丽贝卡·惠特福德(Rebecca Whitford)作为一名小学教师，在25年的教学记录中毫无污点, the last 15 in Stafford County—never a reprimand or any hint of trouble, and solidly supported by parents, 学生, and administrators.

然后在2017年5月的一天，斯塔福德教育协会的成员发了一条短信.

It was only her second year of teaching third grade since the Standards of 学习 tests had been implemented; she and her team were prepping for the math section, having recently taken the reading test. 阵亡将士纪念日周末期间，我在家里与斯塔福德郡外的一位老师交谈, 另一位老师提到，孩子们最常犯的错误是在流逝的时间等方面, 分数, and adding and counting money.

Those items are hardly a secret. “这些都被列在州教育委员会的网站上，是必须教授的，也会出现在考试中,凯西·李说, a VEA staff attorney.

Whitford texted her teammates, reminding them to review those topics with their 学生, and mentioned that “a little birdie” had told her. “It changed my life,她说。 now.

She hit “send” and then enjoyed the rest of the holiday weekend. Nothing was said on the Tuesday she came back to school, 但周三，她被传唤与校长和当地的SOL代表会面. 在那里, she was 问题ed about the text, the source of her information (which she chooses not to reveal to this day), and why she’d sent the message. The text had been reported by a colleague.

“我这辈子从来没有作弊过，”惠特福德说，“我也没有理由在考试中作弊. I’ve never been intimidated by my 学生’ test scores. I know I’m a good teacher and my boss and my 学生’ parents know it, too. I’m very passionate about my work.”

然而, 会议一结束，她就被要求写一封信并签名，详细说明她所做的一切. 后,, she was given a letter advising her that she was now on leave, 带薪, 并建议她在案件解决前不要回到学校. 她被允许从教室里拿东西(她的校长尊重了她的要求，让学生们先离开教室)。, 然后展示出来.

晚些时候, 她得知，由于违反安全测试程序，她被建议解雇，并被吊销教师执照.

于是开始了一个漫长的听证会和会议过程，一直持续到2018年3月，结果惠特福德被斯塔福德县解雇，并在该学年剩下的时间里暂停了她的教学执照. During the protracted legal activities, she worked as a tutor and in Spotsylvania County as a substitute teacher. She also had three teaching job offers, 但他不太愿意让新雇主参与到尚未解决的诉讼中来.

The school division came after Whitford hard, 不仅要求解雇她还要永久吊销她的教学执照. 李和一名vea提供的律师为Whitford辩护，避免了她的执照被永久吊销, in effect saving her career. 22名证人在公开听证会上为她作证，也对她的案子起到了推动作用.

“I had a list of 50,惠特福德说, visibly moved by the outpouring of support she received, “but they wouldn’t let that many participate. People I didn’t even know wanted to speak for me.斯塔福德教育协会(Stafford Education Association)的成员都穿了红色衣服，表示支持她, and her colleagues rallied to her side.

“如果你炒了她,” a fellow teacher told the county’s school board, “how are we supposed to prepare for SOL tests? When 学生 take the SAT, you always look at the 问题s that have been most difficult on past tests.”

In the end, though, the school board did choose to fire Whitford. 今天, 然而, with all the legal business settled and behind her, 她重新获得了执照，并很快被聘为斯波特西瓦尼亚县的二年级教师, where she’s delighted to have her professional life back.

“I am happy to be back doing what I love to do, helping children learn and be the best that they can be,她说。. “It’s all I was ever trying to do.”

整个过程对Whitford和VEA的Lee来说都是极其痛苦的考验, members of the Stafford and Spotsylvania education associations, VEA’s government relations team, Whitford’s UniServ Directors, 还有一些人决定，弗吉尼亚的其他教师不应该再经历她所经历的一切.

After two huge, Association-driven changes, it’s unlikely that any ever will.

The ‘Rebecca Bill’

首先，VEA发起了一项被称为“丽贝卡法案”的立法.” It sailed through the 2019 General Assembly and will become law July 1. As school law was previously written, 学校董事会在教师执照程序中只有两种选择:撤销或暂停, both very harsh measures. The Rebecca Bill (see accompanying box), which was carried by Delegate Bob Thomas of Stafford, adds a reprimand option, which doesn’t directly affect a teacher’s license.

“This is a huge win,” says Lee. “Every other profession has options short of taking away someone’s license, like recommending continuing education or treatment, in cases of substance abuse. 老师 had not been afforded that possibility.”

她指出，鉴于近年来对教师似乎更具惩罚性的环境，新的选择尤为重要. During the 2016-17 school year, 要求暂停或吊销维吉尼亚教育部教师执照的请愿比前一年增长了62%.

Whitford is delighted with the legislative win. “I’m so proud of the way so many people supported me,她说。, 以及他们如何将糟糕的情况转变为现在将使弗吉尼亚州所有教师受益的事情.”

Leveling the Playing Field

惠特福德不得不经历的过程也突显了州教育委员会的执照听证过程是如何对教师不利的. The teacher whose license is in jeopardy has had to go first, followed by the prosecution, 老师的律师没有机会盘问控方证人. Further, the prosecutor was involved in the panel’s deliberations.

“在那里 has been no impartial decision-maker,” says VEA’s Lee. “That’s not the way this is supposed to work.”

The Association kicked off a process, 从VDOE的工作人员开始，后来包括州教育委员会的成员, 改变听证程序，为教师提供基本的正当程序. 一路走来, VEA的工作人员会见了司法部长马克·赫林(Mark Herring)及其工作人员，为更公平的程序提出了理由.

结果? As of last November, 在许可证听证会上，VDOE必须首先陈述其情况并承担举证责任. 老师’ representatives can cross-examine witnesses, there is an impartial fact-finding panel, 州督学也不能再参与教育委员会最后听证会的审议——所有这些变化都被李称为对教师的“绝对巨大的”改变.