A BILL to amend the Code of Virginia by adding a section numbered 22.1-299.9, relating to teacher licensure; three-year license to teach career and technical education or dual enrollment courses at public high schools.
HB785 creates a new three-year teaching license for individuals who teach only career and technical education (CTE) courses or dual enrollment courses at Virginia public high schools. The license is available to instructors employed by an accredited institution of higher education who are already teaching in the same subject area at that institution and who meet specified licensure requirements in existing law. The bill also requires the Board of Education to update the relevant administrative regulation to conform to the new licensing pathway.
In practical terms, the bill is aimed at making it easier for colleges and universities to place qualified instructors in high school classrooms for specialized CTE and dual enrollment offerings. It does not broadly change teacher licensure for all public school teachers; instead, it creates a targeted, limited license tied to continued employment at the higher education institution and to the instructor’s subject-area expertise.
The bill would add § 22.1-299.9 to the Code of Virginia and direct the Board of Education to amend 8VAC20-23-50 to align with the new statute. It would expand the pool of eligible instructors for public high school CTE and dual enrollment courses by authorizing a specific three-year license for certain higher education instructors, while preserving existing licensure requirements referenced in § 22.1-298.1. The affected parties are public high schools, school divisions, higher education institutions, and instructors who teach specialized workforce or college-credit courses.
The available legislative history shows no recorded committee debate or roll-call vote, and the bill was later incorporated into HB332 by voice vote. That suggests the proposal was generally viewed favorably and likely as a technical or policy refinement to support staffing for specialized high school courses. The absence of recorded opposition in the provided materials points to a broadly supportive or at least noncontroversial reception.
No specific points of contention are documented in the provided transcripts or vote history. Potential areas of concern, based on the bill’s structure, could include whether the new license creates an alternative pathway that bypasses traditional teacher preparation, how continuous employment at a college or university will be verified, and whether the measure could affect consistency in teacher quality standards. However, none of these issues are shown as disputed in the available record.