Bill Text: VA HJR623 | 2013 | Regular Session | Prefiled
Bill Title: Commending the Virginia Education Association.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2013-01-17 - Bill text as passed House and Senate (HJ623ER) [HJR623 Detail]
Download: Virginia-2013-HJR623-Prefiled.html
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13102967D WHEREAS, The Educational Association of Virginia was formed after meetings on December 29, 1863, at First Baptist Church in Petersburg, and subsequently a constitution was drafted that stated, "We, the teachers of Virginia, in Convention assembled, and desirous of promoting the educational interest of the State, do hereby agree to organize a permanent association …"; and WHEREAS, Association leaders, including Robert E. Lee, Mathew F. Maury, William Ruffner, and Dr. J. L. M. Curry, meeting after the Civil War, made the organization's goal the culmination of Thomas Jefferson's dream of a system of free public education, believing that education was the only way out of the state's war-torn economic devastation; and WHEREAS, as a consequence of the advocacy of The Educational Association of Virginia and others, Virginia's public school system was established with the adoption of the Virginia Constitution of 1870; and WHEREAS, the Association created a professional journal for educators in 1869 and has seen it published ever since, calling it the Virginia Journal of Education since 1907; and WHEREAS, the organization that grew from the Petersburg meetings in 1863 is now known as the Virginia Education Association, which has a local Association in every Virginia county and city; and WHEREAS, in 1905, the VEA established its Legislative Committee, which continues to function today; and WHEREAS, the Virginia Teachers Association, the all-black professional organization, brought its own considerable record of accomplishments and service when it merged with the VEA in 1967, ensuring a single unified voice on behalf of Virginia children and public education; and WHEREAS, the accomplishments of the Association and its members include required school attendance, the formation of high schools, the creation of kindergarten programs, the expansion of the school curriculum, a ban on corporal punishment, a Code of Ethics for teachers, the support of national certification for teachers, the protection of job rights for educators, and the creation of a pension plan for educators; now, therefore, be it RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly hereby commend the Virginia Education Association on the occasion of its 150th anniversary; and, be it RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to the Virginia Education Association as an expression of the General Assembly's congratulations and gratitude for the Association's valuable contributions to public education in the Commonwealth. |
