In December of 2012, the American Council of Engineering Companies - Virginia (ACEC/VA) and the Virginia Manufacturers Association (VMA) jointly submitted a proposal in response to a NOIRA regarding revision of 8VAC20-22-10 et seq - "Licensure Regulations for School Personnel".  In our submittal, we supported the creation of a new engineering endorsement for high school teachers, and, via this public comment, now support the resulting regulation 8VAC20-23-330 - Engineering endorsement.

ACEC/VA is the largest engineering firm association in the state, made up of more than 80 independent engineering firms representing more than 5,000 employees throughout Virginia.  ACEC/VA brings together engineering firms and offers the opportunity to connect with others in their industry and tackle the issues that the engineering community faces.  One of those issues is workforce hiring difficulties, caused in part by a lack of sufficient numbers of students choosing to pursue careers in engineering following completion of their K-12 education.

ACEC/VA believes that the current proposed engineering endorsement, 8VAC20-23-330 will accomplish the following elements:

1.  Ensure high school engineering teachers are highly qualified in engineering content coursework; and

2.  Remove barriers to bringing engineering majors from universities directly into the Virginia teaching workforce; and

3.  Provide multiple pathways to an engineering endorsement while maintaining appropriate engineering content area knowledge, skills, and experience

Again, on behalf of both ACEC/VA, we support the creation of an engineering endorsement 8VAC20-23-330 for high school teachers in Virginia.

Regards,

Benjamin A. Lilly

President - ACEC/VA