Virginia Education Department Submits Overdue Reports to Lawmakers; One Report Outstanding

Two months after a deadline imposed by lawmakers, the Virginia Department of Education published four of its five overdue reports, detailing progress on funding programs, how school divisions perform under quality standards and outcomes for special education students in private day schools.

Two of the reports published by the department included summaries on teacher salaries compared with other states and how funds are used in several programs to provide students with extra help with their studies and learning to read. The other reports were summaries on how localities are meeting the Standards of Quality, or the set minimum requirements to support school divisions, and on the outcome data for students with disabilities who are enrolled in private schools.

The fifth report, which is still outstanding, is survey results of school-level teaching conditions and the impact such conditions have on teacher retention and student achievement.

The reports, typically requested by lawmakers, help them make legislative and funding decisions.

When the reports reached a two-month delay, on March 2, state lawmakers contacted the agency, specifically Secretary of Education Aimee Guidera and then-Superintendent of Public Instruction Lisa Coons, about the delayed reports.

Within a week, Coons signed four completed reports, between March 6-10.

The following week, Coons resigned from her position.

Since then, the agency has welcomed Emily Anne Gullickson as the superintendent of public instruction. Gullickson’s appointment will be considered by the General Assembly.

Questions linger after Coons’ sudden resignation from Va. education department

In response to the Mercury’s questions, the Department of Education did not explain why the reports were delayed or how four of them were able to be produced so quickly once lawmakers pushed for their submission. The Department said it “sends assigned reports to the General Assembly immediately upon completion.”

Sen. Ghazala Hashmi, D-Richmond, and Del. Sam Rasoul, D-Roanoke, signed the letter directed to Coons and Guidera in March requesting the reports that provide “critical information” that they said will be essential for future discussions.

The two lawmakers, who chair their respective education committees in the Senate and House, requested a timeline for completion and submission of each report. Instead, the agency published four of the five reports without the two receiving a response as to why the reports took as long as they did to be published.

“The reality is that there’s clearly a lot of internal strife inside of the administration. That’s why there’s been so much turnover at the superintendent level and within the department,” Rasoul said. “I think that there are many good people, both within the administration and in the legislature, who are trying to just focus on improving Virginia schools. However, there are too many folks, including the governor, who have just hyper-politicized every move in education.”

In addition to the overdue reports, Hashmi said the list of delays also includes a delay in the release the results of the state assessments “for parents and students and teachers to take a look at an individual student’s performance” and the teaching guidelines for the history and social science standards to help provide resources for teachers before the fall.

“They were supposed to be available at least last year, and here we are still waiting for them,” Hashmi said.

She said past reports under Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s administration have also included errors and have had quality issues.

“I’m hoping that we’ll see some changes now under a new leadership,” she said.

by Nathaniel Cline, Virginia Mercury

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