A BILL to amend and reenact § 22.1-299.2 of the Code of Virginia, relating to Nationally Certified School Psychologist Program established; incorporation into National Teacher Certification Incentive Reward Program and Fund.
HB526 amends Virginia Code § 22.1-299.2 to combine the existing National Teacher Certification Incentive Reward Program with a newly named Nationally Certified School Psychologist Program under one shared framework and fund. The bill keeps the Board of Education as the administrator and preserves the special nonreverting fund in the state treasury, allowing unused money to carry forward from biennium to biennium and earn interest for the programs.
Under the bill, public school teachers who earn National Board for Professional Teaching Standards certification and public school psychologists who earn National Association of School Psychologists certification would be eligible for state-funded incentive awards. The bill specifies an initial $5,000 award and annual $2,500 awards for the life of the certificate, including after renewal, subject to available money in the fund. It also authorizes the Board of Education to set procedures if available funds are insufficient to pay full awards to all eligible participants.
The bill would expand and clarify state law governing educator incentive payments by expressly adding nationally certified school psychologists to the existing teacher certification reward structure and renaming the fund accordingly. It would not create a new standalone program so much as integrate school psychologists into the current statutory and fiscal mechanism, while preserving the Board of Education’s authority to administer the awards and issue guidelines. The practical effect would be to create an ongoing state financial incentive for advanced professional certification among both teachers and school psychologists in Virginia public schools.
The available legislative record shows limited public debate, but the bill’s structure suggests a generally supportive policy goal of rewarding advanced professional credentials in public education. Because the measure was left in the House Appropriations Committee, the main signal from the process is that fiscal considerations likely limited its progress rather than any recorded policy opposition. No votes or committee testimony are available to show organized support or resistance.
The primary point of potential contention is cost: the bill commits the state to significant recurring awards, including a $5,000 initial payment and $2,500 annual payments for each eligible certificate holder, subject to appropriations and fund balance. That creates uncertainty about whether the fund will be sufficient to cover all eligible teachers and school psychologists at the stated levels. Any disagreement would likely center on whether the incentive is an effective use of state funds, how to prioritize limited appropriations, and whether expanding the program to school psychologists is fiscally sustainable.