Advocacy and Policy Special Interest Group

 VACTE’s Advocacy and Policy SIG strives to give our Association an effective voice in policy and legislation impacting educator education in Virginia. We also act thoughtfully to support our partners in PreK-12 public schools across the state.

VACTE leads our state in advocating for and building capacity for high-quality educator preparation programs. Our main objective is to maintain an effective voice for educator preparation at the state level of matters of policy, legislation, licensure, regulations, and other matters. We stay informed of policy initiatives and proposed legislation, reaching out regularly to Virginia’s delegates, senators, Governor, Department of Education, and Board of Education. We also participate in our national organizations, AACTE and ATE, to strengthen educator preparation at the national level.

Education is the heart of every community, and the most impactful measure of education quality is investing in the training and experience of our state’s teachers.  We commit to keeping in touch with our elected officials at all levels, and collaborating with our partners in education, in order to maximize the support, flexibility, and resources needed to produce excellent teachers for our public schools.  We will do this by staying focused on our top three priorities:

  • Educators are what make school, learning, and student success possible. Policy makers must value the work of educators and the programs that prepare them by maintaining high standards for the profession; consulting practicing educators during state education policy development; and appointing teacher educators to state boards, task forces, and committees. Our state must be invested in the well-being of educators to ensure that a well-prepared, supported, and accomplished teacher is in every classroom.

  • In the midst of continued and severe teacher shortages across the state, Virginia must support high-quality educator preparation pathways in order to place well-trained teachers in every classroom. Our state must help recruit new teachers as well as encouraging career-changers to join our profession. Investment and innovation are needed to dramatically improve teacher pay, working conditions, and teacher leader pathways.

  • Current state and national policies requires expensive reporting. To facilitate the gathering and usage of better data over the long term, Virginia must support the development of an integrated information management system for its students in and graduates of teacher preparation programs (as well as those who are licensed through alternative routes). Such systems will require budgetary support, agency staffing, and training.

 

Get involved

There are many ways to engage in advocacy work in support of Virginia’s educators and students.

 

Join the conversation

Contact Jeff Davis and Maggie Barber, SIG Co-Chairs, for more information about this group. Use the link to the right to sign up for the Advocacy and Policy listserv.

Familiarize yourself with the advocacy process

Check out the ATE Advocacy Handbook for information about advocacy and strategies for making your voice heard.

Get information through the Virginia Public Access Project

The Virginia Public Access Project (VPAP) was established in 1997 with the goal of providing Virginians access to public documents reflecting financial aspects of politics. Over the years, VPAP has expanded its services to offer citizens access to diverse political news and public data on topics like campaign finance, elections, registrations and disclosures, legislative votes, and political developments.

  • Sign up for the Virginia Public Access Project (VPAP)'s daily newsletter here: https://www.vpap.org 

  • Download VPAP's new app, featuring all of Virginia's legislators and General Assembly committees, on the App Store or Google Play Store!

Contact Your Legislator

Introduce yourself to your legislator. Share your thoughts about pending legislation. Templates coming soon!