---
type: "Bill"
title: "Standards of Quality; state funding, ratios of teachers to English language learners."
description: "Standards of Quality; state funding; ratiosof teachers to English language learners. Requires state funding, pursuant to the general appropriation act, to be provided pursuantto Standard 2 of the Standards of Quality to support divisionwideratios of English language learner students in average daily membershipto full-time equivalent teaching positions as follows: (i) for eachEnglish language learner identified as proficiency level one, oneposition per 25 students; (ii) for each English language learneridentified as proficiency level two, one position per 30 students;(iii) for each English language learner identified as proficiencylevel three, one position per 40 students; and (iv) for all other English language learners, one position per 58 students. Currentlaw requires 17 full-time equivalent instructional positions for each1,000 students identified as having limited English proficiency."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2020"
identifier: "HB 975"
citation: "Virginia HB 975 (2020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Elizabeth R. Guzman"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 53
vote_count: 13
first_action: "2020-01-07"
last_action: "2020-04-10"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/56a7c103-df89-4e07-ad93-6e0dc6c6a565"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+sum+HB975"
source_hash: "02c7356e217d610f12a5ccf4747bfd179799e06ec339d1230cbdd5e092388353"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-va"]
---

# Virginia HB 975 (2020) — Standards of Quality; state funding, ratios of teachers to English language learners.

Standards of Quality; state funding; ratiosof teachers to English language learners. Requires state funding, pursuant to the general appropriation act, to be provided pursuantto Standard 2 of the Standards of Quality to support divisionwideratios of English language learner students in average daily membershipto full-time equivalent teaching positions as follows: (i) for eachEnglish language learner identified as proficiency level one, oneposition per 25 students; (ii) for each English language learneridentified as proficiency level two, one position per 30 students;(iii) for each English language learner identified as proficiencylevel three, one position per 40 students; and (iv) for all other English language learners, one position per 58 students. Currentlaw requires 17 full-time equivalent instructional positions for each1,000 students identified as having limited English proficiency.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP1034)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+CHAP1034)
2. **Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB975ER)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB975ER)
3. **Engrossed by House - committee substitute with amendments HB975EH1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB975EH1)
4. **Impact statement from DPB (HB975H1)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB975)
5. **Impact statement from DPB (HB975H1)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB975H1)

## Votes

- Reported from Education and Health with amendments (9-Y 5-N) — **9–5** (pass) · upper
- Constitutional reading dispensed (40-Y 0-N) — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Conference report agreed to by Senate (23-Y 16-N) — **23–16** (pass) · upper
- VOTE: REJECTED (0-Y 99-N) — **0–98** (fail) · lower
- Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendment (5-Y 2-N) — **5–2** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Finance and Appropriations (10-Y 2-N) — **10–2** (pass) · upper
- VOTE: Adoption (52-Y 39-N) — **51–39** (pass) · lower
- Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (8-Y 0-N) — **8–0** (pass) · lower
- VOTE: Passage (58-Y 40-N) — **57–40** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Appropriations with amendments (13-Y 8-N) — **13–8** (pass) · lower
- Passed Senate with amendments (24-Y 16-N) — **24–16** (pass) · upper
- Senate insisted on amendments (34-Y 6-N) — **34–6** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Education with substitute (18-Y 4-N) — **18–4** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Elizabeth R. Guzman — primary (person)
- Ibraheem S. Samirah — cosponsor (person)
- Joseph D. Morrissey — cosponsor (person)
- Kaye Kory — cosponsor (person)
- Lashrecse D. Aird — cosponsor (person)
- Sam Rasoul — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2020-01-07** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/08/20 20104130D `introduction`
- **2020-01-07** Referred to Committee on Education `referral-committee`
- **2020-01-13** Assigned Education sub: SOL and SOQ `referral-committee`
- **2020-01-27** House subcommittee amendments and substitutes offered
- **2020-01-27** Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (8-Y 0-N)
- **2020-01-27** Subcommittee recommends referring to Committee on Appropriations
- **2020-01-29** Committee substitute printed 20105767D-H1 `substitution`
- **2020-01-29** Incorporates HB1323 (Kory)
- **2020-01-29** Reported from Education with substitute (18-Y 4-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-01-29** Referred to Committee on Appropriations `referral-committee`
- **2020-01-30** Assigned App. sub: Elementary & Secondary Education `referral-committee`
- **2020-01-31** Impact statement from DPB (HB975H1)
- **2020-02-05** House subcommittee amendments and substitutes offered
- **2020-02-05** Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendment (5-Y 2-N)
- **2020-02-05** Reported from Appropriations with amendments (13-Y 8-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-02-06** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2020-02-07** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2020-02-07** Committee on Education substitute agreed to 20105767D-H1
- **2020-02-07** Committee on Appropriations amendments agreed to
- **2020-02-07** Engrossed by House - committee substitute with amendments HB975EH1
- **2020-02-07** Printed as engrossed 20105767D-EH1
- **2020-02-10** Read third time and passed House (58-Y 40-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2020-02-10** VOTE: Passage (58-Y 40-N)
- **2020-02-11** Constitutional reading dispensed
- **2020-02-11** Referred to Committee on Education and Health `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-24** Impact statement from DPB (HB975EH1)
- **2020-02-27** Reported from Education and Health with amendments (9-Y 5-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-02-27** Rereferred to Finance and Appropriations `referral-committee`
- **2020-03-02** Reported from Finance and Appropriations (10-Y 2-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-03-04** Constitutional reading dispensed (40-Y 0-N)
- **2020-03-05** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2020-03-05** Reading of amendments waived
- **2020-03-05** Committee amendments agreed to
- **2020-03-05** Engrossed by Senate as amended
- **2020-03-05** Passed Senate with amendments (24-Y 16-N) `passage`
- **2020-03-05** Senate amendments rejected by House (0-Y 99-N)
- **2020-03-05** VOTE: REJECTED (0-Y 99-N)
- **2020-03-05** Senate insisted on amendments (34-Y 6-N)
- **2020-03-05** Senate requested conference committee
- **2020-03-05** House acceded to request
- **2020-03-05** Conferees appointed by House
- **2020-03-05** Conferees appointed by Senate
- **2020-03-07** Amended by conference committee
- **2020-03-07** Conference report agreed to by House (52-Y 39-N)
- **2020-03-07** VOTE: Adoption (52-Y 39-N)
- **2020-03-08** Conference report agreed to by Senate (23-Y 16-N)
- **2020-03-18** Enrolled
- **2020-03-18** Signed by President
- **2020-03-19** Signed by Speaker
- **2020-03-20** Impact statement from DPB (HB975ER)
- **2020-03-20** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 20, 2020
- **2020-03-20** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 11, 2020
- **2020-04-10** Approved by Governor-Chapter 1034 (effective 7/1/20) `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/56a7c103-df89-4e07-ad93-6e0dc6c6a565`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).