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I am writing to express enthusiastic support for HB181, HB187, HB748, and HB937 as an educator and strong advocate of reducing VMT as a way to combat the climate crisis. HB748 is a fantastic way to mitigate the climate crisis, by providing incentives for e-bikes. Most car trips are under 3 miles, and an electric assist bicycle can obviate some of the disadvantages of using a standard bicycle. Reducing VMT, meanwhile, remains a crucial part of slowing the climate crisis. It's not enough just to have more electric cars - we need fewer cars, period, and e-bikes are a great solution! I support 937 as an advocate of Safe Routes to Schools programs for similar reasons. Active transportation to get to school - like bike buses, walking, etc. - are also wonderful for kids' mental health and physical fitness. I support 181 because it will be good for both students and counselors. And as a teacher, I know how underpaid educators are and 187 will help fix that.

Hello. I am a parent of a 9th grader, and 1st grader and I have a Four year old starting school this fall. I believe that all of these bills will work hand in hand to bring a positive change to the Norfolk Public Schools System. Many of Norfolks schools are performng below average specifically in low income communities that are majority black. The public schools in these communities have a history of being underserved and overlooked. I believe that all students should have a quality education that will prepare them for success and ensure that they excel not only academically, but also socially and economically. The implementation of a community schools model would significantly improve the performance of the students while helping the community thrive. Community school based model assess the specific needs of the school and the community and work together with each other and organizations to provide solutions to the problems that the school needs to tackle to ensure that the students staff and parents thrive. Also, increasing childrens access to school couselors is a need that can be very beneficial to the success of students and can take the some of the burden off of the teachers. Lastly, but definitely the most important is the need for a competitive salary for our teachers. They have one of the hardest and most essential roles in the field and that is building the next generation. Teachers serve as mentors, couselors, and sometimes even mediators. Some of our teacher even have to deal with hostile enviroments. In my opinion, They deserve top dollar because they are the backbone of the community. All in all I support each of these bills and I hope that they pass.

HB187: No. 1) Cost of living is different in different areas. 2) Boosting pay of campaign donors. 3) Noninstructional staff who don’t deal with students aren’t in the line of fire. 4) More taxes to pay isn’t affordable when Va is nationally 8th highest for state/local taxes. 5) Academic scores have to come up. Education before indoctrination. Minorities in this area, including the bills’ patron, are falling further behind.

Social Worker and Lynchburg Public Schools Equity Advisory Task Force member Nicole says SUPPORT HB181 and HB187. 181- Decrease in staffing ratios for guidance is an excellent step! Although there is still a shortage of providers, those currently working are beyond capacity. 187- Increased compensation is essential for retention.

I wanted to first thank Delegate Clark for submitted this bill for consideration and ask the members of the committee to pass this bill on for formal consideration on the House floor. Our educators and support staff have been continuous in their efforts to provide quality education, compassion and structure to our children. This has been the case despite a constant lack of resources, inadequate support from administration, dealing with classroom sizes of 22+ students, all while listening to many members of our government and the local public demean and disparage their work. Ensuring they are paid a national average and competing with adjacent states, and even districts, is critical to their financial wellbeing and the knowledge that they are valued and supported in the Commonwealth. As a part time employee in one of public schools, for now 6 years, I have seen the mental heath decline of our students and our staff and the added element of a higher cost of living is something we should strive to address. Thank you for your time and consideration and please remember our public schools and their success are the backbone of our community and the Commonwealth of Virginia’s future!

Different areas in Virginia have different levels for living standards. It costs more to live in Northern Va. than it does in Southwest Va. Makes no sense to pay state wide based on living standards elsewhere in the state. No other profession gets that. Only starts a bidding war when the problem is not just pay, it is the lack of discipline in the classroom, parents behavior/attitudes and lack of support from a top heavy administration.

The Virginia NAACP supports the following HB168 Keys-Gamarra Homeless students; Dept. of Ed. to develop a resource document on supports and services. HB181 Feggans School counselors; decreases public school staffing ratios. HB187 Clark Teachers and support staff; compensation at or above national average salary.

A decent salary is important based on years of teaching. Honestly, I knew I would not earn a great deal of money in this profession and that is fine. I was thrilled to see students learn new concepts as the year went on. No, it was never about the salary. Respect, integrity, transparency, communication, and high expectations and standards were missing.

This bill is impractical and extremely costly in the long run. Not every teacher can be paid above average. By definition, half all teachers nationally will be paid below the average teaching salary, even if teacher pay increases to very, very generous levels. If each state tries to pay its teachers at or above average, teacher pay will skyrocket above all other professions, as school systems constantly raise teacher salaries to try to keep with other states and the rising national average, and states will eventually go bankrupt as a result of this bidding war. In the mythical Lake Wobegon, all the children are above average. But in real life, half of all people have to be below average, by definition. Half of all people in America are paid below average, especially in places with very low living costs, where the vast majority of people are paid below the national average. There is no reason why a teacher in an area with much lower than average living costs should be paid at or above the average. Many areas of Virginia are cheaper to live in the average place in America, even cities like Roanoke, Amherst, Lynchburg, Harrisonburg, Staunton, and Waynesboro (rural counties are often even cheaper). In most places, teachers don’t need to be paid the national average for teachers to have a middle-class standard of living, especially in areas where housing is cheap. There are counties in Virginia where the median hourly wage is well under $20 per hour (for people in general, not teachers), yet most people in those counties own their own home, showing that such a wage is clearly a living wage there. Even though such a wage generates an annual income far below the average teacher salary in Virginia, and below the average teacher salary even in such low-living cost places. (The median hourly wage for people in Virginia’s Roanoke region was only $18.09 per hour in 2021, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (that's the hourly wage for people in general, not teacher pay, which is of course higher). Yet the area is mostly middle class.).