Dr. Brian Matney, principal of Landstown High School: Governor’s STEM & Technology Academy, was recently elected as chair of the State Board of Education’s Advisory Board on Teacher Education and Licensure (ABTEL).

ABTEL, created by action of the Virginia General Assembly in 1990, regularly advises the State Board, as its name implies, on issues related to licensure requirements, ranging from the setting of passing qualifying test scores and collegiate course content to alternative routes to licensure. It similarly makes recommendations to the Board on biennial approval of teacher education programs at the 36 degree and certification granting institutions of higher learning within the Commonwealth.

The 21-member committee, which meets bimonthly throughout the school year in Richmond, includes representatives from the K-12 community, higher education and, among other groups, those representing parents, school boards and the business community.

The Superintendent of Public Instruction, Director of the State Council of Higher Education (SCHEV), Chancellor of the Virginia Community College System or their designees also serve as non-voting, ex officio members of the advisory board.

Matney has represented the state’s secondary school principals on ABTEL since 2010 and served as vice-chair for the past two academic years. Through the spring of 2015, he was joined on this committee by Princess Anne High School social studies teacher Pat McGloine, a former City-Wide VBCPS Teacher of the Year who represented classroom instructors.