republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2020/hb-894.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Education preparation programs; teacher licensure, certain instruction or training."
description: "Education preparation programs; teacher licensure; certain training or instruction. Requires education preparation programs offered by public institutions of higher education and private institutions of higher education to ensure that, as a condition of degree completion, each student enrolled in the education preparation program receives instruction on positive behavior interventions and supports; crisis prevention and de-escalation; the use of physical restraint and seclusion, consistent with regulations of the Board of Education; and appropriate alternative methods to reduce and prevent the need for the use of physical restraint and seclusion. The bill requires every person seeking initial licensure as a teacher who has not received such instruction to receive instruction or training on such topics. The bill requires the Board of Education to adopt regulations to implement the foregoing requirements."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2020"
identifier: "HB 894"
citation: "Virginia HB 894 (2020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Mark H. Levine"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 29
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2020-01-07"
last_action: "2020-04-08"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/c00d28f7-48ba-4d92-bec8-c6cc172cbd9e"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+sum+HB894"
source_hash: "af231071452ff352912a6acf9e0973ab1ccc1286e2f42d147af79604564be465"
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 894 (2020) — Education preparation programs; teacher licensure, certain instruction or training.

Education preparation programs; teacher licensure; certain training or instruction. Requires education preparation programs offered by public institutions of higher education and private institutions of higher education to ensure that, as a condition of degree completion, each student enrolled in the education preparation program receives instruction on positive behavior interventions and supports; crisis prevention and de-escalation; the use of physical restraint and seclusion, consistent with regulations of the Board of Education; and appropriate alternative methods to reduce and prevent the need for the use of physical restraint and seclusion. The bill requires every person seeking initial licensure as a teacher who has not received such instruction to receive instruction or training on such topics. The bill requires the Board of Education to adopt regulations to implement the foregoing requirements.

## Version chain

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

1. **Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0870)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+CHAP0870)
2. **Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB894ER)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB894ER)
3. **Impact statement from DPB (HB894H1)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB894H1)
4. **Impact statement from DPB (HB894H1)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB894)

## Votes

- Reported from Education and Health (9-Y 6-N) — **9–6** (pass) · upper
- Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (8-Y 0-N) — **8–0** (pass) · lower
- Constitutional reading dispensed (37-Y 0-N) — **37–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Education with substitute (20-Y 1-N) — **20–1** (pass) · lower
- Passed Senate (28-Y 12-N) — **28–12** (pass) · upper
- VOTE: Passage (97-Y 2-N) — **96–2** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Mark H. Levine — primary (person)
- Ibraheem S. Samirah — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2020-01-07** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/08/20 20103685D `introduction`
- **2020-01-07** Referred to Committee on Education `referral-committee`
- **2020-01-13** Assigned Education sub: Post-Secondary and Higher Ed `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-03** Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (8-Y 0-N)
- **2020-02-05** Reported from Education with substitute (20-Y 1-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-02-05** Committee substitute printed 20107488D-H1 `substitution`
- **2020-02-06** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2020-02-07** Impact statement from DPB (HB894H1)
- **2020-02-07** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2020-02-07** Committee substitute agreed to 20107488D-H1
- **2020-02-07** Engrossed by House - committee substitute HB894H1
- **2020-02-10** Read third time and passed House (97-Y 2-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2020-02-10** VOTE: Passage (97-Y 2-N)
- **2020-02-11** Constitutional reading dispensed
- **2020-02-11** Referred to Committee on Education and Health `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-18** Assigned Education sub: Public Education `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-27** Reported from Education and Health (9-Y 6-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-02-28** Constitutional reading dispensed (37-Y 0-N)
- **2020-03-02** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2020-03-02** Passed by for the day
- **2020-03-03** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2020-03-03** Passed Senate (28-Y 12-N) `passage`
- **2020-03-06** Enrolled
- **2020-03-06** Impact statement from DPB (HB894ER)
- **2020-03-06** Signed by Speaker
- **2020-03-06** Signed by President
- **2020-03-12** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 12, 2020
- **2020-03-12** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 11, 2020
- **2020-04-08** Approved by Governor-Chapter 870 (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/c00d28f7-48ba-4d92-bec8-c6cc172cbd9e`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).