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Education and Workforce

2013 Legislative Session Outcome Overview on Workforce Development

Priorities:

• Invest in and support conventional four-year degree programs, as well as highly-technical, specialized workforce training with continued emphasis in the science, technology, engineering, math and health – or STEM-H – fields.
• Invest in and support efforts to ensure Virginia has a competitive K-12 education system to enable us to meet the workforce needs of the future through strengthening teaching in the classroom, injecting greater innovation into education, rewarding creativity and success, and ensuring accountability in our education system.

To advance the priorities listed above, DRCC actively supported a series of bills and budget amendments that focused on having excellent teachers, innovation and accountability in the schools, improve public school flexibility and choice, and ensure greater workforce training connectivity with the business community so that the focus is directed where the needs are. 

Legislation supported in this arena included: funding to recruit and retain high quality STEM-H teachers; development of strategic compensation grants that can be awarded to teachers who are innovative or otherwise going above and beyond what is expected; connecting teacher performance with contracts; providing intervention for grade 6, 7, and 8 students who need assistance with algebra which is key to success in most STEM-H fields; early intervention reading services for K-3 students; simplifying the current school accountability system to an easy to understand A-F grading system to ensure transparency; increasing the ability for local school systems to request waivers from certain state requirements; staffing flexibility in certain situations for public schools; and legislation to help struggling schools improve. 

 

For Immediate Release
February 4, 2013

Governor McDonnell’s “Educator Fairness Act”
Passes in the Senate on a 40-0 Vote

RICHMOND – Governor Bob McDonnell issued the following statement regarding the passage of his proposed “Educator Fairness Act” in the Senate today on a unanimous 40-0 vote. The bill had previously been passed in the House of Delegates last week. The Educator Fairness Act was part of the governor’s All Students K-12 legislative agenda. The Educator Fairness Act extends the probationary window for teachers from 3 to up to 5 years, to allow for a more thoughtful examination of teachers being awarded continuing contract status, and to allow for an extended period of mentoring for new teachers. It also provides for a definition of incompetence to include one or more unsatisfactory performance evaluations and defines the relationship between the evaluation and the contract. This act will streamline the grievance procedure and will allow for an expedited decision to inform the teacher of the final outcome.

 “I am pleased that members of both parties came together in the House and Senate to support these key reforms to Virginia’s teacher contract and grievance system. We have incredible teachers in Virginia and these reforms will help ensure that our children always have the most effective educators possible in the classroom. Great teachers are the key to bright futures for our children. These reforms came together with the input and support of the VEA, the Virginia Association of Elementary School Principals, the Virginia Association of Secondary School Principals, the Virginia Association of School Boards, the Virginia Association of Counties, the Virginia Chamber of Commerce and others. I thank these groups for working with me and with House patron Delegate Dickie Bell and Senate Patron Tommy Norment throughout the legislative process. The Educator Fairness Act, along with other key education reforms and investments we are making this year, will enable Virginia schools to better recruit, retain and reward excellent teachers, and ensure that our children get the world’s best education.”

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2013 Policy Paper

As we consider how best to create a 21st century workforce, we must invest and focus on conventional four-year degree programs, as well as highly-technical, specialized workforce training with continued emphasis in the science, technology, engineering, math and health – or STEM-H – fields. 

The Dulles Regional Chamber of Commerce (DRCC) also recognizes that we cannot underestimate the importance of a globally competitive K-12 education system to our workforce development. The most important investment Virginia can make is in human capital. The jobs of the future and the ability of our businesses to compete rests in having a well-trained workforce. Beyond the skills and knowledge required of workers, we must be able to recruit the best and the brightest to Virginia and to do that, we need to offer the best schools to families looking to relocate. An excellent school should be a guarantee to every child. We all agree that every child deserves the chance to be college- or career-ready at graduation. Unfortunately, not every child in the Commonwealth is provided such an opportunity. Virginia must confront the inequities in our education system and ensure that all children have a chance for success. 

This includes strengthening teaching in our classrooms, holding Virginia’s teachers to the highest standards, offering them regular opportunities to sharpen their skills, and rigorously evaluating and paying our teachers appropriately. 

We also must inject greater innovation into education. DRCC supports innovation in our classrooms and school divisions to ensure that our students are prepared at graduation for college or the workforce. Greater use of technology and consideration of charter schools to allow for greater flexibility with curriculum and student population are options that should be considered and utilized more often. We have one of the weakest charter school laws in the country and no real means for holding failing schools accountable. Innovation also occurs through the partnership of our post-secondary and secondary institutions through dual enrollment courses, which allow for college-level coursework for college credit while in high school or through the establishment of college lab schools. These are all initiatives Virginia should be supporting to enable greater innovation in the classroom. 

DRRC recognizes the importance of and supports all of the colleges and universities, both public and private, which provide high quality undergraduate, graduate and professional education to Northern Virginia’s residents. DRCC supports positioning the Commonwealth’s public and private higher education institutions to play a full role in shaping job creation in a global knowledge-based economy, and calls on the Commonwealth’s elected leaders to reverse a decade of reduction in state funding for higher education that has shifted the burden of funding to students and families.

 

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2012 Policy Position

HIGHER EDUCATION 

The Dulles Regional Chamber of Commerce (DRCC) recognizes the importance of and supports all of the colleges and universities, both public and private, which provide high quality undergraduate, graduate and professional education to Northern Virginia’s residents. DRCC supports positioning the Commonwealth’s public and private higher education institutions to play a full role in shaping job creation in a global knowledge-based economy, and calls on the Commonwealth’s elected leaders to reverse a decade of reduction in state funding for higher education that has shifted the burden of funding to students and families. 

DRCC believes, however, that any new state investment must be targeted toward specific goals that will provide the best return on investment for every dollar spent, including:

• Awarding 70,000 more high quality degrees to Virginia residents over the next 10 years. Virginia’s economy needs more of its citizens prepared to take jobs in the diverse knowledge-based economy. Increasing the number of degrees awarded by 70,000 would mean that 50% of Virginia’s citizens would have an associate, bachelors or graduate degree.
• Targeting new degrees in high income, high demand job sectors. Virginia’s economy will depend on increasing the number of workers able to take on jobs in high demand fields of technology, engineering, science and math, and in areas experiencing shortages, like healthcare, which is particularly important in Northern Virginia. 
• Expanding job-specific training at community colleges. DRCC has long supported Northern Virginia Community College’s (NVCC) efforts in job-specific training and believe this unique resource should be expanded and enhanced via more consistent state funding.
• Increasing public-private collaboration for university-based research. Innovation drives the Northern Virginia economy. Northern Virginia businesses need an expanded way to interact with the area’s higher education institutions to produce and commercialize original research. The Commonwealth remains one of the few states that do not have dedicated funding for technology transfer.  University-based research can only be brought to market quickly if the Commonwealth supports it.
• Making colleges affordable for low- and middle-income students and families.  Northern Virginia enjoys a diverse citizen base. The Commonwealth and our higher education institutions must do more to encourage a greater number of students to seek education beyond high school. The cost of education should not be a barrier to getting a degree. Financial aid is a key ingredient in this affordability challenge.  Without increases in state-funded financial aid, access and affordability remain a problem.

EMPLOYMENT AND LABOR ISSUES 

The Dulles Regional Chamber of Commerce (DRCC) supports legislative and regulatory policies that stimulate economic growth and create jobs by allowing businesses to fairly manage their personnel resources without undue government or outside intervention. DRCC favors allowing free market conditions to determine important labor issues such as compensation and conditions of employment, while strongly advocating that all employers meet their legal and ethical obligations to their employees and the government. DRCC opposes expanded government regulation of the workplace, including legislation that would limit an employer's right to operate during a strike. 

Unionization and Right To Work Laws:  The Dulles Regional Chamber of Commerce (DRCC) opposes any local, state or federal laws or regulations that undermine Virginia’s Right To Work laws, which have played a historically significant role in the state’s nationally recognized economic and employment growth. DRCC opposes all federal legislative or regulatory proposals that undermine the rights of Virginia’s workers to secret ballot elections to decide whether to form a union.  DRCC also opposes legislative or regulatory proposals to authorize federal government officials to impose workplace rules, such as wage levels and work hours, in the absence of an agreement between management and employees. DRCC also opposes the imposition of additional sanctions, such as fines against businesses for violations during the union recognition process. 

Minimum Wage:  Because increases in the minimum wage fall disproportionately on small businesses, which are often the least able to absorb dramatic increases in labor costs the Dulles Regional Chamber of Commerce opposes increases in the minimum wage and believes that any increase must include provisions that lessen the cost and regulatory burden on Virginia’s small businesses. 

Unemployment Compensation:  The Dulles Regional Chamber of Commerce (DRCC) supports Virginia's unemployment compensation laws, which provide adequate and temporary financial assistance to employees who become unemployed through no fault of their own. DRCC opposes the extension of benefits to workers who, through their own actions or inactions, become unemployed, including as a result of an employer-initiated lockout or an employee strike. 

Wage and Benefit Mandates:  The Dulles Regional Chamber of Commerce opposes Living Wage proposals and other government mandates that establish wage and benefits levels as a condition for obtaining contracts with that government. 

Workers’ Compensation:  The Dulles Regional Chamber of Commerce opposes any changes to Virginia's workers' compensation law that would increase costs and regulatory burdens on businesses, or otherwise undermine the laws existing sound principles and purpose. 

Davis-Bacon Act: The Dulles Regional Chamber of Commerce supports the outright repeal of the Davis-Bacon Act, which requires businesses to pay employees in the construction industry government-determined prevailing wages and benefits on federal and federally assisted construction contracts exceeding $2,000 in total cost. Repeal of the archaic and wasteful Davis-Bacon Act would save the federal government an estimated $8.6 billion in construction costs and $100 million in administrative costs per year.  It would also save the construction industry $190 million in compliance costs.  Most importantly, repeal of the act would lead to more infrastructure improvements and the creation of 31,000 new construction jobs as the construction industry faces record-high unemployment. 

Project Labor Agreements: The Dulles Regional Chamber of Commerce opposes project labor agreements (PLAs) mandated by local, state and federal governments, and other entities on taxpayer-funded construction projects. Government-mandated PLAs end open, fair and competitive bidding on public works projects by discouraging competition from qualified nonunion contractors and their nonunion employees.  These agreements unfairly steer contracts to unionized contractors and create jobs only for unionized employees. Research indicates PLA mandates increase construction costs between 12% and 18% with no discernible benefit.  Added costs attributed to reduced competition could be even greater in Virginia, where just 3.9 percent of the construction industry is unionized. 

In-sourcing:  The Dulles Regional Chamber of Commerce opposes any federal, state, or local in-sourcing of private-sector labor positions to government-sector positions, unless the function being in-sourced is inherently governmental in nature and/or the in-sourcing decision is substantiated by a bona-fide cost-benefit analysis that shows that efficiencies and documented cost savings will result from the in-sourcing activity.  Any such cost-benefit analysis must reflect all true costs associated with both the private sector activity, as well as the government sector activity, to include items such as, but not all inclusively, direct labor costs, fringe benefit costs, retirement costs, overhead costs, general and administrative costs, and any other direct and indirect costs that would be incurred by either party.

WORKFORCE HOUSING 

The Dulles Regional Chamber of Commerce recognizes that housing policy is an essential factor in economic development and supports the following initiatives to address the workforce needs in Northern Virginia: 

• Adopt the recommendations of Governor McDonnell’s Housing Policy task force to increase the availability of housing options to meet the needs of a growing regional workforce;
• Use of federal, state and local incentives, such as tax credit programs, to maximize the production of affordable and workforce housing in high-density development and/or transit centers.

 

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2011 Policy Position

HIGHER EDUCATION

The Dulles Regional Chamber of Commerce recognizes the importance of and supports all of the colleges and universities, both public and private, which provide high quality under-graduate, graduate and professional education to Northern Virginia’s residents.   DRCC supports positioning the Commonwealth’s public and private higher education institutions to play a full role in shaping job creation in a global knowledge-based economy, and calls on the Commonwealth’s elected leaders to reverse a decade of reduction in state funding for higher education that has shifted the burden of funding to students and families.

DRCC believes, however, that any new state investment must be targeted toward specific goals that will provide the best return on investment for every dollar spent, including:

• Awarding 70,000 more high quality degrees to Virginia residents over the next 10 years. Virginia’s economy needs more of its citizens prepared to take jobs in the diverse knowledge-based economy. Increasing the number of degrees awarded by 70,000 would mean that 50% of Virginia’s citizens would have an associate, bachelors or graduate degree.
• Targeting new degrees in high income, high demand job sectors. Virginia’s economy will depend on increasing the number of workers able to take on jobs in high demand fields of technology, engineering, science and math, and in areas experiencing shortages, like healthcare, which is particularly important in Northern Virginia.
• Expanding job-specific training at community colleges. The chambers in the Partnership have long supported Northern Virginia Community College’s (NVCC) efforts in job-specific training and believes this unique resource should be expanded and enhanced via more consistent state funding.
• Increasing public-private collaboration for university-based research. Innovation drives the Northern Virginia economy. Northern Virginia businesses need an expanded way to interact with the area’s higher education institutions to produce and commercialize original research. The Commonwealth remains one of the few states that do not have dedicated funding for technology transfer.  University-based research can only be brought to market quickly if the Commonwealth supports it.
• Making colleges affordable for low- and middle-income students and families.  Northern Virginia enjoys a diverse citizen base. The Commonwealth and our higher education institutions must do more to encourage a greater number of students to seek education beyond high school. The cost of education should not be a barrier to getting a degree. Financial aid is a key ingredient in this affordability challenge.  Without increases in state-funded financial aid, access and affordability remain a problem.

WORKFORCE HOUSING

The Dulles Regional Chamber of Commerce recognizes that housing policy is an essential factor in economic development and supports the following initiatives to address the workforce needs in Northern Virginia:

• Adopt the recommendations of Governor McDonnell’s Housing Policy task force to increase the availability of housing options to meet the needs of a growing regional workforce;
• Use of federal, state and local incentives, such as tax credit programs, to maximize the production of affordable and workforce housing in high-density development and/or transit centers. 

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