WVSBA The Legislature

February 26, 2010 - Volume 30 / Issue 13

Overview

Stats

Day of Session 45th
Days Remaining 15
Bills Introduced:
(Including 2009 House Carryover Bills)		 2071



Quote: “I don’t believe the topic of charter schools has been thoroughly studied by both houses of the Legislature…” – House Education Committee Chairwoman Mary Poling, D-Barbour, discussing charter schools legislation. The measure is expected to pass the Senate and likely would be referred to House Education and the House Finance Committee.  

Inside

 

 

 

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


By Jim Wallace

It looks as though it will be at least late spring or early summer before lawmakers figure out how to deal with West Virginia’s enormous liability for OPEB – other post-employment benefits.

The legislator who has been leading negotiations on the issue, Sen. Brooks McCabe, D-Kanawha, said he is “disappointed” that 50 of the state’s 55 county school boards decided to file a lawsuit against the state instead of waiting a little longer for the Legislature to come up with a solution.

On Monday, the school boards filed suit against the Public Employees Insurance Agency, the PEIA Finance Board and the state auditor in Kanawha County Circuit Court.

"The county boards of education seek to be relieved from statutory requirements with respect to reporting and funding of Other Post Employment Benefits, including relief from any obligation to contribute to the West Virginia Retiree Health Benefit Trust Fund in any amount that exceeds the state funding currently provided to the county boards of education for their employees' Other Post Employment Benefits,” Howard Seufer, an attorney for the boards, wrote in an e-mail message. “The lawsuit requests the circuit court to declare the State's responsibility for all reporting and funding requirements addressed in the statute with respect to Other Post Employment Benefits on behalf of school board employees.”

 

Senator said lawmakers are working hard.

“I just wish that the counties would come to the table and work as hard trying to solve it as I think we are. It’s just frustrating from my perspective right now.” – Sen. Brooks McCabe

McCabe said he was disappointed not only at the lawsuit but also that lawmakers were not informed about it until they read about it in the newspapers.

“We will continue to work and try to diligently solve this,” he said. “I just wish that the counties would come to the table and work as hard trying to solve it as I think we are. It’s just frustrating from my perspective right now. We are working hard trying to get it worked out. I think we’re mostly there on the county side of things. We’ve got some more significant, difficult issues with other parts of the legislation, the administrative things we have to deal with. We’re making progress in dealing with the other affected parties.”

Rick Olcott, president of the Wood County school board, said he wished his board and the other boards had not believed it was necessary to take legal action.

“It disappoints me that we reached this point in the process,” he said, but he still hoped the Legislature can resolve the problem soon. “I just hope we can get this reconciled,” Olcott said.

 

OPEB estimate has been revised.

West Virginia’s OPEB liability is now estimated by PEIA’s actuaries to be $7.5 billion at the end of the current fiscal year. That’s down slightly from the previous estimate of $7.8 billion. It represents mainly health care benefits promised to current and future retirees from the public sector. The school boards contend that it is unfair to hold them liable for much of that liability, because they had no say in structuring the benefits for retirees and because most school funding comes to them from the state through the School Aid Formula.

Wood County was among the first three school districts in the state that were required to carry the OPEB liability on their books, but each year, more districts have been coming under the same regulation. Although they have not been required to actually pay for most of the liability, Olcott said just carrying it on the boards’ books is resulting in diverting taxpayers’ money away from spending on children’s education.

“I am very much impressed by the unity and the sincerity of our school board members across the state.” – Rick Olcott of Wood County board


“I am very much impressed by the unity and the sincerity of our school board members across the state,” he said.



Work groups in both the Senate and the House of Delegates have recommended that the state should assume responsibility for the portion of the liability represented by the School Aid Formula payments. Olcott said he had hoped the Legislature would have moved a bill to do just that separately from dealing with other OPEB issues, such as how to pay off the liability.

“I’m still hopeful, but it wasn’t done at the pace and urgency I would have hoped,” he said.

 

Legislators need more time.

But McCabe said he has expected for some time that lawmakers would have to wait for a special session to complete work on OPEB, because they couldn’t get it done within the 60-day regular session.

“We’ve been saying that for quite a while,” he said. “We were trying to take it as far as we could this session, but we knew we couldn’t get it through the House, because there was too much work to do, too much education and frankly too much negotiation of the moving parts. Our goal is to try to move it ahead as far as we can.”

Olcott said he and many school board members across the state think lawmakers should have done something about OPEB before this year. But McCabe said it’s not that easy.

“The Senate has been talking about this for two and a half years, particularly our Finance chairman [Walt Helmick, D-Pocahontas] has been speaking publicly about it for quite some time,” McCabe said. “To the best of my knowledge, the interested parties were slow in coming forward until they were actually under the auspices of the regulations that were being implemented.”

A legislative interim committee spent the better part of a year studying the OPEB problem and a committee appointed by Gov. Manchin spent six months working on it, he said, but neither of those groups could reach a conclusion on what to do. It was hard to get much done toward resolving OPEB matters until others reached “a crisis mentality,” McCabe said. Senate President Earl Ray Tomblin, D-Logan, assigned a work group under McCabe’s leadership to the problem last fall, but a House work group did not get organized until a few weeks ago.

“It seems to me the tougher the issue sometimes, it’s harder to resolve unless you have some type of crisis mode.” – Sen. McCabe

“It was a difficult type of subject to negotiate in public,” McCabe said. “You needed to sit down and have confidential conversations one-on-one with different groups to figure what the real issues were and where you had room to maneuver. It seems to me the tougher the issue sometimes, it’s harder to resolve unless you have some type of crisis mode. I think we’re in one.”

McCabe said he wished the school boards had been a bit more patient in letting lawmakers work out legislation on OPEB.



“I don’t think issues like this are solved in court, particularly when everyone’s willing to sit down,” he said. “I think the preferred approach is to sit down and try to solve it.”

 

 


By Jim Wallace

The Senate Finance Committee approved a charter schools bill Thursday after a contentious discussion that ran more than an hour as tempers ran short.

The bitterest exchange occurred between Senate Bill 686’s lead sponsor, Sen. Erik Wells, D-Kanawha, and Bob Brown, executive director of the West Virginia School Service Personnel Association.

“This is a horrible, horrible bill. If there are no protections, I fear we will go back to the days in some places where these jobs could be handed out based on your relationship with someone or how you voted in the last election.” – Bob Brown of WVSSPA

Earlier, while being questioned by Sen. Randy White, D-Webster, Brown told the committee he had several complaints about the charter schools bill, especially a lack of protections for school employees.

“This is a horrible, horrible bill,” Brown said. “If there are no protections, I fear we will go back to the days in some places where these jobs could be handed out based on your relationship with someone or how you voted in the last election.”


Nepotism views are questioned.

That led Wells to question Brown’s views on nepotism. “So you’re saying that nepotism is not a good thing,” Wells said.

Brown responded, “I’m opposed to it if you use it to displace another person in exchange for one of your relatives.”

“What’s your relationship to Josh Sword?” Wells asked, referring to an employee of the American Federation of Teachers-West Virginia, with which Brown’s organization is affiliated.

“I’m sure there were some family connections involved.” – Sen. Erik Wells

“He’s my nephew,” Brown said. “Josh Sword doesn’t work for me.”

“I’m sure there were some family connections involved,” Wells suggested.

“I was not involved in the interview and I did not hire him,” Brown said. “He does not work for me.”

Wells also clashed with Sen. John Unger, D-Berkeley, and Dale Lee, president of the West Virginia Education Association. Two days earlier, Wells had praised Lee for helping him work out issues in the bill, even though WVEA does not support it.

“AFT participated in the first meeting and never showed up again,” Wells said at the end of the Senate Education Committee on Tuesday. “WVEA was there. I appreciate the concern that he had and the questions that he raised. In this bill that is before you, about 70 to 80 percent of the recommendations he made were accepted.”

 

Bill was amended.

One key change the Education Committee made before voting on Senate Bill 686 and sending it to the Senate Finance Committee was to raise the bar for getting a charter school proposal approved. The bill had called for 60 percent of teachers at the school to vote in favor of the switch to charter status, but the committee agreed to an amendment from Sen. Larry Edgell, D-Wetzel, to increase the level to 80 percent.

However, Brown told the Education Committee that letting just teachers vote on a proposed switch would not be fair to school service workers who would be affected by the change without having a say in it. That was far from the only complaint he had with the bill.

“At worst, I fear it’s a thinly veiled attempt, once again, to repeal all of our personnel laws.” – Bob Brown

“At best, some of the provisions in this bill are redundant based upon the passage of the Innovation Zones Act last year,” Brown said. “At worst, I fear it’s a thinly veiled attempt, once again, to repeal all of our personnel laws.”

The bill has many good provisions, he said, but not for the employees who would work at a charter school.

“In the first section, we talk about ensuring student due process, which is a good thing to do, but we don’t ensure any employee due process,” Brown said. “We eliminate due process for employees. I find it interesting that we support enhanced parental rights, which is a good thing to do, but then we take away employee rights.”

The result, he said, would be that charter school employees could “willy-nilly be removed, fired or transferred with no due process, no recourse, no grievance procedure for this provision.” Brown also complained that the bill provides several reasons for revoking a school’s charter, “but there’s no provision in this bill to revoke a charter if you have a declining or low student achievement. That flies in the face of what this bill is supposed to be about.”

Finally, he told the committee, there is no empirical research supporting the contention that work rules have a bad effect on student achievement, but a recent report from Stanford University found that 39 percent of charter school students fare worse than their peers in public schools.

 

Two unions declare labor roll call vote.

After the Education Committee approved Senate Bill 686, Judy Hale, president of the American Federation of Teachers-West Virginia, and Jackee Long, president of the West Virginia School Service Personnel Association, issued a letter to members of the Senate saying the unions would consider the votes in the Education Committee, in the Finance Committee and on the Senate floor as a “labor roll call vote,” meaning they would hold votes in favor of the bill against senators in their re-election bids.

“We recognize the seriousness of our decision but the objectionable provisions of the bill warrant such action.” – Judy Hale of AFT-WV and Jackee Long of WVSSPA

“We recognize the seriousness of our decision but the objectionable provisions of the bill warrant such action,” Hale and Long wrote.



However, before the bill left the Finance Committee, Wells worked with other senators to amend the bill, including making some changes the union leaders had sought. For example, in an amendment offered by Edgell, the committee gave school service workers the right to vote along with teachers on switching a school to charter status. The committee also added a provision that would allow a school board to remove a school’s charter status if it would go two consecutive years without improving test scores. Wells had wanted to make that three years but backed down from that position.

 

WVSBA heard arguments on charters schools earlier.
               
The Senate Finance Committee’s approval of the bill came less than a week after the concept of charters schools was the topic of a panel discussion at the West Virginia School Board Association’s Winter Conference. Wells had been invited to participate, but he did not show up.

Todd Ziebarth, vice president for policy for the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, said West Virginia is one of only 11 states without a charter school law. He said charter schools serve only about 3 percent of students across the country, but many more students, as well as teachers, would like to get into them.

Although most charter schools – 56 percent – are in cities, about 25 percent are in suburban communities and almost 20 percent are in small towns and rural areas, Ziebarth said. Some states have used charter schools to close achievement gaps, he said.

“The ability to operate a charter school is a privilege, not a right,” he concluded.

Ben Adams, student body president at Capital High School in Charleston, also supported having charter schools in West Virginia.

“Our focus should not be on what’s there for the adults but what’s there for the students.” – student Ben Adams

“We’re not doing a good enough job yet at preparing our students for the future,” he said, calling in from New York where he was visiting colleges he might attend. The focus should be on providing choice to parents and students, he said.

“Our focus should not be on what’s there for the adults but what’s there for the students,” Adams said.


Others see downsides of charter schools.

However, Martha Dean, executive director of the West Virginia Association of School Administrators, said, “I think it’s a little bit naïve to think a charter school would automatically be meeting the needs of students.” She noted that the subject of charter schools tends to polarize people in education.

“People either love charter schools or they are very critical of charter schools.” – Martha Dean of WVASA

“People either love charter schools or they are very critical of charter schools,” Dean said.

U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan favors charter schools, she said, but that’s likely because the Chicago schools from which he came “needed a shot in the arm.” Some have suggested that authorizing charter schools would improve West Virginia’s chances to get federal Race to the Top money, but Dean said she has reservations about “jumping in just because of Race to the Top.”

Lee, Brown and Hale offered views similar to those they expressed before the Senate Education and Finance committees.

Lee accused lawmakers of trying to fix schools’ problems by throwing a small amount of money at them instead of taking more comprehensive actions like reducing class sizes.

“This is a problem that cannot be fixed by a simple bill that says let’s have charter schools,” he said.

Brown said, “We are not blindly opposed to the concept of public charter schools. We are blindly opposed to the concept of private charter schools.

Hale cited a study that found that 87 percent of children in regular public schools did as well or better than their counterparts in charter schools.

Tim McClung of West Virginians for Education Reform told the school board members said the easy part is getting the Legislature to pass a charter schools bill. “The hard part is what follows,” he said.

Charter schools simply represent another tool for addressing public education problems, McClung said. He is working with four counties that are interested in starting charter schools if the bill to do that is approved by the Legislature, he said.

 


By Jim Wallace

The House of Delegates has passed and sent to the Senate a bill aimed at improving the high school graduation rate by raising the mandatory attendance age from 16 to 17 and providing several options to address the problems of students who would otherwise dropout of school.

“We’re bleeding 1,000 students a year, 1,000 students a year are bleeding out of our schools.” – Delegate Brady Paxton

House Bill 4593 received 94 votes in favor of it and only four votes against it when it passed in the House on Wednesday. When the bill came out of the House Education Committee last Friday, the committee’s vice-chairman, Delegate Brady Paxton, D-Putnam, issued a plea to get it passed.

“West Virginia’s bleeding,” he said. “We’re going past a pinprick. We’re bleeding now. We’re bleeding 1,000 students a year, 1,000 students a year are bleeding out of our schools.”

By one measure, about one quarter of students who begin ninth grade do not graduate from high school four years later. Paxton said he hoped the programs provided for in the bill would help keep students interested in staying in school and not dropping out. “If not a complete remedy, this is certainly on the road to remedy to help stem these dropouts,” he said.

 

Bill couples higher age with support programs.

The approach of the House Education Committee, as developed by a subcommittee led by Delegate Josh Stowers, D-Lincoln, is stated this way in the bill:

“Increasing the compulsory school attendance age will have little effect in aiding students to complete high school if additional resources, both fiscal and programmatic, are not dedicated to supporting student achievement, providing real-life relevancy in curriculum, and engaging students in learning, particularly for those students who have become so disengaged from school and learning that they are at risk of dropping out of school.”

The methods provided for in the bill for curbing the rate of dropouts include:


Boards would have to lay out their plans.

The bill specifies that each county board shall explain in its alternative education program plan how the district intends to improve student retention and increase the graduation rate in the county. The plan, which must be approved the state school board, would be expected to include strategies the county board would implement to achieve the following goals:

  1. Increasing the graduation rate for the county;
  2. Identifying at the earliest age possible those students who are at risk of dropping out of school prior to graduation; and
  3. Providing additional options for delivering to at-risk students’ academic credentials and career-technical training if appropriate or desired by the student. Those options may include such programs as Techademics, Earn a Degree-Graduate Early (EDGE), Health Sciences and Technology Academy (HSTA), Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP), truancy diversion, early intervention, dropout prevention, prevention resource officers, GED option, credit recovery, alternative learning environments, or any other program or strategy approved by the state board.

To help school districts pay for such alternative education programs, the bill would increase county boards’ allocation for them in the School Aid Formula. The appropriation would go up from $12 per student in net enrollment to $18 per student.

The bill also calls on the state superintendent to pursue getting West Virginia designated as a GED Option state by the American Council on Education. Such a designation would allow the state board to create a program in which students could pursue GED diplomas while remaining enrolled in high school. The GED Option also would be offered to students at the Mountaineer Challenge Academy.

 

Fewer absences would be allowed.

Another provision of the bill would lower from 10 to five the number of unexcused absences a student could have before the student and his or her parent, guardian or custodian would be called in for a conference with school officials. Delegate Ricky Moye, D-Raleigh, said he was afraid that provision might cause unintended consequences, but it was explained by staff attorneys and others that school districts have leeway to extend that time when it seems appropriate to do so.

“A very impressive piece of legislation.” – Delegate John Shott

When the Education Committee finished its work on the bill, most of the delegates and observers present seemed pleased with it. Delegate John Shott, R-Mercer, called it “a very impressive piece of legislation.”

But one observer was not so happy with it. John Carey of Heritage Communications of West Virginia complained that there are no peer-reviewed, controlled studies showing benefits from increasing the mandatory attendance age.

“I do think they did a great job,” he said. “I think then they ought to make it voluntary to attract the students back in. The teachers won’t have students in their classrooms that don’t want to be there.”

 

More substance abuse programs also might be needed.

Other people who have been working to increase West Virginia’s funding for substance abuse programs have questioned whether the provision to add more juvenile drug courts would do much good if there are not enough substance abuse programs to help young people ordered by the courts to receive treatment.

When asked about that, state Supt. Steve Paine said he had not considered it, but he called it “an intriguing thought. I hear a lot of our kids are incarcerated because of prescription drug abuse, so it makes some sense.” But he also said most high school dropouts are not drug abusers, so having more substance abuse programs would have just a small effect on the dropout problem.

“They’re kids that have fallen behind. Those kids need different types of intervention than kids that are truant or drug abusers or that have behavioral problems, that kind of thing. So it’s a variety of approaches that need to be employed for those kids.” – Supt. Steve Paine

“They’re kids that are bored in school,” Paine said of the majority of dropouts. “They’re kids that have lost interest. They’re kids that have fallen behind.

Those kids need different types of intervention than kids that are truant or drug abusers or that have behavioral problems, that kind of thing. So it’s a variety of approaches that need to be employed for those kids.”

The House was wise in providing a wide range of options for keeping more students in high school, Paine said. “There are a lot of different solutions we need to look at for a lot of different kids,” he said.

 

Conference panel addressed the dropout problem.

Paine was among several people who participated in a panel discussion on the dropout problem at the West Virginia School Board Association’s Winter Conference the same day the House Education Committee produced its bill.

John Sylvia, director of the Performance Evaluation & Research Division of the Legislative Auditor’s Office, reviewed what he found when he studied West Virginia’s dropout problem. He found the graduation rate to be 73 percent to 74 percent. That is a few percentage points above the national average, but Sylvia was troubled that it hasn’t been improving.

His study found two strong indicators of which districts are likely to have high levels of dropouts. One is 10-grade reading scores. “Reading is fundamental,” he said. The other is the size of a school district with larger districts having lower graduation rates. Sylvia suggested that might be because larger districts tend to have larger high schools and larger average class sizes.

“Something is happening in districts when they become larger. There are some drawbacks to larger school districts.” – John Sylvia

However, he added that there is no correlation between academic performance and the size of a high school.

“Something is happening in districts when they become larger,” Sylvia said. “There are some drawbacks to larger school districts.”

Paine said he is concerned about that finding and has asked the Legislative Auditor’s Office to go deeper to try to get answer about what is causing more students of larger high schools to drop out. He suggested that it might be good to break large high schools into “cellular communities” and helping students feel more connected to their schools.

Another way Paine is trying to address the dropout problem is by calling on Robert Balfanz of Johns Hopkins University’s Everyone Graduates Center to design a comprehensive plan for West Virginia schools to help more students graduate from high school.

 

Early intervention is called for.

Diane Klinger, president-elect of the West Virginia Parent-Teacher Association, said districts need to start earlier in students’ school years to prevent them from dropping out.

“Every time a child drops out, we have failed,” she said.

Klinger also recognized there are problems with larger schools. “We don’t like larger schools,” she said. “The larger the school the more disconnected the child.”

“We need to get these choices for our students down lower in our schools. Keeping children’s interest – that’s where it’s at.” – Frank Collier

In agreement with others on the panel, Frank Collier, executive director of the West Virginia Association of Elementary, Middle and Secondary School Principals, said schools should be able to identify early students who could be at risk of becoming dropouts and then taking action to help them stay in school.

“We need to get these choices for our students down lower in our schools,” he said. “Keeping children’s interest – that’s where it’s at.”



State hopes to gradually raise the graduation rate.

Kenna Seal, executive director of the Office of Education Performance Audits, said state code has a goal of increasing the graduation rate to 90 percent by 2020 with increases of about one-tenth of the way each year. But he warned, that “it’s easy to raise a standard in an aggressive way” but harder to implement such a policy.

Keith Smith, director of the Coalfield Rural Systemic Initiative – Edvantia – said he has studied West Virginia’s dropout rates as far back as the 1974-1975 school year. The rate was more than 27 percent back then, got below 20 percent by 1984-1985 but now has gone back up above 25 percent, he said.

“I think we can come to grips with this thing. If we do not, it will eat us alive financially.” – Keith Smith

“That has been the 800-pound gorilla in the room in education for a long time,” Smith said. Not graduating from high school often leads to other problems, such as incarceration and poor health, he said, and the costs to society can be in the billions of dollars.

“I think we can come to grips with this thing,” Smith said. “If we do not, it will eat us alive financially.”

 

Certain grades have more problems.

Pat Kusimo, chief executive officer of the Education Alliance, shared a graph that showed an interesting trend in the rate of students being held back to repeat certain school years. Many children are held back in kindergarten through second grade, but very few are retained in third grade through fifth grade.

“Then it begins to escalate again at sixth, seventh and eighth, but at ninth grade, it hops up,” Kusimo said. “It’s called the Ninth-Grade Bulge, because you got students coming into ninth grade and you’ve got the students that have been retained in ninth grade. Ninth grade seems to be a key year. If a student gets behind in the credits they’re accumulating for graduation, if they miss too many ninth-grade credits, they are very much at higher risk for not completing high school and dropping out of school.”

Schools need to be prepared to intervene with students not only in ninth grade but also as early as kindergarten, she said.

“There’s got to be an intervention that actually makes a difference in the academic trajectory of those young people.” – Pat Kusimo

“Unless you have an intervention for those kids that are failing in kindergarten, unless you have a ninth-grade intervention, unless you have a middle school support program, then it doesn’t do you any good to just know that they’re at risk,” Kusimo said. “There’s got to be an intervention that actually makes a difference in the academic trajectory of those young people.”

Her next recommendation was to assign an adult advocate to each student considered at risk.

“The assumption is often that kids drop out of school because they don’t care or there are problems,” Kusimo said. “Many students drop out of school because they say they have no connection with anyone in the school, no connection at all. They are completely alienated from the schooling process.”

County school boards have many opportunities to work with schools on improving student retention.

“At the county level, you have a lot of latitude: the policies that you set, the support you give, the way you encourage the entire community – that’s churches, Little League, all the people in the community that come together – with the common goal is going to make all the difference in the world,” Kusimo said.



 By Jim Wallace and Howard O'Cull

The House Education Committee approved several bills this week, including bills affecting school bus operators and athletic directors.

House Bill 4512 would update the law regarding the certification testing of school bus operators, the wages of those engaged in the training of school bus operators and the definition of “supervisor of transportation.”

Bob Brown, executive director of the West Virginia School Services Personnel Association, said it was important to get such provisions right, because those positions had been used in the past as political appointments.

“One of the worst bus garages we have in the state is being run by a gentleman that was hired as a supervisor at Montgomery Ward’s without any transportation experience, and it’s a mess,” he said. “There are more grievances in that bus garage than in all the other bus garages in the state combined.”

 

Athletic directors would be codified.

The committee spent much time discussing House Bill 4602 defining the position of athletic director.

“There are no athletic directors. There are people disguised as athletic directors and that are taking care of athletic programs all over the state. This bill codifies that.”  -- Delegate Brady Paxton

“The purpose of this bill is to codify athletic directors,” the bill’s sponsor, Delegate Brady Paxton, D-Putnam, said. “As we speak, there is no such thing. There are no athletic directors. There are people disguised as athletic directors and that are taking care of athletic programs all over the state. This bill codifies that. It puts them down in writing. It has specific duties that they have.”

But Delegate Woody Ireland, R-Ritchie, was concerned that the bill could limit the job to professional educators.

“In Ritchie County, we have the best situation that we have had in my memory with respect to the athletic department, the solvency thereof and the way it is currently managed,” he said. “It is because we have a particular individual who is not a school teachers but an ex-business person.”

Ireland said the athletic director used his experience from working in the family’s auto business for many years. But he didn’t persuade Paxton to change his bill.

“That could be said about any situation in any school in any county,” Paxton said. “You might have a postmaster that is a whiz at history, but he’s not going to teach history unless he gets qualified, unless he gets that sheepskin that says he can teach history.”


Bill would provide clarity.

House Bill 4436 would provide discretion to school that make adequate yearly progress to use assessments and adopt instructional strategies and programs that promote student learning.

“Let the teachers teach what they feel needs to be taught.” – Delegate Stan Shaver

“You get these mandates that come down, and you really don’t know what’s required and what’s not required, because some of those things you might not really need to do in your school,” lead sponsor, Delegate Stan Shaver, D-Preston, explained. “The premise is to get back to: Let the teachers become professionals. Let the teachers teach what they feel needs to be taught. Good schools are going to continue to use those state department policies and programs that help them.”



Another bill addresses school calendar.

House Bill 4652 would establish a school calendar committee in each county comprised of proportional representation of teachers, administrators and services personnel. The committee would prepare school calendar options for selection by a countywide vote of the employees.

“It’s not often we get to vote on two calendar bills in one session,” Ireland commented in reference to the earlier bill that removed the mandated starting and ending dates for the school calendar. “As you recall, I wasn’t particularly in favor of the last calendar bill, but I did vote for it on the floor. I’m not particularly in favor of this calendar bill. I see it as trying to fix something that’s not necessarily broken.”

“I really feel that we don’t need to tell the counties from the state level how to manage their calendar, when we’ve already told them they have to have a 180-day calendar.” – Delegate Woody Ireland

It was another instance of the state trying to dictate to the counties, he said.

“I really feel that we don’t need to tell the counties from the state level how to manage their calendar, when we’ve already told them they have to have a 180-day calendar,” Ireland said. “If they can teach our children, surely to peaches, they can figure out how to come up with a school calendar.”

However, Ireland did not prevail and the bill was approved.




Another day means more bills.

In its second meeting of the week on Thursday, the House Education Committee passed a bill, which originated in committee, that would grant statutory exemptions to four schools designated as Innovation Zones by the state Board of Education. Legislation enacted in 2009 permits schools wishing to become Innovation Zones to seek exceptions from statutes, policies, rules and Interpretations.

If the Innovation Zone Plan (or parts of the plan) requires an exception to state law, the state Board of Education and state superintendent of schools may approve the plan or part of the plan contingent upon the Legislature acting to grant the exception. The plan must be submitted to the Legislative Oversight Commission on Education Accountability (LOCEA) regarding any requested exception.

Accordingly, LOCEA approved the following exceptions that would allow:

The measure has yet to receive a bill number.

 

Resolutions are approved.

In other deliberations, the committee:



 By Jim Wallace


The Senate Education Committee passed several bills on Thursday, including those dealing with school calendar committees and the adoption of instructional materials.

“I live for the day when we can get rid of textbooks.” – Sen. Richard Browning

Senate Bill 631 would update the process for the adoption of textbooks and other instructional materials. It would replace the terms “textbooks,” “instructional materials” and “learning technologies” with the term “instructional resources.” That is to give counties more flexibility in using electronic resources.

“I live for the day when we can get rid of textbooks,” Sen. Richard Browning, D-Wyoming, said. He was assured by the state Education Department that the change is expected to save money.

Senate Bill 677 would have each county board create a county school calendar committee to develop calendar options for employees to vote on. It is similar to a House Bill that received the House Education Committee’s approval this week.

“This is actually a pretty good deal for everybody, because it takes into account everybody’s desires,” Sen. Larry Edgell, D-Wetzel, said.

Senate Bill 626 would provide eligibility for a license to teach in public schools for people who are not citizens of the United States. Senate Education Chairman Bob Plymale, D-Wayne, said it was recommended by the state school board.

Senate Bill 608 would encourage and authorize school boards to obtain central office administrator services by agreement with Regional Education Service Agencies or other county boards. Howard O’Cull, executive director of the West Virginia School Board Association, said the bill would codify what is already going on in many counties.

Senate Bill 684 would repeal outdated and obsolete sections of education code. It was requested by Legislative Auditor Aaron Allred.

NOTE: More information will be provided in the March 5 issue  of The Legislature concerning the issue of county boards sharing administrative services. The issue garnered considerable discussion in the Feb. 25 meeting, including sharp questioning of O’Cull about the issue as expressed in Senate Bill 608.

 


By Jim Wallace

A proposed beer tax increase is dead but not the effort by some House of Delegates members to provide more funding for substance abuse programs in West Virginia.

The ability of the state to provide substance abuse programs is related to the efforts to reduce the number of high school dropouts in West Virginia, because substance abuse is believed to contribute to some students’ decisions to quit school.

House Health and Human Resources Chairman Don Perdue, D-Wayne, withdrew House Bill 2100 on Wednesday, just two days after a public hearing on a proposal that would have used that bill to increase the beer tax by a few cents per bottle. He and others have been looking for a way to fund substance abuse programs that the Manchin administration has been reluctant to fund. They are turning their attention to other means.

One such means is House Bill 4658, which would limit to $300 million the amount of money that can be carried forward in the Medical Services Trust Fund in a calendar year. It would direct funds above that amount to be appropriated by the Legislature for use on critical health care needs, such as substance abuse programs.

Many legislators have been concerned that the Medicaid program has been carrying too big a surplus. By the end of this fiscal year, it is expected to be at least $347 million. However, the governor’s office has been reluctant to spend such money out of fear that the program could run a deficit within a few years.

On Wednesday, the House Health and Human Resources Committee also originated a bill that would establish a fund to be used on substance abuse prevention programs. It could get up to $25 million from the Medicaid program surplus, as well as any other funds appropriated by the Legislature for that purpose. A board would be established to determine how the money would be spent. The bill is designed to provide funding for counties that are underserved or not served at all by substance abuse programs.

 

Many people demonstrated support for beer tax increase.

Monday’s public hearing on the proposal to increase West Virginia’s tax on beer to fund substance abuse programs attracted twice as many people who testified in support of it as those who testified against it. And that’s just counting the people who spoke during the hearing in the House of Delegates’ chamber Monday evening.

Most of the supporters who spoke put three pennies into a metal can when they finished speaking to symbolize the additional three cents consumers would pay on a bottle of beer if the proposal would become law. After the hearing, about two dozen others filed up to the lectern and dropped coins into the can. In the end, the can contained $1.59, including three quarters, one nickel and 79 pennies.

“We are not spending money where we need to spend it, particularly in view of the fact the governor did not include any money in the budget for substance abuse programs, even though he accepted – and actually said it was a priority – the report that the partnership presented back in November.” – House Health and Human Resources Chairman Don Perdue

The proposal pitted proponents of devoting more funds toward prevention, early intervention, recovery and treatment programs against beer wholesalers and retailers, as well as the Teamsters union and craft beer enthusiasts. Perdue said after the hearing that’s not really his intention.

“The impetus behind my pushing this kind of legislation has not been necessarily aimed directly at people who drink beer or beer distributors or retailers,” he said. “The impetus behind all this is to recognize that we are not spending money where we need to spend it, particularly in view of the fact the governor did not include any money in the budget for substance abuse programs, even though he accepted – and actually said it was a priority – the report that the partnership presented back in November. Seeing that, I felt it was incumbent on us to go find the money somewhere. It’s not in the budget. We got to find it somewhere.”

Perdue referred to the West Virginia Partnership to Promote Community Well-Being, a body appointed by Gov. Manchin to address substance abuse prevention and early intervention programs. The group’s report concluded, “Substance abuse is arguably the most pervasive problem facing West Virginia and the nation. In West Virginia, substance abuse problems cost us more than $1.8 million in direct and indirect costs in 2006 alone. Addressing substance abuse is therefore a crucial issue for West Virginia and its communities.”

The West Virginia Partnership figured that the direct costs related to the consequences of substance abuse in the state are $470 million annually. The group recommended that the state should invest 5 percent of that in prevention, early intervention, treatment and recovery services.

 

Court official laid out reasons to do more on substance abuse.

The state Supreme Court had taken no position on the proposed beer tax increase, but at least one proposal would have put the court in charge of some funds raised by the tax, so the court’s administrative director, Steve Canterbury, was on hand for the public hearing. Although Canterbury had not signed up to offer testimony, Perdue took advantage of his presence to ask him about issues related to substance abuse, such as recidivism among criminals.

“We have about 1,500 people in community corrections programs and drug clinics around the state. If half those people were in jail and half those people were in prison, that would work out to about $20,000 a head per year, and that comes out to about $30 million. We spend about $4 million on those people. That’s a heck of a savings.” – Supreme Court Administrative Director Steve Canterbury

photo credit: Michael Switzer

Canterbury testified that the national recidivism rate for people addicted to alcohol or other drugs is about 81 percent. However, he said, those who go through special drug courts, community corrections and other alternatives means of addressing their problems have a recidivism rate of only 18 percent to 20 percent.



  “We have about 1,500 people in community corrections programs and drug clinics around the state,” Canterbury said. “If half those people were in jail and half those people were in prison, that would work out to about $20,000 a head per year, and that comes out to about $30 million. We spend about $4 million on those people. That’s a heck of a savings.”

Delegate Cliff Moore, D-McDowell, asked what would be the ideal amount of money for West Virginia to address its substance abuse problems. Canterbury said he didn’t know but “20-million would be a good start. I don’t think there is anything magic about that number, except that it’s a good start.” The proposal to increase the beer tax to about 62 cents per gallon or about $19.25 per barrel was projected to raise about $20 million.

Delegate Carol Miller, R-Cabell, said she would rather see the state spend its money on helping people with their substance abuse problems than on incarcerating them. She noted that Kentucky has been successful with its substance abuse programs, and she would like West Virginia to do something similar. “We need to be smart about how we do this,” Miller said.

“We need to be smart about how we do this,” – Delegate Carol Miller

Canterbury agreed with her that West Virginia should engage in what he called “justice reinvestment.”

“About 70 percent of people in prison right now are in for non-violent crimes,” he said. “Those are not all drug-related crimes, but a lot of them are. Of course, a lot of people in for violent crimes are motivated to do those violent crimes because of some drug or alcohol problem. I think that most statistics show 80 percent of people who are in prison or jail have substance abuse problems.”

Miller said just about every family has a member with substance abuse problems or knows someone with such problems, which elicited further agreement from Canterbury.

“The climate is changing and people aren’t so interested in just locking up everybody. They’re looking for something that works to correct their behavior.” – Steve Canterbury

photo credit: Michael Switzer

“It affects just everybody,” he said. “That’s why the climate is changing and people aren’t so interested in just locking up everybody. They’re looking for something that works to correct their behavior.

Perdue noted that some critics of the beer tax proposal have suggested that if the Legislature would put money from the tax into a special revenue fund, the Supreme Court might use it for purposes other than what is intended. But Canterbury said the court has never done such a thing with any of the special revenue funds it has controlled over the years. “I think that that is such a hypothetical it is out of the range of reason,” he said.

Canterbury also said that 35 of West Virginia’s 55 counties lack facilities for handling substance abuse problems. That includes 21 with nothing at all and another 14 that have some links to other counties with such facilities.

 

Opponents offered economic arguments.

During other testimony, opponents of the tax increase argued mostly that it would be harmful economically.

“Just because you can raise beer taxes doesn’t mean you should raise beer taxes,” Jim Linsenmeyer, chief operating officer of Proud Eagle, Inc., a Budweiser distributor in the Charleston area, said. “We are the largest beer wholesaler in the state, and thus, we have the most to lose with an increase in beer taxes.”

An increase in the beer tax would drive many West Virginians across the border to buy beer in neighboring states, he said. “When West Virginia consumers cross state lines to make purchases, West Virginia-owned-and-operated businesses lose,” Linsenmeyer said. He added that all West Virginians, not just beer drinkers, should bear the costs of addressing problems of drug and alcohol abuse.

Mike Graney, president of the company that operates One Stop gas stations and convenience stores, said many of the company’s 41 stores are near the state border. He contended that an additional tax of about $2 per case “is a compelling reason for someone to change their purchasing habits” and go to another state to buy beer.

“There’s nothing worse than another tax on a middle class worker.” – Ralph Winter of the Teamsters

Ralph Winter of the Teamsters said the tax increase could cost the jobs of beer truck drivers. He suggested that college students in border towns like Morgantown and Huntington would cross the border to buy beer and then start drinking it before they get back to West Virginia. Another argument he made was based on beer’s status as a middle-class beverage.

“There’s nothing worse than another tax on a middle class worker,” Winter said.

Travis Carrow of the West Virginia Craft Beer Appreciation Society said he was afraid the beer tax increase would negate the effects of a bill last year that allowed craft beers to be sold in the state. Although his father and best friend are recovering addicts, Carrow said the entire population of West Virginia should bear the burden of paying for substance abuse programs, not just beer drinkers.

 

Others said people are hurting because of a lack of programs.

Testimony in favor of the tax tended to be more emotional, because it largely came from people in recovery from substance abuse problems. Joshua Holbert, a recovering alcoholic from Charleston, said he was lucky to have gotten into a program that helped him, but many West Virginians can’t get into such programs.

“This is putting water on a fire that is way out of control.” – Joshua Holbert

“This is not wasteful spending,” he said. “This is putting water on a fire that is way out of control.”
 
Jim Johnson of the Healing Place in Huntington said asking beer drinkers who don’t have substance abuse problems to pay for programs to help people with those problems is about the same as imposing high taxes on tobacco products even those not all smokers develop tobacco-related illnesses.



“All we asking for is a modest increase in a beer tax that hasn’t been raised in 44 years to help with recovery and treatment,” he said.

Carmella Herrera of the Prestera Center, which provides behavioral health services in the Charleston and Huntington areas, said she is a recovering alcoholic who is fortunate to have received treatment after she was incarcerated, but there are many others who are not getting needed help. She said about 80 percent of women in prison are affected by substance abuse problems. They are “almost begging for help,” she said.

David Wallace, who noted that he has been sober since December 22, 1984, said he was concerned about today’s children who might someday be incarcerated if programs are not available to handle the substance abuse problems they could develop.

“We need more funds,” he said. “This is one of the ways we can get it.”

Jake Stolze, who is in a Prestera treatment program, also invoked concern for the long-term health of today’s children. He said three cents a beer is not too much to pay to help them.

“To me, it’s a no-brainer. Three cents is not a lot of money.” – Jake Stolze

“To me, it’s a no-brainer,” Stolze said. “Three cents is not a lot of money.”

Sarah Wright of Westbrook Health Services said that, when she was an addict on a waiting list for services, she not only lost hope but also the custody of her children. She said there are about 250 people on a waiting list for one detoxification program at Westbrook.

Another recovering alcoholic, Russ Taylor of Healthy Ways of Weirton said he followed in his father’s footsteps as an alcoholic, because no treatment services were available to him in the Upper Ohio Valley.

“Three cents to save a life – you’ve got to be kidding me,” he said. “I think my life is worth three cents.”

“It’s time to put in our share to do the work of prevention, to do the work of treatment. It’s time to take action.” Dennis Sparks of the Council of Churches

But Dennis Sparks, executive director of the West Virginia Council of Churches, said he didn’t think three cents was enough. He put a quarter into the can on the lectern.

“It’s time to put in our share to do the work of prevention, to do the work of treatment,” Sparks said. “It’s time to take action.”

After the hearing, Perdue admitted he didn’t know whether he could find enough votes to get a beer tax bill out of the House of Delegates. He explained why he tried to put the tax increase into House Bill 2100, which started out dealing only with the issue of involuntary commitment for persons addicted to alcohol or drugs. He said if the Legislature had passed the bill in its original form, there would have been no funding for the comprehensive drug and alcohol treatment programs it called for. Thus, it was chosen as a vehicle for the beer tax increase.

 

Plymale committee takes another approach.

In the Senate, an ad hoc committee led by Sen. Bob Plymale, D-Wayne, also is working on the substance abuse issue. At a meeting Wednesday evening, the committee considered the possibility of establishing the West Virginia Partnership to Promote Community Well-Being in code, but Gov. Manchin reportedly has threatened to veto such a bill. The committee is scheduled to meet again on Tuesday at 5:00 p.m. Members are expected to ask that they be permitted to carry their work over to interim meetings after the regular legislative session ends.

 


By Jim Wallace

The Public Employees Insurance Agency’s Finance Board has approved a new option that could lower premiums for some public sector workers. The board also has received a new, lower estimate for the size of the liability for OPEB – “other post-employment benefits” – although it’s not as low as one board member was hoping it would be.

In a related move, 50 of West Virginia’s 55 county school boards have filed suit against the state over OPEB. The suit was filed Monday against PEIA and its Finance Board, as well the state auditor in Kanawha County Circuit Court.

The boards want to be relieved of statutory requirements for reporting OPEB liability on their books and paying for that liability. They want the state to be responsible for that liability, especially considering that most funding for schools comes from the state through the School Aid Formula. Committees in the Senate and the House have been considered proposals for the state to assume that liability, but the school boards filed their suit when it looked doubtful that legislation to that effect would get through the Legislature during the current regular session.

 

Effect of lower estimate is debated.

On the matter of the size of the overall OPEB liability, PEIA had been using an estimate that it would be $7.8 billion by the end of the current fiscal year, but the agency’s actuaries have revised that to $7.5 billion. The lower figure is the result of using lower medical trend rates. The new figure is still an increase from the estimated liability of $6.9 billion at the end of the last fiscal year.

OPEB largely represents health care benefits promised to current and future retirees from the public sector. Retirees pay less than 30 percent of the cost of their health care benefits.
               
Administration Secretary Rob Ferguson, who is chairman of the Finance Board, said at the board’s meeting last week that the size of the liability is so big that it is hard to understand. “It’s so big it’s not relevant,” he said.

Finance Board member Josh Sword, who works for the American Federation of Teachers-West Virginia, had expected the revised OPEB estimate to be lower, but he said the difference of $300 million “is a lot of money, whether you’re talking about a big number or not. Over the course of the next 30 years projecting out…I think that difference will have a substantial impact on what OPEB is projected to be 30 years from now if we don’t start sticking funds away now.”

“It’s big news that our projections are going down.” – Finance Board member Josh Sword

It would help if the state could come up with a dedicated funding stream for OPEB, he said, but he was still pleased that the new estimate is lower than the previous estimate. “I think that’s big news,” Sword said. “It’s big news that our projections are going down.”

But Ferguson could not generate much enthusiasm for the lowered estimate.

“I don’t know if I would call it good news.” – Administration Secretary Rob Ferguson


“It’s an improvement of a failing grade, but it’s still a failing grade,” he said. “I don’t want to get everybody overly optimistic that this is somehow good news. It’s news. I don’t know if I would call it good news.”

 

 

Director offers a new option.

When it came time for the Finance Board to approve the insurance plans for the next fiscal year, PEIA Director Ted Cheatham told board members he had decided it would be a bad idea to change Plan B to meet federal regulations for a high-deductible plan, as he had proposed previously. Plan B is similar to Plan A, which covers most PEIA members, but it offers lower premiums with higher deductibles, higher out-of-pocket maximums and higher copayments for prescription drugs.

Instead, Cheatham proposed creation of a new Plan C, which would meet the federal definition of a high-deductible plan. All services in the plan would be subject to the high deductible, except for preventive services now paid 100 percent by PEIA and drugs on the agency’s Preventive Drug List. Cheatham said after the high-deductible is met, members would have 80 percent of their medical expenses paid by PEIA. That would go up to 100 percent if they reach their out-of-pocket maximum, he said.

Cheatham said the drug plan and the medical plan would be combined into the deductible, and the family deductible is a true family deductible, meaning everybody in the family must meet the deductible of $2,400 before the deductible is met.

Accompanying Plan C would be a health savings account offered through Fringe Benefits Management Co. Participants would put in $3.50 per month until their balances reach $3,500, and then they would put in $2.50 per month. Money in the account would be tax-deferred and interest-earning. It would roll over from year to year and follow workers as they move to other jobs.

The premiums in Plan C would be $51 per month for single coverage, $123 per month for an employee with a child and $245 for family coverage. For comparison, rates for single coverage would range according to salary level from $24 to $208 monthly for Plan A and $40 to $172 monthly for Plan B. The Plan A and Plan B rates reflect 4 percent increases from the current year’s levels.

“This is actually better than what we proposed at public hearings.” – PEIA Director Ted Cheatham

“This is actually better than what we proposed at public hearings,” Cheatham said, but Plan C would be attractive only to certain PEIA members.

“The single guy today that’s making less than $24,000 – their premium is like $24,” he said. “It’s not going to make any sense for that individual to come into this plan. They can’t convert enough money. If they have that deductible, they have to put all their money up front and use all their co-pays. It doesn’t make sense.”

However, the plan could attract many people who earn more than $50,000 a year, Cheatham said.

“This plan is probably only going to be attractive to people who can lower their current premium…and convert that money in premium savings into an HSA, so they can start to build an account and hopefully cover their costs over the next few years – and if they’re healthy,” he said.

Not everyone welcomed the new option.

However, Dale Lee, president of the West Virginia Education Association, told the board the Plan C proposal troubled him.

“I am concerned about when you dilute the pool for the Plan A participants.” – WVEA President Dale Lee

“I’m not sure what type of adverse effect that will have on participants in Plan A,” he said. “It appears to me that Option C is more likely to be young, healthy, upper-income people who will take that option. When you take those people out of the Plan A pool, then at some point…you will have an adverse effect on the premiums and everything for people in Plan A. I am concerned about when you dilute the pool for the Plan A participants. So I would caution you on that.”

But Lee was the only person who expressed that concern.

“We’re making it cheaper to purchase with a better benefit.” – Rob Ferguson

“All we’ve done to Plan C is we’ve made it cheaper and we’ve made it richer,” Ferguson said. “We’re making it cheaper to purchase with a better benefit.”

Sword, who is one of two labor representatives on the Finance Board, also endorsed the Plan C proposal.

“One thing that is a little different about Plan C is it’s not a revamped Plan B,” he said. “I think it’s a much better approach to developing a high-deductible plan.”

Sword noted that many people at state universities who tend to earn relatively high salaries for state employees have expressed dissatisfaction with PEIA’s premium structure that charges higher rates to higher-paid people. He said there is even legislation being considered that would allow the universities to opt out of PEIA coverage, so he hoped Plan C would offer another way to address their concerns.

“I think it’s a much better approach than compressing the premium schedule like it was previously proposed,” Sword said in reference to a proposal the board rejected months ago.

The Finance Board approved the new plan proposals unanimously.

 

PEIA prepares its position on autism services.

Also during the meeting, the board heard a presentation from Dr. Shelda Martin, PEIA’s medical director, about autism and proposals to mandate that health care insurers cover it. She said one in 60 children in West Virginia are being diagnosed with various forms of autism and the rate of diagnosis is increasing steadily. Children with autism also tend to have a high prevalence of other problems, she said.

One bill in the Legislature would require coverage of autism with a maximum benefit of $36,000 per year. Martin said 10 states have mandates for coverage ranging from $36,000 to $50,000 per year.

Ferguson noted that people can’t control whether they have autism, but they can control other health issues that PEIA covers. Further, he noted that West Virginia doesn’t have enough providers specializing in autism even if coverage were mandated. Board member John Ruddick said there would need to be some investment in diagnostic centers, but board member Troy Giatras said, “If this bill gets passed, I’m sure we’ll have providers.”

Cheatham said the PEIA staff was not advocating coverage of autism, which could add more than $20 million a year to the agency’s expenses, but was just preparing a position in case lawmakers would ask for it.

The link to that bill is: http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=SB391 eng.htm&yr=2010&sesstype=RS&i=391.

 

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.

 

 

 

Administrative Perspective


By Martha Dean, Ed.D.

This was the last week that bills could be introduced. The last day for bills to emerge from their house of origin is March 3, next Wednesday.

 Consequently, there was a lot of activity to introduce bills and get them through the committee process and onto the floor. The week started with three House Education subcommittees meeting on Monday afternoon. They worked on bills to be presented to the full committee Tuesday and Thursday. 

On Tuesday, the House Education Committee took up four bills. House Bill 4436 was a committee substitute that contained the provisions of both House Bill 4436 and House Bill 4383. It deals with low-performing schools and the way the state Department of Education can help them with instructional practices. 

One major language change was to remove the provision that referenced interventions for the bottom 5 percent of low-performing schools, changing the definition to “consistently low-performing schools.”

 The major provision of House Bill 4436 was to specify which programs were required by the state Board of Education and to clarify that schools were not mandated by the state board to adopt optional programs.

 

Bus operator bill moves.

House Bill 4512 began as a bill concerning school bus supervisors and provides that all persons employed for the first time after July 1, 2010, as supervisors of transportation are required to have five years’ experience working in the transportation department of a county, serving as a bus operator, bus aide, assistant mechanic, mechanic, chief mechanic, or in a clerical position within the transportation department. 

The bill was amended to include clarification regarding itinerant status employees, providing that they can only be reassigned to a different position twice during a school year and requiring that the position to which they were moved be posted and filled at the conclusion of each school year.

 The bill also provides that experienced bus operators only have to take the certification test every three years.

 

School calendar committees would be codified.

House Bill 4652 establishes a school calendar committee with specific membership selected in a specific way for each county. It also specifies that if the local board fails to approve the selected calendar that the process is to be repeated until the local board approves a calendar developed by the calendar committee.
 
This is similar to Senate Bill 677 passed by the Senate Education Committee Thursday.

 

Athletic Director would be defined.

House Bill 4602 lists the position of athletic director among the list of professional personnel.  It further defines the duties of an athletic director. Similar bills have passed the House in previous years but have not been approved by the Senate.

 

Senate Education had several bills.

The Senate Education Committee also met on Tuesday and failed to complete its full agenda. 

Senate Bill 612 would authorize the governor to certify certain capital improvement projects’ lists dealing with higher education.

 The majority of the meeting was taken up by discussion of Senate Bill 480, relating to higher education personnel. By that time, Finance Committee members were coming into the room for their meeting, leaving very little time for the committee to consider Senate Bill 686 relating to charter schools. Quickly some students from Marion County spoke to committee members asking for approval of the bill to give choice to students “choice” for better education. 

Sen. Randy White, D-Webster, asked some questions concerning the provisions of the bill and then Bob Brown, state School Service Personnel executive director, was recognized to speak. He spoke in opposition to a bill that removed the due process rights of teachers and service personnel.

Sen. Larry Edgell, D-Wetzel, amended the bill to require 80 percent of the teachers instead of 60 percent to approve the charter school. The vote was quickly taken and the bill moved to the Finance Committee for its second reference.

 

Charter schools get more debate.

On Thursday, the Senate Finance Committee took up the charter schools bill. There was a lot of discussion, very contentious at times.

Sen. John Unger, D-Berkeley, made the point that the bill was introduced very late in the session, giving committee members very little time to review the bill and talk to constituents regarding its provisions. Senate Education Vice Chairman Erik Wells, D-Kanawha, came back with the response that it had been under study during the interim meetings so that people had had a year to become involved and informed.

 Both teacher unions had the chance to speak about the bill and both were opposed to the provision to remove employee rights. It was also mentioned that the service personnel would be working in the charter schools but were being denied the right to vote on whether or not to participate. 

Edgell, before the vote on the bill, offered an amendment that would provide service personnel the opportunity to vote. He then offered another amendment, saying that one reason for charter schools was to improve instruction but that the bill did not hold them accountable for improved test scores. He therefore amended the provision that the charter could be removed if test scores did not improve after two years.

 The vote was taken and it sounded pretty divided, but Finance Committee Chairman Walt Helmick, D-Pocahontas, declared that the “ayes” had it, and the bill passed to the floor of the Senate.

 

Senate Education worked through other bills.

The Senate Education Committee had 10 bills on the agenda for Thursday afternoon. Time ran out before they got to Senate Bills 683, 684, and 625.

Senate Education Chairman Bob Plymale, D-Wayne, made the statement that if anyone had an interest in any of the remaining bills, speak now. No one did, so I am assuming that those bills are stalled in committee.

 Bills that did pass out of Senate Education included SB 677, creating school calendar committees for each county board and similar to House Bill 4652.

Senate Bill 626, which had a companion bill in the House that was defeated in the House Education Committee, also passed. It provides teacher’s license eligibility requirements for alien residents.

Senate Bill 543, a Higher Education Policy Commission program rule passed.
 
Senate Bill 608 generated a great deal of discussion. The provisions of the bill are related to school boards sharing administrative services through Regional Education Service Agencies (RESAs) or with other counties.
 
However, there was concern about the provisions that required the superintendent to justify the need to hire someone in the county and the state superintendent having to review the justification request and being able to deny the boards the ability to hire.  The bill was moved to the foot of the agenda and the committee did not return to consideration of the bill.

 The last two bills that passed were Senate Bill 631 which updates the process for adopting textbooks by changing the term, textbooks, to instructional resources, thereby moving school boards into the technological age with regard to instructional materials; and Senate Bill 648 which repeals outdated and obsolete sections of the education code.

The number of bills that are still alive is dwindling and will be solidified by next week when I plan to list for the readers all the bills that remain under consideration for the remainder of the session.

Martha Dean is executive director of the West Virginia Association of School Administrators.

 

 

WVSBA Direct


County board members and county schools superintendents are encouraged to receive West Virginia School Board Association communications, particularly The Legislature, by electronic means.

“Not only is this more convenient, but it is less time-consuming for staff and is modeling use of technology by education leaders,” WVSBA President Rick Olcott (Wood) said.

“Members who have e-mail access will soon discover electronic communications is the ‘way to go.’”

Shirley Davidson, WVSBA executive assistant, said about 205 county board members receive – or prefer to receive – association communications electronically.

“I agree with Mr. Olcott: Let’s use association resources as wisely as possible,” she said.


Several persons, including some legislators, have asked for copies of the West Virginia School Board Association Winter Conference program relating to charter schools.

According to Association Executive Director Howard O’Cull, copies of the DVD will be distributed to interested members of the Senate and House Education Committees, as well as a task force examining the issue of charter schools.

That panel, a subsidiary of the Governor’s 21st Century Jobs Cabinet, has met once and plans to meet several times over the next several months. O’Cull and Immediate Past President Rick Snuffer (Raleigh) serve on the Jobs Cabinet charter schools task force.

If you are interested in receiving a copy of the DVD, please contact the association office by calling 304-346-0571.

 


As directed by the County School Board Member Training Standards Review Committee (TSRC), citizens may access information about county board members’ receipt of training hours by going to the West Virginia School Board Association’s Web site – www.wvsba.org.

WVSBA Executive Director Howard O’Cull, who serves as “TSRC” secretary, said credit-hour information will be posted and updated following each quarterly committee meeting. The TSRC leadership sees the postings as a “significant means of accountability and especial respect for the training requirement,” he said. A PDF format will be used for posting county board member training credits, he said.

The TSRC, a 24-member committee appointed by the West Virginia Board of Education, is chaired by state board member Gayle Manchin (Kanawha). The TSRC has existed since 1989 and was codified last year at the request of the committee, the WVSBA and the state board, O’Cull said. All meetings are open to the public.

TSRC members include: Gayle Manchin; Priscilla Haden (Kanawha), state Board of Education president; Jenny N. Phillips (Randolph), state Board Vice President; Rick Olcott (Wood), WVSBA President;  Mike Mitchem (McDowell), WVSBA president-elect; David Ambrose (Morgan); Barbara Parsons (Monongalia); Rick Snuffer (Raleigh),WVSBA immediate past president; Gretchen Shaffer (2010 Teacher of the Year); Frank Collier, representing the West Virginia Association of Elementary and Middle School Principals; Bob Brown, representing the West Virginia School Service Personnel Association;  Delegate David Perry, D-Fayette, ( representing the House Education Committee); Senator Erik Wells, D-Kanawha, (representing the Senate Education Committee);  Betty Jo Jordan (representing the State Superintendent of Schools); Larry Parsons, Preston County schools superintendent (representing the West Virginia Association of School Administrators);  Ron Nichols (representing Regional Education Service Agencies); Kenna Seal (representing the Office of Education Performance Audits);  Dixie Billheimer (representing the Center for Professional Development); Michael Cunningham ( representing higher education);  Cathy D’Antoni (representing the Community & Technical College System of West Virginia); Debbie Gurtis (representing the state Parent-Teacher Association); Karen Price, president of the West Virginia Manufacturing Association (representing business); and MaryLu Hutchins, 2009 Teacher of the Year (at-Large Representative). Ambrose and Parsons represent county board members. O'Cull provides staffing services to the committee.

For more information about the TSRC, please contact the WVSBA office at info@wvsba.org or 304-346-0571.


Resources

 

 


The West Virginia State Bar and the West Virginia Department of Education have partnered to offer students the chance to win as much as $1,000 for creating a three-minute video on “Righting a Wrong” to be placed on YouTube. The second-place finisher will win $500, while third place will receive $250.

The contest, which is open to West Virginia public school students in grades nine through 12, gives participants the chance to create a video about a wrong that they would right, an injustice they would correct, or something that they would remedy within the judicial system. The creator of the winning video also will receive basic accommodations at The Greenbrier for the awards presentation during the West Virginia State Bar’s annual meeting in May.

“It is important in a democratic society to encourage students to express their ideas and interest in the law and the role it plays.” – State Bar President Sandra Chapman

"The idea of the video contest is to reach as many West Virginia students as possible to help them understand the importance of the justice system," State Bar President Sandra Chapman said. “It is important in a democratic society to encourage students to express their ideas and interest in the law and the role it plays. I am confident we will get some creative entries.”

Videos will be judged based on originality, creativity, adherence to the theme and overall quality. Entries must include a parental permission form for those under age of 18. Submissions will be accepted from Jan. 25 to April 1. Students interested in entering the contest can download an application and other forms as well as rules at http://wvde.state.wv.us/wvstatebar.

For more information, contact Timothy Haught at the West Virginia State Bar at 304- 455-0172, or thaught@wvdsl.net.

 

 

Commentary

 

 

 

Last year, a few brave West Virginia legislators struggled mightily with teachers unions opposed to "charter schools" and finally coughed up a highly regulated "innovation zones" concept to allow some change.

But U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has hinted that states that allow charter schools have a better chance at getting some of the U.S. Department of Education's $4 billion Race to the Top fund.

So some legislators have gone another round with school employee unions and come up with a revised bill to allow "charter schools."

The unions still oppose it.

But just so everyone has an opportunity to bang his or her head against a wall today, here's what a deregulated "charter school" in West Virginia would look like, as reported by the Daily Mail's Zack Harold:

Charter schools would be managed by a governing body made up of four teachers elected by the faculty senate, one school service worker and four parents. The county superintendent of schools would sit on the board but could not vote.

Members of the governing body would be required to meet every month, would serve two-year terms, and could be replaced only if they die, resign or fail to show up for three consecutive meetings.

Hiring and firing decisions would be shaped by an advisory board. Four teachers from the governing board and one more teacher selected by the staff would interview applicants and recommend whom to hire.

If the principal found none of the recommended candidates acceptable - principals can't recommend anybody - the advisory group would make another round of recommendations, and so on and so on until somebody is hired.

People who want to try to blow the doors off ignorance with a charter school would have to come up with a mission statement, a set of proposed instructional goals, an operating budget for two years and a petition showing support for the idea.

Teacher and service personnel pay would be unchanged - unless the employee-majority governing body decided to give themselves more money based on a "career ladder" concept, "increases in student achievement" and "other factors."

Employee unions control public education now. That helps explain the state it's in.

They don't want change, so it won't happen

This editorial is reprinted by permission from the Charleston Daily Mail.

 


By John Carey

Do we want to raise the compulsory school attendance (CSA) age or create meaningful change?

A recent legislative audit revealed that the dropout rate for West Virginia was significantly higher than what had been reported by the West Virginia Department of Education. As a result, legislators have felt an urgency to act quickly in creating public policies that will impact the problem.  [It should be noted that while the dropout rate is high across the U.S., as a state, West Virginia fares better than most concerning dropout and completion rates and, as a southern state, far better than most.]For many, the idea of raising the age to 17 has appeal.  After all, some in the education establishment would like to see it raised to 18, or even 21.  But will raising the age result in the benefits for which legislators are looking?  Is the attendance age of 16, as some suggest, merely a leftover from a bygone era?  Are states that raised the age experiencing a meaningful change?  These questions need to be answered before legislators shape public policies forcing individuals to be in a school building against their will.

Usually, the debate in support of raising the CSA begins by dismissing the current attendance age of 16 as out of date and clearly a “policy for a bygone era.”  These comments ignore the fact that this CSA is mainstream on an international level. Of the 22 countries that make up the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development, such as France, Holland,Switzerland, and Japan, only Germany has a CSA higher than 16; and even Germany has programs permitting individuals to leave school at 16.  As far as the impact of the attendance age on our own country, U.S. Department of Education statistics reveal that those states that have a CSA of 16 have, on average, higher completion and lower dropout rates when compared to states which have a CSA of 17 or 18.  Clearly, the CSA of 16 is not a policy from a bygone era, but is the contemporary standard currently accepted by the international community. 

So what about raising the age in the real world: What has been the result?  How have those states that have chosen to raise the age faired?  The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is funding an initiative called “The Case for Reform,” which encourages states to raise the CSA.  Nowhere in their material do they highlight the real-life benefits that have resulted. The most the “Blueprint for Kentucky Children” (funded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation) can say is that the results are “mostly mixed.”

While supporters of raising the CSA do not point to real-life success to support their cause, the State of New York did a study in 2002 on the effects of raising the CSA age in Texas and Topeka, Kansas, which did provide real life results. This study concludes:  “If policy increasing the CSA age to 18 actually improved completion rates, the benefits would indeed be great. This policy, however, has been shown to be "completely unsuccessful" in increasing completion rates and only slightly successful in decreasing dropout rates.”  Illinois experienced a dramatic increase in truancy following enactment of a higher compulsory education age.  If the supporters of this legislation cannot provide hard data in the real world from states that have raised their compulsory attendance laws to support their cause, how do these advocates make their case?

When supporters do speak of success, it is often in terms of the success some legislators have had in creating programs to address the dropout rates, or they point to studies that demonstrate the benefits of school attendance. What is not referenced is a peer-reviewed, controlled study actually measuring the impact of forcing youth to be in school who lack basic educational skills and see no value in the education presented to them. Consequently, it can be concluded that the supposed benefits of raising the CSA are all theoretical in nature, perhaps even on the level of wishful thinking. When evaluating the results of all studies, it is important to read between the lines to assess if they are looking at the real world, the world in which teachers and students live.

In conclusion, creating a meaningful change in the dropout and completion rates is going to require programs that are proven to result in success. There is absolutely no evidence to say that forcing youth lacking basic educational skills to stay in school and seeing no value in the education presented to them and requiring teachers to teach individuals who would rather be somewhere else creates any kind of impetus for meaningful change. There is also no evidence that it improves the learning environment for those students who are struggling to remain. Even those who support raising the CSA have difficulty demonstrating that it does any good and instead point to studies that really do not address the issue or mischaracterize a CSA of 16 as a policy from a bygone era.

The recent legislative audit suggests solutions to the dropout rate, which are positive in nature and are backed with evidence that supports their implementation. These include early intervention, a renewed focus on reading proficiency, and the creation of a meaningful learning environment, just to name a few. Evidence also suggests that parental involvement has a powerful impact on education.  More well-meaning laws?  Increased regulation?  I vote for meaningful change in the life of a child.

John Carey is president of Heritage Communications of West Virginia, which advocates on behalf of Christian causes.

 




By Ralph Kennedy

After a session of the West Virginia Legislature, I made a trip to Bolivia, where I have gone on vacation for a dozen years. I visited a remote area in the southwest of the country called the Salar de Ayuni, a huge high altitude salt flat said to be the largest in the world and also the highest.

Near Lake Titicaca, the salt flats are dried lakes that are now solid salt covering hundreds of square miles. There are islands above the salt with cactus and grasses and small trees. There are also a few villages and towns.

The beauty is beyond description. I include photos of a village called Villa Alota and a cactus island surrounded by the bright salt.

Bolivia is a rich country in resources but remains the poorest country in South America. The latest discovery, however, is lithium. The salt flats have 50 percent of the mineral, which is used for batteries. Bolivia hopes to finally keep some of this wealth at home, and I wish it good luck.

After my journey, I returned to West Virginia and the Legislature.

Kennedy, the clerk for the House Education Committee, has worked for the House of Delegates since 1978. All but one year of his service has been with the House Education Committee.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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.


check1st  Day - January 13, 2010: First day of session. (WV Const. Art. VI, §18)

check20th  Day - February 1, 2010: Submission of Legislative Rule-Making Review bills due. (WV Code §29A-3-12)

check41st  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

 

"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 Bills

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 26. Requiring State Board of Education create school drug safety program. Referred to Senate Education Subcommittee chaired by Sen. Randy White, D-Webster. Reference: http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Status/bills_history.cfm?year=2010&sessiontype=RS

Senate Bill 120. Requiring certain students provide dental exam proof. Passed House Feb. 25. Reference: http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=SB120 SUB1 eng.htm&yr=2010&sesstype=RS&i=120

Senate Bill 128. Relating to Smart 529 college savings plan. Passed Senate. Referred to House Education then House Finance.  Reference: http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=SB128 intr.htm&yr=2010&sesstype=RS&i=128

Senate Bill 131.  Relating to school employees' unused donated personal leave days. Referred to Senate Finance. Reference: http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=SB131 intr.htm&yr=2010&sesstype=RS&i=131

Senate Bill 141. Providing foundation allowance for professional student support personnel. Second Reference to Senate Finance. Reference: http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=SB141 SUB1.htm&yr=2010&sesstype=RS&i=141 NOTE: Committee Substitute

Senate Bill 143. Relating to salary bonus for National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) certification. Second reference to Senate Finance. Reference: http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=SB143intr.htm&yr=2010&sesstype=RS&i=143

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

Senate Bill 229. Authorizing School Building Authority issue certain outstanding bonds.  Second Reference to Senate Finance. Reference: http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=SB229 SUB1.htm&yr=2010&sesstype=RS&i=229 NOTE: Committee Substitute

Senate Bill 343. Increasing minimum age for ending compulsory school attendance. Second Reference to Senate Finance. Reference: http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=SB343intr.htm&yr=2010&sesstype=RS&i=343

Senate Bill 391. Relating to county board of education members' eligibility. Passed Legislature; referred to governor. Reference: http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=SB391 enr.htm&yr=2010&sesstype=RS&i=391 (Enrolled – final – bill)

Senate Bill 480. Relating to public higher education personnel. Second Reading to Senate Finance. Reference: http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=SB480 sub1.htm&yr=2010&sesstype=RS&i=480

Senate Bill 530.  Requiring children entering school prove certain immunization. Passed Senate Education. Referred to Senate Health and Human Resources. Reference:
http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=SB530SUB1.htm&yr=2010&sesstype=RS&i=530

Senate bill 543. Authorizing Energy and Water Savings Revolving Loan Fund Program rule for Higher Education Policy Commission.  Senate Education approved Feb. 25. Referred to Senate Finance.  Reference: http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=SB543 intr.htm&yr=2010&sesstype=RS&i=543

Senate Bill 547.  Correcting inconsistencies in county board levies’ code. Passed Senate. Referred to House Education then House Finance. Reference: http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=SB547 intr.htm&yr=2010&sesstype=RS&i=547

Senate Bill 548. Extending time for Boone County Board of Education to meet as levying body. Passed Senate. Referred to House. Reference Dispensed. Third Reading Feb. 26. Reference: http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=SB548 intr.htm&yr=2010&sesstype=RS&i=548

Senate Bill 608. Authorizing county boards of education obtain central office administrator services under certain agreement.  Senate Education deferred action Feb. 25. Reference: http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=SB608 intr.htm&yr=2010&sesstype=RS&i=608

Senate Bill 611.  Removing location requirement for certain higher education offices. Passed Senate. Passed House Feb. 25. Reference: http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=sb611 eng.htm&yr=2010&sesstype=RS&i=611

Senate Bill 612.  Authorizing Governor certify certain capital improvement projects' lists. Second Reading to Senate Finance. Reference: http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=SB612 intr.htm&yr=2010&sesstype=RS&i=612

Senate Bill No. 626. Providing teacher's license eligibility requirements for alien residents. Senate Education approved Feb. 25. Reference: http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=SB626 intr.htm&yr=2010&sesstype=RS&i=626

Senate Bill 631.  Updating process for adopting textbooks and other instructional material. Senate Education adopted Feb. 28. Reference: http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=SB631 intr.htm&yr=2010&sesstype=RS&i=631

Senate Bill 648. Repealing outdated and obsolete sections of education code. Senate Education approved Feb. 28. Reference: http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=SB648 intr.htm&yr=2010&sesstype=RS&i=648

Senate Bill 677. Creating county boards of education school calendar committees. Senate Education adopted Feb. 25.  Referred to Senate Finance. Reference: http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=SB677 intr.htm&yr=2010&sesstype=RS&i=677

Senate Bill 686.  Relating to Charter Schools. Second Reading to Senate Finance. Reference: http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=SB686 intr.htm&yr=2010&sesstype=RS&i=686



House Bills

 

House Bill 2542.  "Jason Flatt Act of 2010.”   Second Reading Special Calendar. Reference: http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=HB2542 SUB.htm&yr=2010&sesstype=RS&i=2542

House Bill 2639.  Allowing for more teachers to be reimbursed for approved course work. Second Reference House Finance. Reference:
http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Text_HTML/2010_SESSIONS/RS/amendments/HB2639%20HED%20AM%201-26.htm (NOTE: As amended and approved by House Education)

House Bill 2967. Encouraging teachers who have achieved a National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) certificate to renew their certifications when they expire after ten years, and continuing the salary bonus for renewed certificates.   Third Reading Special Calendar. Reference: http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=HB2967 SUB.htm&yr=2010&sesstype=RS&i=2967

House Bill 3123. Relating to donation and transfer of surplus personal computers and other information systems, technology and equipment for educational purposes. Referred to House Finance. Reference: http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=hb3123 intr.htm&yr=2010&sesstype=RS&i=3123

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 ENGSUB.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. Passed House. Referred to Senate Finance. Reference: http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Status/bills_history.cfm?year=2010&sessiontype=RS

House Bill 4031.  Providing flexibility in the West Virginia public school support plan for funding regional education service agencies. Third Reading Special Calendar. Reference: http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=hb4031intr.htm&yr=2010&sesstype=RS&i=4031

House Bill 4040. Requiring county boards to adopt contingency plans designed to guarantee 180 separate days of instruction for students. Signed by governor February 5, 2010.  Reference: http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=hb4040ENR.htm&yr=2010&sesstype=RS&i=4040 (NOTE: Enrolled Bill). 

House Bill 4041. Authorizing the School Building Authority to issue bonds in the maximum aggregate amount of $500 million outstanding at any time. Referred to House Finance.  Reference:htmhttp://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=hb4041intr.htm&yr=2010&sesstype=RS&i=4041

House Bill 4145.  Providing services and facilities to assist student veterans at state institutions of higher education. Approved by House Veterans’ Affairs and Homestead Security Jan. 20. House approved. Referred to Senate Military then Education. Reference: http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=HB4145 SUB.htm&yr=2010&sesstype=RS&i=4145

House Bill 4210. Requiring the Public Employees Insurance Agency Finance Board to have a quorum of five members present at any public hearing. Passed House. Referred to Senate Government Organization. Reference:
http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=HB4210 SUB.htm&yr=2010&sesstype=RS&i=4210

House Bill 4211.  Providing supplemental funding for providing alternative programs for limited English proficient students. Second Reading Special Calendar: Reference: http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=hb4211intr.htm&yr=2010&sesstype=RS&i=

House Bill 4245. Relating to county board of education, eligibility of members and training requirements. Tabled by House Feb. 22. (Original same as Senate Bill 391.) Reference: http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=hb4245intr.htm&yr=2010&sesstype=RS&i=4245

House Bill 4299. Providing that nonstate retired employees who have worked for their last nonstate employer for less than five years are responsible for their entire premium cost. Passed House. Referred to Senate Finance. Reference:
http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=HB4299 SUB.htm&yr=2010&sesstype=RS&i=4299

House Bill 4324.  Extending the expiration date of employment of retired teachers beyond the post-retirement employment limit. Second Reading Special Calendar: http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Status/bills_history.cfm?year=2010&sessiontype=RS

House Bill 4306. Relating to public school support computation of local share. Second Reading Special Calendar. Reference: http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=hb4306 intr.htm&yr=2010&sesstype=RS&i=4306

House Bill 4349. Updating terms and the process for approval and adoption of instructional resources in public schools. Referred to House Finance. Reference: http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Status/Bills_history.cfm?input=4349&year=2010&sessiontype=RS&btype=bill

House Bill 4389. Exempting sales of personal tangible property and services by public and private schools from consumer sales tax and service. Referred to House Finance. Reference: http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=hb4389 intr.htm&yr=2010&sesstype=RS&i=4389

House Bill 4424. Requiring a revised annual personnel evaluation process for all professional personnel that is aligned with the state's new teaching and leadership standards. Defeated by House Education Feb. 16. Reference: http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=hb4424 intr.htm&yr=2010&sesstype=RS&i=4424


House Bill 4436. Providing discretion to schools that make AYP to use assessments and adopting instructional strategies and programs that promote student learning. Second Reading Special Calendar Feb. 26. Reference: http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=HB4436 SUB.htm&yr=2010&sesstype=RS&i=4436


House Bill 4448.  Correcting an inconsistency in the code regarding school board levies. House Education approved. Referred to House Finance. Reference:  http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=HB4448 SUB.htm&yr=2010&sesstype=RS&i=4448

House Bill 4493. Authorizing a rule for the Higher Education Policy Commission regarding the Energy and Water Savings Revolving Loan Fund Program. House Education approved Feb. 25. Reference: http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=hb4493 intr.htm&yr=2010&sesstype=RS&i=4493


House Bill 4512. Relating to school bus operators. Passed House Education. Referred to House Finance. Reference: http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=hb4512 intr.htm&yr=2010&sesstype=RS&i=4512


House Bill  4602.  Defining the responsibilities of high school athletic directors. House Education approved. Second Reading Special Calendar Feb. 26. Reference: http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=HB4602 SUB.htm&yr=2010&sesstype=RS&i=4602


House Bill 4652. Establishing a school calendar committee for each county. House Education approved. Second Reading Special Calendar Feb. 26. Reference: http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=HB4652 SUB.htm&yr=2010&sesstype=RS&i=4652

 

Resolutions


Senate Concurrent Resolution 15. Requesting Joint Committee on Government and Finance study student performance and instructional time. Referred to Senate Rules. Reference: http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Status/Resolution_History.cfm?year=2010&sessiontype=RS&input4=15&billtype=cr&houseorig=s&btype=res

Senate Resolution 17. Encouraging judicial circuits and county boards of education implement new approach to truancy.  Has completed legislative action. Reference: http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Status/Resolution_History.cfm?year=2010&sessiontype=RS&input4=17&billtype=r&houseorig=s&btype=res

Senate Resolution 18. Requesting Senate substance abuse study committee review relationship between substance abuse and dropouts. Referred to Senate Rules Committee. Reference: http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Status/Resolution_History.cfm?year=2010&sessiontype=RS&input4=18&billtype=r&houseorig=s&btype=res

House Concurrent Resolution 57. Requesting a study on improving the efficiency, focus and fairness of the system for holding school systems accountable for preparing students for the 21st Century economy. House Education approved Feb. 16. Referred to House Rules. Reference: http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Text_HTML/2010_SESSIONS/rs/BILLS/hcr57%20intr.htm

House Concurrent Resolution 58.  Designating the annual observance of the week following Labor Day as Labor History Week. House Education adopted Feb. 16 . Referred to House Rules. Reference: http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Text_HTML/2010_SESSIONS/rs/BILLS/hcr58%20intr.htm

House Joint Resolution 101. Commercial and Industrial Tangible Personal Property Tax Exemption Amendment. House adopted Feb. 17. Referred to Senate. Reference: http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Status/Resolution_History.cfm?year=2010&sessiontype=rs&btype=res

 

Public Education-related bills

Senate


Senate Bill 349. Requiring child care centers to have written evacuation plans. Passed Senate. Reference: http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=SB349 SUB2.htm&yr=2010&sesstype=RS&i=349


House

 

House Bill 2612. Increasing penalties for failing to report child abuse. Passed House. Referred to Senate Judiciary. Reference: http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=hb2612 intr.htm&yr=2010&sesstype=RS&i=2612

House Bill 2773. Increasing the monetary penalties for selling tobacco products to minors. Passed House. Referred to Senate Judiciary then Senate Finance. Reference: http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=HB2773 SUB.htm&yr=2010&sesstype=RS&i=2773


Note: Listing not exhaustive. Does not include bills/resolutions which originated in committee Feb. 25.

 

ETC.

 

 

 


The time has come to reorganize the Vermont's districts to achieve financial savings and better outcomes, according to two lawmakers. One senator points to the hundreds of school governing units in the state: 262 districts, 35 union districts, four unified school union districts, two interstate districts and three independent technical-center districts, plus 46 supervisory unions. The pair have offered similar bills that would shrink the number of school governing units to 14-16 regional districts, each with a single superintendent and a single school board. Vermont’s population is 623,050, based on 2005 estimated figures. (Burlington Free Press, Feb. 23, 2010).  

 


“West Virginia, a state where the sun doesn't always shine, but the people always do."   - John F. Kennedy

“A minimum of sound to a maximum of sense.” – Quotation attributed to Mark Twain describing the term “sound bites.”

 

“I just wish that the counties would come to the table and work as hard trying to solve it as I think we are. It’s just frustrating from my perspective right now. We are working hard trying to get it worked out. I think we’re mostly there on the county side of things.” – Sen. Brooks McCabe on the OPEB problem and his disappointment at 50 school boards’ lawsuit

“It disappoints me that we reached this point in the process. I just hope we can get this reconciled.” – Wood County school board President Rick Olcott on the OPEB lawsuit

“It’s big news that our projections are going down.” – PEIA Finance Board member Josh Sword on the lowered estimate for the OPEB liability

“This is a horrible, horrible bill. If there are no protections, I fear we will go back to the days in some places where these jobs could be handed out based on your relationship with someone or how you voted in the last election.” – Bob Brown of WVSSPA on charter schools bill

“People either love charter schools or they are very critical of charter schools.” – Martha Dean of WVASA

“There are no athletic directors. There are people disguised as athletic directors and that are taking care of athletic programs all over the state. This bill codifies that.” – Delegate Brady Paxton on House Bill 4602

“I really feel that we don’t need to tell the counties from the state level how to manage their calendar, when we’ve already told them they have to have a 180-day calendar.” – Delegate Woody Ireland

“I don’t think there is anything that people run for that is as thankless as being on the board of education,” – AFT-WV President Judy Hale

“The teacher unions have fought long and hard for work rules to protect employees from the bad old days when a teacher could be fired after simply falling out of favor with the principal, but times are changing. Public education needs the kind of inspiration and innovation that can come from trying something new…” – Hoppy Kercheval, “MetroNews ‘Talkline Host’ Commentary for Feb. 24, 2010.”  

 

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.


By Matt Sowards

Poverty is still relevant in today’s society. While we often do not hear people discuss the issue, visit impoverished areas in our own country, or propose solutions to the problem, it still exists.  If there is no other point I can drive home during this discussion, it is that this really does happen, people really live this way, in our country, in our America. 

But with that said, the question is this: How do we fix it? How do we solve this problem that has plagued not just America but world societies for centuries? Let me begin by discussing what I believe we can do here at home to work to alleviate extreme poverty.  To me this solution is twofold.

First, we must make a real effort to develop these regions economically. This means giving tax incentives to businesses and individuals who are willing to take a gamble by setting up shop in these regions. If they are willing to extend a hand to help, the least we can do is make it worth their while. By bringing more economic development to these regions, we would be allowing more people an opportunity to have a job and make their own way. Instead of depending on a monthly check from the government, people will once again have dignity to be able to provide for not only themselves but their families on their own. Our collective mindset cannot, and must not, be to simply throw money at a problem and hope it resolves itself but to offer a real opportunity for people.

The second part of this solution comes in the form of education. We must stop teaching for test scores and numbers and once again teach for education. Sure, everyone has the ability to succeed in America, but if they are not given better tools, then this statement falls into the category of “just words” as Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick and President Barack Obama said. What good are words without action?  Hope, change, maverick, Tea-Party – these are all just words if they are not accompanied by actions.   

The goal of our educational system must be to teach America’s youth, not meet the goal of an arbitrary number. In the increasingly competitive employment marketplace, American children must be given the tools to effectively compete. According to the National Right to Read Foundation, 42 million Americans are unable to read. Another 50 million Americans are limited to the reading level of a fourth or fifth grade elementary student. That is just unacceptable. We cannot on one hand say that any child can grow up to be president and change the world while on the other hand allow a system to remain in place that perpetuates not only inequality but illiteracy.     

Granted, all I have said in this column is just an idea, a potential solution. Will it work?  I certainly hope so, in fact I believe if we would try, it would.

Matt Sowards is a student at Marshall University. He may be contacted at: sowards52@marshall.edu.

 

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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.

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Vincit omnia veritas
“Truth conquers all”