Preparation
	Goal C Secondary Teacher Preparation
	Goal D Veteran Teachers Path to HQT
	Goal E Standardizing Credentials

Teacher Licensure: B

	Goal A Defining Professional Knowledge
	Goal B Meaningful Licenses
	Goal C Interstate Portability
	Goal D Teacher Prep in Reading Instruction
	Goal E Distinguishing Promising Teachers

Teacher Evaluation and Compensation: D

	Goal A Evaluating Teacher Effectiveness
	Goal B Using Value-Added
	Goal C Teacher Evaluation
	Goal D Compensation Reform
	Goal E Tenure

State Approval of Teacher Preparation Programs: C

	Goal A Entry Into Preparation Programs
	Goal B Program Accountability
	Goal C Program Approval and Accreditation
	Goal D Controlling Coursework Creep

Alternate Routes to Certification: C

	Goal A Genuine Alternatives
	Goal B Limiting Alternate Routes to Teachers with Strong Credentials
	Goal C Program Accountability
	Goal D Interstate Portability

Preparation of Special Education Teachers: D

	Goal A Special Education Teacher Preparation
	Goal B Elementary Special Education Teachers
	Goal C Secondary Special Education Teachers
	Goal D Special Education Teacher and HQT

Political contribution statistics from 2004 political cycle.

Statewide Unions

Virginia Education Association
Total Revenue: $ 12,716,504
Total Expenses: $ 13,413,850
Total Assets: $ 10,647,852

Data obtained from the Internal Revenue Service's Master Data File 2005-2006.

For this massive new project, the Center for Union Facts filed freedom of information requests with dozens of America’s major school districts.

 From the stacks of paperwork that ensued, we have calculated a variety of statistics that document how teachers unions – and the laws and policies they defend – keep bad teachers in classrooms. Read on to discover just what all that dues money pays for in many cities around the country.

Education Association of Norfolk and the Norfolk Federation of Teachers: Protecting Bad Teachers

Norfolk Public Schools features two teacher organizations connected to state and national unions: the Education Association of Norfolk (a local of the Virginia Education Association, part of the National Education Association) and the Norfolk Federation of Teachers (a local of the American Federation of Teachers).

According to district records, however, "tenure" policies (called "continuing contracts" in Virginia) defended by these groups and their parent unions mean that practically no teachers with three or more years of experience are ever fired by Norfolk Public Schools.

In Norfolk, there are approximately 1,837 teachers with tenure. Original research by the Center for Union Facts into school district records indicates that, between the school years ending in 2003 and in 2007, only two tenured teachers were fired by the district. That means that Norfolk Public Schools fires about 0.02 percent of its tenured teachers annually.

The typical response to such abysmally low statistics is that tenured teachers are commonly "counseled out" of their jobs if they're not fit to teach. But a look at district records suggests that it's not very common at all. Center for Union Facts research indicates that for the 2002-03 through the 2006-07 school years, exactly one tenured Norfolk teacher resigned in lieu of termination.

It's easy to believe that the vast majority of Norfolk's public schoolteachers are doing a good job, but it's a near-impossibility that fully 99.98 percent of its tenured teachers deserve to be in front of kids; any group of people that size is bound to have at least a few more bad apples than the ones mentioned above. The best explanation, in our opinion, is that by protecting an outmoded employment system in the legislature and by turning tenured teacher termination cases into equivalents of a criminal trial, the Education Association of Norfolk, the Norfolk Federation of Teachers and their affiliates have made it nearly impossible to fire bad teachers.

Source: City of Norfolk
Data current as of December 7, 2007

For this massive new project, the Center for Union Facts filed freedom of information requests with dozens of America’s major school districts.

 From the stacks of paperwork that ensued, we have calculated a variety of statistics that document how teachers unions – and the laws and policies they defend – keep bad teachers in classrooms. Read on to discover just what all that dues money pays for in many cities around the country.

Virginia Beach Education Association: Protecting Bad Teachers

The Virginia Beach Education Association (VBEA) counts as its members teachers from the Virginia Beach City Public Schools District. According to school district records, however, policies defended by the VBEA and its parent organization, the Virginia Education Association (VEA), mean that practically no teachers are ever fired by the school system after they work for three years and acquire tenure (called "continuing contracts" in Virginia).

In Virginia Beach, there are approximately 4,534 teachers with tenure. Records procured by the school district for the Center for Union Facts indicate that, between the 2003-04 and the 2005-06 school years, only two tenured teachers were actually fired by the district. That means that Virginia Beach's school district fires about 0.015 percent of its tenured teachers annually.

The typical response to such abysmally low statistics is that tenured teachers are commonly "counseled out" of their jobs if they're not fit to teach -- that is, they are persuaded to resign or retire in lieu of being fired. But the district's response to a Center for Union Facts research request (asking for teachers who "resigned or retired in lieu of termination") produced evidence that, between the 2003-04 and the 2005-06 school years, thirteen tenured teachers resigned their jobs in lieu of pending discipline or termination. That's still only about 0.1 percent of tenured teachers a year. So the argument that tenured teachers get "counseled out" at significant rates doesn't hold water -- out of more than 4,534 tenured teachers, that's barely four a year.

It's easy to believe that the vast majority of Virginia Beach's public schoolteachers are doing a good job, but it's a near-impossibility that fully 99.9 percent of its tenured teachers deserve to be in front of kids; any group of people that size is bound to have at least a few more bad apples than the ones mentioned above.

The best explanation for these numbers, in our opinion, is that the Virginia Beach Education Association and the Virginia Education Association are protecting bad teachers with an outmoded employment system. At the state level, the VEA safeguards the law that turns tenured teacher termination cases into equivalents of a criminal trial, and at the local level the VBEA helps bad teachers use this system to protect themselves.

Source: Virginia Beach City Public Schools
Data current as of November 26, 2007