Summary

Virginia HB 1500 (Open States or Virginia Legislature) is a state budget bill amending the 2012 Acts of Assembly, which appropriated funds for the 2012-2014 fiscal years, and providing a portion of revenues for those years.

Legislative Analysis

VA HB 1500 includes several appropriations that promote digital learning and innovation in education. These include:

• extending an appropriation of $600,000 for a second year to fund innovative education programs and promote coordination among higher education institutes in developing PreK-12 programs through the College Partnership Laboratory Schools;
• authorizing the Secretary of Education, in consultation with the Community College System and the Board of Education, to coordinate with various other stakeholders to study the steps necessary to develop and implement a conceptual model for an Integrated School of the Future.  Elements of the new blended model for a school campus would include a cohesive approach to learning that infuses engineering and mathematical principles across curriculum areas and a focus on providing state-of-the-art technology learning opportunities;
• increasing funding from $100,812 for the first year to $200,812 for the second year for the Innovative Education Technical Advisory Group, established to assist new applicants seeking to establish charter, college laboratory, or virtual schools, or other instructional delivery or school governance models;
• increasing funding by over a million dollars for the education technology grant program, to $59.8 million in FY 2013 and $59.6 million in FY 2014. These funds will be used to establish a computer-based instructional and testing system for the Standards of Learning (SOL) and to develop the capability for high speed Internet connectivity at high schools, then middle schools, then elementary schools;
• changing the supplemental technology grant funding for schools that are not fully accredited. Instead of a fixed rate of $26,000 for each school, schools that administer SOL tests in Spring 2013 and are not fully accredited will qualify to participate in the Virginia e-Learning Backpack Initiative in FY 2014.  Each qualifying school will receive: (1) a supplemental grant of $400 per ninth grade student for the purchase of a tablet computer device for that student and (2) a supplemental grant of $2,400 to purchase two content creation packages for teachers.  Schools eligible for the grant in FY 2014 will continue to receive the grant for the number of subsequent years equaling the number of grades 9 through 12 in the school, up to a maximum of four years.  Schools eligible to receive these grants for a period of up to four years beginning in FY 2014 will not be eligible to receive a separate award in the future once the original award period has ended; and
• school divisions can receive a $26,000 supplemental grant for each qualifying school for the first year. In the second year, school divisions are eligible for grants as described above. The funds are for the purchase of tablet computer devices for ninth grade students and content creation packages for teachers. Participating school divisions are required to select a core set of electronic textbooks, applications, and online services for productivity, learning management, collaboration, practice, and assessment to be included on all devices. In addition, participating school divisions assume recurring costs for electronic textbook purchases and maintenance.

Legislative History

Detailed Vote History: Legiscan |  Open States

Approved by Governor Bob McDonnell on 5/3/2013