House Democrats are touting bills that advanced from the House Education Committee Wednesday morning in Richmond. Democrats hold a majority in the chamber and on the committee, but these bills received bipartisan support.
Del. Nadarius Clark (D-Suffolk) was able to advance a bill out of the committee that would raise teacher pay to or above the national average.
The legislation would require that funding be provided with the General Appropriation Act to allow for a three percent increase for Standards of Quality-funded instructional and support positions for the 2025–2026 school year — and a seven percent increase for those positions in the 2026–2027 school year.
“Here in Virginia, we expect our teachers to be counselors, parents, nurses, security and many more things,” Clark said Wednesday morning. “We do not compensate them fairly to do so. We cannot expect our teachers to perform at the highest level if they’re worried about feeding their family and keeping the lights on.”
The bill was advanced, with a few Republicans also voting in favor. It was referred to the House Appropriations Committee, where they will decide if the funding is available. If Appropriations advances the bill, it would next go to the full House floor, where Democrats have a 51-49 majority.
Del. Michael Feggans (D-Va Beach) successfully championed HB 181 out of the House Education Committee. This bill would lower the ratio of full-time school counselors required to be employed from the current policy of one to 325 down to one to 250 students.
During a press conference, Feggans said that decreasing the ratio will help GPAs increase and allow counselors to more easily recognize any mental health issues students are experiencing.
“Unfortunately, because of so many disparities across our commonwealth in terms of mental health access, our counselors are going to be some of the first individuals to provide that type of intervention,” Feggans said Wednesday.
The bill advanced with bipartisan support and will now go to House Appropriations.
Del. Phil Hernandez (D-Norfolk) advanced two bills that will increase access to affordable early childhood education.
HB 407 would allow for any family that receives public assistance through Medicaid or SNAP to be eligible to receive assistance through the Child Care Subsidy Program.
HB 408 would require the Department of Education to periodically reimburse childcare providers that are vendors through the Child Care Subsidy Program on the basis of authorized child enrollment.
“I think a lot about the stories that I’ve heard from constituents that I represent,” Hernandez said Wednesday morning. “One woman I heard from is a nurse who had her first child last year. She’s a single mom, and she needed to go back to work because her maternity leave was ending, but could not find childcare that cost less than her rent.”
Both pieces of legislation advanced out of the Education Committee. HB 407 has no fiscal impact and will go straight to the full House floor. HB 408 was referred to Appropriations.
“I think it is no secret that we have a massive shortage of childcare slots that are affordable to working-class families,” Hernandez said. “That’s part of the reason why I was so heartened this morning to see two of my childcare bills passed out of committee with bipartisan support.”
Democrats are trying to take back the narrative on education after Republicans have seemed to gain traction in recent years with their “Parents Matter” movement.
“I think Democrats really have a vision for making Virginia the best place to be a teacher,” said Del. Shelly Simonds (D-Newport News). She is a former teacher and current member of the House Education Committee. “And I think the bills that we passed out of committee this morning are really going to put us on that path.”
