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_ 210 Item Details($) Appropriations($) ITEM 125. First Year Second Year First Year Second Year FY2025 FY2026 FY2025 FY2026 c. Program plans which include a description of the criteria for selection of clinical faculty and mentor teachers, training, support, and compensation for clinical faculty and mentor teachers, collaboration between the school division and institutions of higher education, the clinical faculty and mentor teacher assignment process, and a process for evaluation of the programs; d. The Department of Education shall allow flexibility to local school divisions and higher education institutions regarding compensation for clinical faculty and mentor teachers consistent with these elements of the programs; and e. It is the intent of the General Assembly that no preference between pre-service or beginning teacher programs be construed by the language in this Item. School divisions operating beginning teacher mentor programs shall receive equal consideration for funding. 31. Career Switcher/Alternative Licensure Payments Appropriations in this Item include $279,983 the first year and $279,983 the second year from the general fund to provide grants to school divisions that employ mentor teachers for new teachers entering the profession through the alternative route to licensure as prescribed by the Board of Education. 32. Virginia Workplace Readiness Skills Assessment Appropriations in this Item include $308,655 the first year and $308,655 the second year from the general fund to provide support grants to school divisions for standard diploma graduates. To provide flexibility, school divisions may use the state grants for the actual assessment or for other industry certification preparation and testing. 33. Early Reading Specialists Initiative a. An additional payment of $3,476,790 the first year and $3,476,790 the second year from the general fund shall be disbursed by the Department of Education to qualifying local school divisions for the purpose of providing a reading specialist for schools with a third grade that rank lowest statewide on the reading Standards of Learning (SOL) assessments. Funding for a reading specialist during the 2024-2026 biennium shall be based on the results of the Spring 2023 reading SOL assessments. Such schools shall be eligible to receive the state share of funding for both years of the biennium. Following certification from a school division that it will not participate in the program, the Department is authorized to identify additional eligible schools based upon the list of schools that rank lowest on the Spring 2023 SOL reading assessment. b. These payments shall be based on the state's share of the cost of providing one reading specialist per qualifying school. c. These payments are available to any school division with a qualifying school that certifies to the Department of Education that the division has hired a reading specialist or reading coach to provide direct services to children reading below grade level in the school to improve reading achievement for the purpose of creating additional instructional time for reading specialists or reading coaches to work with students reading below grade level to improve reading achievement. Additionally, school divisions shall certify that the reading specialists or reading coaches hired pursuant to this program are in addition to the reading specialist positions funded through Basic Aid and required pursuant to B.7.h. of this Item to serve students at the qualifying school. d. These payments also are available to any school division with a qualifying school that certifies to the Department of Education that the division is supporting tuition for collegiate programs and instruction for currently employed instructional school personnel to earn the credentials necessary to meet licensure requirements to be endorsed as a reading specialist. Additionally, school divisions shall certify that the currently employed instructional school personnel whose tuition is supported pursuant to this program are in addition to the reading specialist positions funded through Basic Aid and required pursuant to B.7.h. of this Item to serve students at the qualifying school. e. School divisions receiving these payments are required to match these funds based on the composite index of local ability-to-pay.