“Journalism is literature in a hurry.” – Matthew Arnold (1822-1888), British poet and cultural critic.

Lawmakers hope to go public soon with OPEB proposals

By Jim Wallace

Legislative leaders are expected to release soon the proposals they are considering for addressing the huge liability for OPEB – other post-employment benefits.

Sen. Brooks McCabe, chairman of a Senate work group on OPEB, said the proposals had been presented separately to the Democratic and Republican caucuses in the Senate, and he believed members of both parties had accepted them.

“We, as a Senate, are in general agreement.” – Sen. Brooks McCabe

“We, as a Senate, are in general agreement,” he said. “We are working very hard to make sure the Senate understands what we’re doing and why.”

The next step was for Senate President Earl Ray Tomblin, D-Logan, to present the proposals to House Speaker Rick Thompson, D-Wayne. McCabe, D-Kanawha, said that meeting was scheduled for Thursday afternoon, so a “free and open discussion” of the suggested actions could begin soon.

“The president will move based on his discussions with the speaker,” McCabe said.

The OPEB liability is believed to be about $7.8 billion and rising. It represents mainly the health care benefits promised to current and future retirees in the public sector.

This week, several proposals reportedly considered by the Senate work group were apparently leaked to the press. They included these recommendations:

• Deposit $200 million between 2011 and 2012 into a special trust fund.
• Dedicate up to $150 million annually over the next several decades.
• Have the state assume part of the costs billed to school boards.
• Increase the retirement age of teachers and most state employees hired after June 2011 from 55 to 60 and require them to work 15 years instead of five to become eligible for benefits.
• Have the Public Employees Insurance Agency allow employers to list part of unpaid amount as long-term debt while lowering the annual amount that must be paid.
• Change the way PEIA calculates premiums for non-retired enrollees.
• Narrow the gaps between the deductions and out-of-pocket costs that enrollees pay.
• Have an alternative, cafeteria-style health plan that would charge enrollees based on the benefits they choose.

McCabe declined to say whether the recommendations were reported accurately. “I’m not talking specifics until the president gives me the go-ahead,” he said.

But McCabe said that, once the proposals are presented to House leaders, he would “hope we would move as quickly as possible” to address the OPEB liability problem.

At least 50 of West Virginia’s 55 county school districts have threatened to sue the state over OPEB. They complain that they are required to carry the OPEB liability on their books, even though they are not required to pay it. They also contend that the state should be responsible for the OPEB liability, because the state provides most of the funding for salaries for teachers and other school employees and it was the state that set up the system in which retirees’ health care benefits are largely unfunded.

 

School calendar bill gets a quick start in the House

By Jim Wallace

House Bill 4040 – Gov. Manchin’s proposal to ensure each school district gets 180 days of instruction in the school year – received very little comment before the House Education Committee approved it this week.

The bill would leave it up to county school boards to determine the beginning and ending dates of the school year, a change from the current mandate for the beginning to occur no sooner than Aug. 26 and the ending to occur no later than June 8.

The bill also would require each school board to make “an icy conditions and emergencies plan designed to guarantee an instructional term for students of no less than [180] separate instructional days.” That wording would preclude the position the House favored last year of having schools add minutes to the instructional day instead of adding more days to make up for days missed for snow and other conditions.

Last year, the Senate and the House each came up with a version of a school calendar bill but couldn’t reach a compromise version before the legislative session ended.

The only concern expressed about the bill when it was before the House Education Committee came from Delegate Walter Duke, R-Berkeley. He said he supports the way it would give boards local control over the school calendar, but he hoped that those in vocational technology districts with other boards would coordinate their calendars with each other.

 

Labor leaders are OK with the bill.

“Teachers will not be required to work outside their 200-day contract.” – Bob Morgenstern of AFT-WV

Leaders of the West Virginia Chapter of the American Federation of Teachers are telling their members that this year’s effort to pass a school calendar bill is not just “déjà vu all over again.” That’s because its scope is more modest than that of last year’s bill, and it avoids the hot-button issues that brought down previous attempts to reform the school calendar. For example, this year’s bill would not add to the 200-day instructional contract and would allow school employees to continue to be paid for snow days. Also, even though the starting and ending dates of the school year would be more flexible, the bill would not lengthen the school term.

“The bill does not change the number of total instructional days, ISE days, CE days and holidays, and employees will continue to be paid for snow days,” Bob Morgenstern of AFT-WV explained in an e-mail. “All but one of the non-instructional days must be held prior to the last day of the instructional term. Teachers will not be required to work outside their 200-day contract. The bill simply seeks to provide counties with the flexibility to start school earlier than August 26th and complete the first semester prior to the holiday recess if they so choose.”

Further, he wrote, AFT-WV and other labor groups have agreed with House leaders not to “oppose the bill as long as amendments are not adopted either in the House of Delegates or the state Senate.”

Howard O’Cull, executive director of the West Virginia School Board Association, said the school calendar is really an economic issue.

“Maybe taxpayers, if county boards are really interested in calendar reform, will get what they have contracted and what they pay for." – Howard O’Cull

“Parents, the public, taxpayers literally contract with the Legislature and county boards for 180 separate days' instruction,” he said. “It's a contract with the public, although with constraints within the calendar through use of some days for instruction for other purposes. At least the governor's bill means a greater emphasis on the contract with the public receiving 180 separate days instruction, giving leeway by removing the beginning and ending dates for starting and finishing school.  Maybe taxpayers, if county boards are really interested in calendar reform, will get what they have contracted and what they pay for."

Jim Pitrolo, Gov. Manchin’s legislative director, told a West Virginia Chamber of Commerce breakfast this week that the administration is trying it again this year, because the governor still thinks it’s a good policy to make sure school years really have 180 days of instruction.

“It’s time we step up to the plate and give our students what’s required by law,” Pitrolo said.

 

Governor will try hard for Race to the top funding.

When Charleston attorney Tom Heywood asked about other education reforms on the governor’s agenda, Pitrolo said the application for federal Race to the Top funds, which was submitted this week, would have a strong bearing on what Manchin seeks to do with education issues this year.

If the federal government rejects the application, he said, it will point out certain issues preventing approval. Then, the governor would call for a special session to address those issues in time for the state to submit a second application this year. Manchin pledged to do that in his State of the State address last week.

“The unions are also watching that,” Pitrolo said. “People are coming together.”

When Heywood asked how business people could support the governor’s legislative proposals, Pitrolo said, “Don’t let the property tax issue get lost.” That’s a reference to Manchin’s proposed constitutional amendment that would give the Legislature the flexibility to lower business taxes. But one provision of the proposal is that lawmakers should be careful about what effect such tax changes would have on local government bodies like school boards.

School Building Authority borrowing bill gets through one committee

By Jim Wallace

The House Education Committee has approved House Bill 4041, the governor’s proposal for giving the School Building Authority more flexibility for borrowing money.

The bill would change the ceiling for the agency’s borrowing authority from the maximum aggregate face value of all the bonds it has issued to the amount of bonds that are outstanding. As Gov. Manchin said in his State of the State address, the change would “not increase our debt limit but will allow us to create a steady revenue stream and provide safer schools and more construction jobs at cheaper bond rates.”

The committee approved the bill with only a minor, technical amendment and sent it on to the House Finance Committee.

 

Spending and enrollment are down.

The Education Committee spent the rest of its meeting Thursday on reviewing the budget for the Department of Education with state Supt. Steve Paine and other top department officials.

Because of the projected downturn in state revenues for the next fiscal year, education is taking a 4 percent budget cut. But Terry Harless, the department’s internal operations officer, said it’s not an across-the-board cut. Instead, he said, the reductions have been taken wherever possible across various line-items. However, many cuts in state funding for education have been backfilled with federal stimulus money.

Some of the highlights of the budget presentation were:

• After five years of slight increases, student enrollment statewide is down more than 100 students since last year.
• Because funding is based on enrollment, administration positions have been declining and some positions are not being filled as they become vacant.
• Salary costs are going down as older employees retire; the average length of experience has gone down from 17.4 years to 17.1 years.
• The local share in the School Aid Formula is expected to decrease because assessed property values are going down.
• The state must put more money into the Teachers Retirement System debt because of a loss in investment income during the recession.
• If the economy does not recover after federal stimulus funds run out, “county boards may realize a decrease in their funding,” according to Joe Panetta, executive director of the Office of School Finance.
• The department requested additional money for seven items labeled as “improvements” for the next fiscal year, including $1.9 million for online, virtual classes, but the governor did not put any of them in his budget.

 

Dropout rate alarms and motivates legislators

By Jim Wallace

The legislative audit report that came out earlier this month showing West Virginia’s high school dropout rate is higher than previously believed has spurred action in the Legislature, especially in the Senate.

“It’s horrendous,” Senate Finance Chairman Walt Helmick, D-Pocahontas, said. “We find that we’re using two standards. One the state Department of Education was using was not one that I can accept.”

The Legislative Auditor’s Office reported that, by comparing ninth-grade enrollment figures with high school graduations, 27 percent of the students didn’t finish high school. Previous figures from the Department of Education had shown the dropout rate at 16 percent. That big a difference upset some lawmakers.
“There’s no way you can sugarcoat it, soft-pedal it. They’re nonproductive. The vast majority in today’s society are nonproductive unless they have education.” – Senate Finance Chairman Walt Helmick

“I truly believe that the vast majority of those students that drop out stay in West Virginia,” Helmick said. “There’s no way you can sugarcoat it, soft-pedal it. They’re nonproductive. The vast majority in today’s society are nonproductive unless they have education.”

Senate Education Chairman Bob Plymale, D-Wayne, said he also was upset about the discrepancy in the numbers, but he’s ready to move on.

“We always have to do a lot of work on getting the right information, the right research and the right data,” he said. “It’s upsetting, but if you stay upset over something like that, you’ll not get to the studies and things you need to be doing.”

 

Education Department already planned to switch to different method.

However, state Supt. Steve Paine said the figures the Education Department had used were from the state’s No Child Left Behind plan that was approved by the U.S. Department of Education. Further, he said, the state school board decided two years ago to adopt a calculation rate that could be used to compare West Virginia to other states, but it has been waiting for the U.S. Department of Education to get all the states to implement it.

“So we will implement the common rate next year, and I’m eager to see where it puts us,” Paine said. “It will tell our kids and our parents and our educators and our communities exactly where we stand relative to other states, and that’s the proper thing to do.”

 

Lawmakers plan extra effort on the problem.

In the meantime, leaders in the Senate think the thing to do is to give the problem of dropouts special attention during this legislative session. Plymale has already assigned a subcommittee headed by Sen. Randy White, D-Webster, to come up with recommendations. White was co-chairman of a legislative interim committee that studied the issues over the last several months.

House Education Chairwoman Mary Poling, D-Barbour, said she also has appointed a subcommittee, led by Delegate Josh Stowers, D-Lincoln, to pick up where the interim committee left off.

But even though Plymale has already appointed a Senate Education subcommittee on the dropout matter, Senate President Earl Ray Tomblin, D-Logan, said he might do better than that by appointing two special committees, one on dropouts and one on substance abuse, which he thinks might be related.

“I think it’s pretty alarming we have such a high dropout rate in this state. We got to do everything we can to keep those students in there getting every day’s education that we can.” – Senate President Earl Ray Tomblin

“So we’re looking at doing maybe two different committees and let them work together some also,” Tomblin said. “I think it’s pretty alarming we have such a high dropout rate in this state. We got to do everything we can to keep those students in there getting every day’s education that we can.”

The interim committee recommended raising the compulsory attendance age from 16 to 17, but Senate Majority Leader Truman Chafin, D-Mingo, is pushing a proposal to raise the age to 18, as it is in Kentucky, which is adjacent to his senatorial district.

“It’s going to help the attendance rate, because one in four is not graduating,” Chafin said. “If you make the legal standard for the dropout higher, that should take it to the 12th grade when they’re 18.”

That would be fine with Paine at the Education Department.

“We actually introduced the concept to raise the age to 18 two or three years ago,” he said. “The important thing is then once we raise the age, we have to find a way to personalize what we do to every single child, every single student. Those are the challenges for our principals and our teachers and others that work in the schools. It is that they have to believe that one dropout is too many, and they must become creative in their strategies to try to reach the needs of every single student, and we need to support them every step of the way.”

 

More than raising the age limit is needed.

Poling agreed that educators must be creative and that legislators must be prepared to fund alternative programs if they are going to raise the compulsory attendance age.

“We need to look at increasing funding and options for alternative education, as well as increasing the mandatory attendance age.” – House Education Chairwoman Mary Poling

“If there are no alternative programs for children who cannot graduate, yet they have to stay there until 17, it causes behavior problems and just general disruptions in the classroom to have students who aren’t working,” she said. “We need to look at increasing funding and options for alternative education, as well as increasing the mandatory attendance age.”

Likewise, Dale Lee, president of the West Virginia Education Association, said the schools must restructure programs to keep students interested in school.

“Just like one size doesn’t fit all in education, you have to find ways that will capture the kids’ attention, their interests and get them motivated to want to be in school.” – WVEA President Dale Lee

“I’m very hopeful that some of the Innovation Zones projects that were awarded are looking at that issue on ways to redesign and restructure programs and areas of study to further entice kids to keep their interest in a career path, so to speak,” he said. “But with that, you also have to invest the money in alternative education programs. Just like one size doesn’t fit all in education, you have to find ways that will capture the kids’ attention, their interests and get them motivated to want to be in school.”

Judy Hale, president of the West Virginia chapter of the American Federation of Teachers, said a range of solutions are needed, including getting to troubled students well before they reach high school.

“Second-grade teachers, they can tell you which kids are going to make it with pretty good accuracy.” – AFT-WV President
Judy Hale

“A teacher in the first grade can predict with great reliability students that they have that will drop out when they get to high school,” she said. “We got to catch them early. We got to put in some intervention strategies as early as we can get them for these children. And we probably have to come up with something at the secondary level that really piques their interest that’s different that would appeal to them. I don’t know what that is at this point, but a different kind of structure than they get in the regular school setting. But these first-grade teachers, they can tell you. Second-grade teachers, they can tell you which kids are going to make it with pretty good accuracy.”

 

Solutions are in the works.

Paine said the Education Department already is working on some solutions to the dropout problem, such as a virtual learning program for students who fall behind in their studies.

“One of the top three reasons students drop out of high school is that they fall behind academically. So that will address that particular need.” – State Superintendent of Schools Steve Paine

“It helps us diagnose for each individual student what their learning needs are, where they’ve fallen behind and then offer a customized program for them so that they can catch up,” he said. “One of the top three reasons students drop out of high school is that they fall behind academically. So that will address that particular need.”

In addition, Paine said, he has asked an expert from Johns Hopkins University to study the dropout problem in West Virginia and devise a statewide strategy to address it.

Martha Dean, executive director of the West Virginia Association of School Administrators, said it’s important for the state to calculate the dropout rate in a way that is consistent with the rest of the nation. Beyond that, she said, members of her organization will be ready to take any steps necessary to address the dropout problem.

“Whatever comes out, the school administrators are always willing to do what is required of them,” Dean. “So once they know what they need to do, they’ll do it.”

 

*

 

Editor’s Note: -- Jim Wallace is a former government reporter for the Charleston Daily Mail and former news director of West Virginia Public Radio. He now works for TSG Consulting in Charleston and writes for several national and West Virginia publications.

 

 

 

Chartering a new course? With federal Race to the Top funds on the line, charter schools become focus of interest in Kentucky

By Madelynn Coldiron

The prospect of federal education reform dollars has given the issue of charter schools in Kentucky a bit more traction, or at least more visibility.
   
 Just how much traction it has will depend on both the 2010 General Assembly – for which two charter-school bills already have been prefiled – and the details of the state’s application for the federal education innovation grant funds available under the Race to the Top program.    
  
  Ahead of those developments, the KSBA Board of Directors is studying the issue before taking a position. Kentucky is one of 10 states without a charter school law.  
   
 Charter schools are public schools that receive tax dollars but are more independent of many state regulations than regular public schools. They take different forms from state to state.  As Shannon Pratt Stiglitz told the KSBA board during its meeting last month, “Charter schools are like snowflakes – no two are built alike.” Pratt Stiglitz is KSBA’s assistant director of governmental relations.
    
The first thing that comes to mind with charter schools is “Pandora’s box,” said Dr. John Inman, a director-at-large on the KSBA board and member of the Meade County school board. “It seems to me we’re creating a problem,” he said, while regional chairperson Larry Dodson of Oldham County worried that the uncertain impact of charters on enrollment will “create a bigger hardship on regular schools.”
    
David Baird, KSBA’s governmental relations director and associate executive director, noted that charter schools are more common in large cities with troubled public schools. “I’m not sure that anybody in rural Kentucky is going to be interested in a charter school, but you never know,” he said.
    
Charter proponents make their case in part based on the issue of school choice, Baird said. “Parents want school choice and so choice is a big issue,” he told the board. "And this notion is sold to them that you can have school choice with charters."
    
This is not the first time charter school legislation has come before the General Assembly, Baird noted. Those bills historically have gotten nowhere. “If Race to the Top were not on the table, I don’t think we would be having as serious a discussion about charter schools,” Baird said.
    
Pratt Stiglitz said the issue is probably going to be discussed by lawmakers, “but I don’t see it passing."
  
  Under Race to the Top’s 500-point scoring rubric, states without charter laws will lose 40 points – in Kentucky’s case, some of this could be offset by a gain of eight points for having school-based decision making. Kentucky will be applying for those funds in the first round of the two-phase competition and Baird warned if the state is not successful in the first go-round, the charter issue will take on greater import.
    
“If we don’t get RTTT in phase 1, I think there will be a lot of pressure on the legislators to pass some kind of legislation toward the end of the session,” he said.
    
KSBA’s board members will continue discussing charters when they meet later this month. Both the Kentucky Association of School Superintendents and Kentucky Education Association have gone on record opposing charter schools.

 

Charter legislation

 The two bills expected to come before the 2010 General Assembly – one prefiled by Rep. Stan Lee (R-Lexington) and the other by Rep. Brad Montell (R-Shelbyville) – are nearly identical in many ways. Both would allow “sponsoring” agencies – local school boards, accredited universities, or city or county governments – to file charter applications, which, if approved, would amount to contracts. The nonprofit, public charters would be operated by a board of directors.

Each prefiled bill states that charters would have to participate in state assessments, adhere to the same audit requirements as regular schools and meet state attendance, instructional day and graduation requirements.

The prefiled legislation also outlines conditions for converting a regular school to a charter; for renewal of a charter’s five-year contract or its revocation; and the parameters for funding them with public school dollars.

However, there is a significant difference between the two proposals: Lee’s proposal would set up a state Charter School Advisory Committee that would screen applications and make a nonbinding recommendation to the sponsoring agency, which has the final say. Renewal and revocation of a charter contract would also be handled by the local entity.

Montell’s proposal, which calls the charters “public school academies,” would also set up a state commission – but in this case, it would be the commission that would approve or disapprove public school academy applications. The prefiled bill states that the contract would then be signed – no mention of a local approval process – by the sponsor and applicant. 
 
Editor’s Note: The issue of Charter Schools will be discussed at the West Virginia School Board Association’s 2010 Winter Conference.

•  Coldiron is a staff writer for the Kentucky School Boards Association’s Kentucky School Advocate monthly publication. Refer to http://www.ksba.org

 

W.Va. Teacher of the Year Gretchen Shaffer Honored

West Virginia’s Teacher of the Year Gretchen Shaffer, a math teacher at Morgantown High School in Monongalia County, considers her greatest accomplishment to be her desire for and ability to build relationships with all her students.

Shaffer began her teaching career in 2002 in Maryland before moving to Morgantown High School in 2005.

A recipient of the Order of Augusta medal, given to the top eight graduation seniors at West Virginia University, Shaffer has a master’s degree in education from Frostburg State University and a bachelor degree in speech pathology and audiology from WVU.

Shaffer earned her National Board Teaching Certification in Adolescent and Young Adulthood Mathematics in 2008.

She received the Arch Coal Teacher Achievement Award in 2009 and is one of West Virginia’s model teachers in algebra and geometry.

She also created an afterschool ACT/SAT prep class that has helped students increase their scores enough to qualify for the PROMISE Scholarship.

Shaffer also was chosen to participate in the West Virginia Department of Education’s Teacher Leadership Institute in 2007 and has written Problem Based Learning units that are included in the department’s Teach21 Web site. She is sponsor of Morgantown High School’s Student Council.

She also was named one of 30 outstanding seniors by the WVU Foundation.

Each year Toyota donates a new car to the state teacher of the year for use during his or her tenure. As West Virginia’s Teacher of the Year, Shaffer also received $5,000 from Mountain State Blue Cross Blue Shield and an educational technology package from the Smarter Kids Foundation valued at approximately $14,300.

Shaffer was selected by a committee appointed by the state superintendent of schools to evaluate nine finalists who were their county Teacher of the Year winners.

Teacher of the Year, a project of the Council of Chief State School Officers, is the longest, ongoing awards program honoring classroom teachers in the country, granting its first national award in 1952.

West Virginia has participated in the program since 1964.

West Virginia Department of Education

 

Administrative Perspective

Legislature ‘getting right to work’ on public education bills; school calendar, School Building Authority bills advance

By Martha Dean, Ed.D.

The Legislature is going right to work in their committees. Both education committees had meetings on Tuesday and both were scheduled to meet on Thursday, but Senate Education cancelled their meeting.  Chairman Robert Plymale announced that there were unforeseen problems with Senate Bill 228, the Governor’s bill to change the school calendar. He did not indicate what the problems were, but it is assumed that they will be working on them and will have the bill on a future agenda.

House Education on Tuesday passed out House Bill 4040, regarding calendar changes. This bill includes a requirement for county boards to adopt contingency plans to ensure 180 days of instruction for students. It also allows county boards to select beginning and ending dates of the school year, removing the earliest beginning date and latest ending date currently in code. In House Education, there were no questions and no amendments and the motion to pass out of committee to the floor of the House by Brady Paxton was passed unanimously.

The second bill on the agenda was House Bill 4026, which was based on Senate Bill 638 and deals with projects for capital improvements for higher education.  Each institution must develop a 10-year campus development plan.  This motion to pass out of the committee also passed unanimously.

Dr. Christine Chadwick of Edvantia reported on a study done for the Perinatal Partnership. The researchers wanted to find out what educational programs can influence the behavior of parents 20 and under. Many schools have programs in their home economics classes or other classes that contain substantial material aimed at improving the knowledge of students about having babies and taking care of them. Hardy, Monroe, Pleasants, Jefferson, and Lewis Counties were part of the study.

The concluding presentation was by the president of New River Community College. This institution has campuses in Mercer, Raleigh, and Nicholas counties and has increased its enrollment dramatically over the last few years and is still trying to add programs related to the economy and available jobs.

Since the Senate Education Committee was cancelled, I was able to attend the House Education meeting on Thursday. The first item of business was House Bill 4041, which would allow the School Building Authority to borrow more money. There were several questions for School Building Authority Executive Director Mark Manchin to answer concerning the funds that are currently being set aside for the Qualified Zone Academy Bonds issue that was gotten earlier this year. That is separate from the current bonding proposal. The bill passed and will go to the Finance Committee for further action.

The last portion of the meeting dealt with the budget proposal for the Department of Education. Dr. Paine and his staff presented both the budget and information concerning how the department is reducing the budget both for this year and next year’s request due to the economy and the governor’s directive. It is always interesting to note the issues the delegates have interest in hearing more about. Thursday, the interest seemed to be in the undesignated funds. One Delegate added up all the different undesignated accounts and said they amounted to $17 million, which he obviously felt was too much. But the department staff was able to respond to questions and support the need for the funds they had requested.

Martha Dean is executive director of the West Virginia Association of School Administrators. She is a former school superintendent and RESA executive director.

 

WVSBA Direct

Winter Conference Program to be finalized

The West Virginia School Board Association’s 2010 Winter Conference program is being finalized. A tentative program is included below, as approved by the County Board Member Training Standards Review Committee (TSRC) late last fall.

The program included 7.00 clock hours training for county board members.

Tentative Program

West Virginia School Board Association
Winter Conference - February 19-20, 2010
Marriott Hotel/Charleston, W. Va.

Friday, February 19, 2010

10:45 a.m.	West Virginia School Board Association Executive Board
1:00 p.m.	Charter Schools: Good, Bad, Indifferent Implications for West Virginia? – Includes Panel Discussion (Refreshment Break Included)
2:45 p.m.	Apples/Apples – Oranges/Oranges: The ‘Whys’ of West Virginia’s School Drop-out Rate – And Why County Boards Must Respond – Includes Panel Discussion
4:15 p.m.	Break
6:00 p.m.	Dinner (Provided)
7:15 p.m.	Local School Improvement Councils: Nuisances or Worthy Educational Entities? Pam Cain, Assistant State Superintendent
8:45 p.m.	Adjournment

Saturday, February 20, 2010

6:45 a.m.	Buffet Breakfast
8:00 a.m.	FY11 Annual Business Meeting
9:00 a.m.	Readily Packed Suitcases, Commuter Campuses:  Realities of Secondary Education Preparedness and the Higher Education Experience in West Virginia (Includes presentations by higher education officials)
10:30 a.m.	Break
10:45 a.m.	Select One: No Agenda Session Rick Olcott (Wood), WVSBA President, presenter Legislative Briefing Howard M. O’Cull, Ed.D., WVSBA Executive Director, Presenter
11:45 a.m.	Adjournment

 

Resources

 

 

The Education Alliance and the West Virginia School Board Association address the high school completion issue

 

By Pat Kusimo, Ph.D.

This month, The Education Alliance, in partnership with the West Virginia School Board Association, will kick off its Frontline Network for High School Completion. A January 2010 Departmental Review: Department of Education (Review) evaluated the state’s average high school graduation rate, in addition to five other issues – reading and mathematics proficiency; the level of pre-k availability statewide; implementation of the No Child Left Behind requirements for school choice; the credentialing process of teachers; and the Department of Education’s (DOE’s) incorporation of technology into the public school system. 

Addressing the high school completion issue, the Review asserts that West Virginia’s graduation rate “has had no upward trend in the past 15 years.”  Findings in the Review also indicate that when West Virginia’s 2008 graduation rate is calculated using the preferred “four-year cohort method,” the graduation rate is 75.2 percent. The Review concludes its high school completion discussion by stating:

West Virginia’s high school graduation rate is significantly lower than what the DOE has routinely reported. Conversely, the state’s dropout rate has been understated. Although the state graduation rate has been consistently above the national average, its long-term trend has shown no upward advancement for some time. The Legislature has established the goal of a 90 percent graduation rate by the year 2020. Given a current state average graduation rate of 75 percent and a historically flat trend, the DOE will not achieve 90 percent by the year 2020 under its current approach. 

Although the situation is dire, The Education Alliance and the West Virginia School Board Association believe it is not insurmountable. Rather, it’s an opportunity for local school boards, businesses, communities, educators, students and their families to rally and forge collective solutions. And that’s exactly what the Frontline Network will do.

The five local school boards participating in the Frontline Network, funded by the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation, will have an opportunity to work with their local communities to explore the high school completion issue, in all of its complexity, and develop local plans to address their needs. 

All West Virginia county school boards were invited to apply for project participation. Counties were selected based on their school boards’ willingness to engage and involve their local communities in the collaborative planning process outlined in Grad Nation. Additional selection criteria were: (1) current high school dropout and completion rates; (2) county demographics; and (3) availability of funds at the local level to match grants that will be awarded as a part of project participation.

The following five counties were selected by The Education Alliance’s research committee for initial project participation:

1. Calhoun
2. Mason
3. Monongalia
4. Monroe
5. Putnam

Each school board will receive: 1) a grant of up to $10,000; 2) The Grad Nation guide that provides detailed guidance on how to develop plans to improve high school completion/dropout rates; and 3) training from the West Virginia Center for Civic Life – a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that promotes citizen engagement through the practices of deliberative democracy. A project orientation for the five counties is scheduled for January 2010 in Charleston.

To learn more about the Frontline Network and other high school completion initiatives in West Virginia, log onto: www.EducationAlliance.org.

Pat Kusimo is president and chief executive officer of the Education Alliance. Her preferred contact information is: patkusimo@educationalliance.org by e-mail or 304-342-7850 by phone.

 

Commentary

 

 

 

Common Core will help schools advance in 21st Century

By Priscilla Haden

Nelson Mandela once said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” Education indeed can change the world. It is the foundation of opportunity for West Virginia’s students and America’s students, and one reason why I believe it is important to talk about a common core of subjects to be taught in schools from Maine to California.

Today’s students need us to help provide them with the knowledge and training they need to become the leaders of tomorrow. We must work together to ensure that students have the essential knowledge and skills they need for the 21st century. By joining with our fellow Americans in other states, we can put an emphasis on high standards essential to success in the 21st century.

Research tells us that common, rigorous standards lead to more students reaching higher levels of achievement. Yet across the United States we have an uneven patchwork of academic standards that has become a barrier to improving academic performance for all students. What this means is a student taking algebra in West Virginia may face a very different set of requirements than a student in North Carolina taking the same class. In addition, that same algebra class may not be comparable with standards in a similar class taught in other countries. In today’s mobile society, such differences are unacceptable.

Organizations unite for Common Core.

This is one reason the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) and the National Governors Association (NGA) joined forces to promote the state-led Common Core State Standards Initiative to develop research-backed K-12 standards in mathematics and English language arts. The National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE), of which the West Virginia Board of Education is a member, has applauded efforts to develop high-quality, voluntary standards that are common to all states. Earlier this month, West Virginia Board Member and NASBE President Lowell Johnson and I participated in meetings addressing the issue.

As a state-led effort, the Common Core State Standards Initiative respects the unique nature of every state, while acknowledging our shared national commitment to high classroom standards for all students in kindergarten through high school. These common core standards focus on fewer concepts while stressing deeper learning and understanding and are part of an overall drive to better prepare today's students for college or careers. The goal is to provide states with fewer, clearer and higher standards that are to be benchmarked against international
standards.

The goal is to provide states with fewer, clearer and higher standards that are to be benchmarked against international standards.

I’m proud that in West Virginia we already have recognized the importance of establishing high standards for students. In recent years, the West Virginia Board of Education in conjunction with the West Virginia Department of Education has systemically strengthened our own standards to emphasize core subjects as well as performance skills. Both are components of the West Virginia Board of Education and Department of Education’s 21st century improvement plan called “Global21: Students deserve it. The world demands it.” (http://wvde.state.wv.us/global21). Global21 helps public schools move beyond outdated instruction models and guide all children toward mastery of higher level core subjects as well as performance skills, including problem solving, critical thinking, creativity and collaboration.

 

West Virginia was already on the right track.

The Common Core State Standards Initiative reinforces the steps we have taken in West Virginia are the right ones for our children’s futures. Just as Global 21 raises the standards for West Virginia’s students, the Common Core initiative strives to ensure that every American public school student be taught to a high standard of quality. Those of us who adapt to the changing times will help our children prosper in the global economy of the 21st century.

West Virginia is one of 49 states and U.S. territories to sign on to the initiative, which draws upon the most important international models as well as research and input from numerous sources, including scholars, assessment developers, professional organizations, and educators from kindergarten through college. The common core standards also build upon the foundation laid by states such as West Virginia in their decades-long work on crafting high-quality education standards.

West Virginia leaders expect to adopt the common core standards. Some state standards, including ours in West Virginia, already are aligned with state and international standards so states will need to make only a few adjustments.

Now is the time to gain input from education stakeholders and others across West Virginia. The state board and the state Department of Education are committed to gathering opinions.

While standards alone cannot raise the level of student learning, they do represent a bold step toward improvement. We must do more as communities, as a state and as a nation if we want our young people to be better prepared for the world that awaits them. Establishing common standards is a necessary and prudent step toward that goal.

Priscilla Haden is president of the West Virginia Board of Education.

 

The challenge of OPEB for the state's political subdivisions

 

By Patricia Hamilton

The political subdivisions of the State of West Virginia have been significantly impacted by the GASB 45 accounting standards statement and the resulting booking/funding of the Other Post Employment Benefits (OPEB) liability.  While we understand that the accounting standards did not cause the liability, we have been pointing out to the powers-that-be that it is a "state-inspired" liability.  Not a single county commission, city council, school board, public service district, or other governing body of a political subdivision voted to provide the heavily-subsidized retiree benefits related to health care coverage.

Not a single county commission, city council, school board, public service district, or other governing body of a political subdivision voted to provide the heavily-subsidized retiree benefits related to health care coverage.

We have formed a coalition of the "non-states" to assist the governor and the Legislature in finding means to mitigate and manage this liability.  Within PEIA, the non-states are a separate pool from the state employees and about 10 percent of the OPEB actuarial liability of approximately $7.8 billion is attributed to the non-states.  (School boards' employees are part of the state's pool but are in some ways between the two - one might say they are between a rock and a hard place!)  Our coalition of counties, cities, public service districts, transit authorities, public defender service corporations and others have been working on behalf of all non-state entities to try to understand and define the problem and identify solutions, or at least strategies, to manage the liability. 

We commend both the Senate and the governor for tackling this very complex issue.  Our non-state coalition has been grappling with the issue for over a year-and-a-half and we continually identify more questions than answers!  We have offered the suggestions below to a working group that has been appointed by Senate President Tomblin and we have met with members of this group.  This compilation of recommendations, strategies and questions (in no particular order) reflect the understanding we have gained as well as the confusion we still feel on the issue:

1. We need data.  Is the non-states' retirement picture the same as the state's?  Should an actuarial study of only the non-states be undertaken to determine our true liability?  Should the study be developed with each individual entity or as a non-state group?
2. We would like to have more flexibility to restructure retiree medical benefits, such as reducing or eliminating the subsidy or implementing cost caps, to prevent runaway medical inflation from becoming a burden to future taxpayers.  We think the non-state agencies could be very effective in providing manageable solutions that fit their individual needs.
3. We suggest looking into the possibility of sharing the liability costs in a feasible balance between employer and employee.
4. We suggest considering an older retirement age, an increased number of years of employment to qualify for any health care coverage (especially if it's subsidized), and a study of the use of household income for retirees as a gauge to have a sliding scale type of premium.  In many instances, the state is subsidizing retiree households with substantial income.
5. We suggest establishment of a true liability for the non-states.  We think that a "shotgun" approach has been used in assigning the same liability to all non-states that applies to the state.
6. We need to explore the possibility of a new Supreme Court case to review the "detrimental reliance" opinion.
7. We recognize the "generational war" that this issue is initiating all over the country, as active employees begin to realize the extent to which their premium is subsidizing retirees.  We recognize the need for balance so we don't go from all to nothing on July 1, 2010, based upon the PEIA Finance Board decision to stop retiree subsidies for new hires.  We think that flexibility on the local level can help us adopt strategies that will provide a benefit if the non-state entity/employer chooses to do so.  While it may not look the same as the benefits being received today, there is no point in continuing to offer a benefit that no employer can afford.  A plan can be designed that is both affordable to the employer and attractive to our future retirees.

We are willing to think progressively and creatively, particularly on a going-forward basis. 

As one can see, while we have developed some considerations and strategies, there is still more we need to know to come up with firm conclusions. We are currently doing research to see what other states' political subdivisions have put into place. (Ironically, West Virginia was one of the first states to take action on OPEB, and other states are monitoring our results). We have emphasized to the governor and to the Legislature that we are willing to think progressively and creatively, particularly on a going-forward basis.  In all the seminars I've attended and the research I've read on OPEB, the one constant is change. We all must change how we deliver health care coverage to our retirees, and we as a non-state coalition are attempting to take control of our destinies and implement the necessary changes to both manage the current liability and eliminate or reduce it for the future.

Patricia Hamilton is executive director of the West Virginia Association of Counties.

 

Legislative Record

“The less people know about how sausage and laws are made, the better they'll sleep at night” – Attributed to Otto von Bismarck (1815-1898), Prussian prime minister.

2010 LEGISLATIVE CALENDAR

1st  Day - January 13, 2010: First day of session. (WV Const. Art. VI, §18)

20th  Day - February 1, 2010: Submission of Legislative Rule-Making Review bills due. (WV Code §29A-3-12)

41st  Day - February 22, 2010: Last day to introduce bills in the Senate and the House. (Senate Rule 14), (House Rule 91a) Does not apply to originating or supplementary appropriation bills. Does not apply to Senate or House resolutions or concurrent resolutions.

47th  Day - February 28, 2010: Bills due out of committees in house of origin to ensure three full days for readings.

50th  Day - March 3, 2010: Last day to consider bill on third reading in house of origin. Does not include budget or supplementary appropriation bills. (Joint Rule 5b)

60th Day - March 13, 2010: Adjournment at Midnight. (WV Const. Art. VI, §22)
Source: West Virginia Legislatur

 

Bill Derby - And They're Off!

"Remember, Lady Godiva put all she had on a horse and she lost her shirt!" - W. C. Fields (William Claude Dukenfield (January 29, 1880 – December 25, 1946), known as W. C. Fields, was an American comedian, actor, juggler and writer.)

Senate Bill 6. Providing higher education employees' eligibility for Legislature. Second Reference Senate Judiciary.  Reference: http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=SB6 intr.htm&yr=2010&sesstype=RS&i=6

Senate Bill 212. Relating to higher education capital facilities. Second Reference Senate Finance. Reference: http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=SB122 intr.htm&yr=2010&sesstype=RS&i=122

House Bill 4016. Strengthening the Ethics Act Financial Disclosure Filing Requirements. Passed House 1/20/10. Referred to Senate Judiciary then Senate Finance. Reference: http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=HB4016 ENG SUB.htm&yr=2010&sesstype=RS&i=4016 (NOTE: As passed by the House of Delegates – Engrossed Committee Substitute)

House Bill 4026. Relating to Higher Education Capital Facilities Generally. House Education approved 1/19/10. On 2nd reading, House Calendar 1/22/10.  Reference: http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=hb4026 intr.htm&yr=2010&sesstype=RS&i=4026

House Bill 4040. Requiring county boards to adopt contingency plans designed to guarantee 180 separate days of instruction for students. House Education approved 1/19/10. On 2nd reading, House Calendar Reference: http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=hb4040 intr.htm&yr=2010&sesstype=RS&i=4040

House Bill 4041. Authorizing the School Building Authority to issue bonds in the maximum aggregate amount of $500 million outstanding at any time, House Education approved 1/21/10. Referred to House Finance.  Reference: http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=hb4041 intr.htm&yr=2010&sesstype=RS&i=4041


NOTE: Unless otherwise stated, the bill reference is to the measure as originally introduced.

 

ETC.

 

 

 

Meanwhile in New York...

The students of the H.W. Smith School in Syracuse, N.Y., are upset with President Obama for answering an invitation to visit their school with a form letter, local television station WSYR reports. The children mailed the president a letter on Nov. 13, inviting him to come help them build a snowman. They included a photo of the group, and wrote about how building a snowman together would demonstrate unity and peaceful living.

The reply they received from the White House was dated Nov. 6 -- a week before they sent their letter -- and was addressed to "students." Most of the students said they did not expect the president to visit them, but they had hoped for something more personal than a form letter.

The students decided to answer the White House with a complaint about its informal response, and sent Obama another letter asking him to consider having his staff write personal responses to his mail. "If they wrote the letter we received as an answer on a test, they would not have a passing grade because they did not answer the question," the students wrote.

Source: http://www.9wsyr.com/news/local/story/Local-students-upset-over-letter-from-President/Mrbb2zhxfkKV1T74v4vaPA.cspx

 

 

Wisdom

In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends. - Martin Luther King Jr. (1929 - 1968), US black civil rights leader & clergyman

Soundbites

“The teaching profession makes all other professions possible…” – State Superintendent of Schools Steve Paine in remarks Jan. 14 recognizing Gretchen Shaffer, West Virginia’s 2010 Teacher of the Year. 

“We, as a Senate, are in general agreement” (about proposals to deal with OPEB) – Sen. Brooks McCabe

 “We got to do everything we can to keep those students in there getting every day’s education that we can.” – Senate President Earl Ray Tomblin

“We need to look at increasing funding and options for alternative education, as well as increasing the mandatory attendance age.” – House Education Chairwoman Mary Poling

“A teacher in the first grade can predict with great reliability students that they have that will drop out when they get to high school.” – Judy Hale of the AFT-WV

“County boards may realize a decrease in their funding” (if the economy doesn’t recover after federal stimulus money runs out). – Joe Panetta of the Office of School Finance

“It’s time we step up to the plate and give our students what’s required by law.” – Jim Pitrolo, legislative director for Gov. Manchin, on the school calendar bill

 

Last Word

“The wide world is all about you; you can fence yourselves in, but you cannot fence it out.” – J. R. R. Tolkien (1892-1973), British writer and author of the richly inventive epic fantasy, The Lord of the Rings.

Creative solutions are needed for dropout problem

By Hoppy Kercheval

The numbers released last week by the West Virginia legislative audit were stunning:  Only three out of every four ninth-grade students will graduate high school on time. 

That’s a graduation rate of just 75 percent. The state Department of Education had been telling us that the graduation rate was nearly 10 points higher, but they have been using a different formula to calculate the dropout rate.

To his credit, state School Superintendent Dr. Steve Paine is embracing the new, more accurate figure.  The revelation that one in four ninth-graders will end up leaving school without even a basic skill set is alarming.

Not that many years ago, a high school dropout might be able to land an industrial or manufacturing job that paid a decent wage and might even include health benefits.  And we’ve all heard and read stories about the successful businessman or woman who never completed high school.

But times have changed.  The economy has shifted dramatically in the last half century.  Today, a person’s financial success is linked much more closely to their brain power than to their brawn. 

Predictably, the opportunities for young people who drop out of high school have shrunk significantly. 

Former West Virginia Gov. Bob Wise now serves as president of the Alliance for Excellent Education. His organization has quantified the impact of high school dropouts, and Wise has published many of those findings in his book, Raising the Grade.

The dropout will “cost the economy about $260,000 in unrealized wages, taxes and productivity.”

According to Wise, a high school dropout will earn, on average, about $1 million less over their working life than a college graduate. Over the course of a lifetime, the dropout will “cost the economy about $260,000 in unrealized wages, taxes and productivity.”

High school dropouts are far more likely to become teen parents, raise less healthy and less well-educated children. That, in turn, produces an even greater societal cost. Dropouts are more likely to commit crimes and depend on public services such as food stamps.

Gov. Manchin highlighted the problem in his State of the State address last week, pointing out that “for every 100 ninth-graders in school today, statistics tell us only 16 will graduate from college.”

Experts tend to agree that by the time a student has gotten to high school and made up his or her mind to drop out, it’s already too late to reach them. The best approach is to target students much earlier and give them special attention.

That’s a real challenge since often teachers and counselors are dealing not only with at-risk students, but also uninvolved parents. The lack of a stable home life means that in some cases the schools have had to become surrogate parents.

Almost half of the state’s general revenue budget – $1.8 billion out of $3.7 billion – already goes to public education. It’s hard to imagine any desire by the Legislature or the public to spend even more money on schools.

But these new dropout figures illustrate a huge problem, one that requires creative thinking and new solutions.  The challenge has been made perfectly clear. The question now is how we respond. 

Hoppy Kercheval is host of “Talkline” on the MetroNews Radio Network. This Commentary was published Jan. 17, 2010.

 

 

Marketplace

 

 

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The Legislature is published by the West Virginia School Board Association. It provides county board of education members, state policymakers, school administrators and the education community information and opinions regarding West Virginia legislative issues. The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect official opinion or policies of the WVSBA, unless specifically stated.

West Virginia School Board Association
PO Box 1008
Charleston, WV 25324
Phone (304) 346-0571 • Fax (304) 346-0572 WVSBA.ORG

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Howard M. O’Cull, Ed. D., Executive Director, Editor
hocull@wvsba.org
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Production and Circulation
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Vincit omnia veritas
“Truth conquers all”