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

Special session is a tough slog

By Jim Wallace

Special sessions are usually quick and easy.

But the Legislature’s current special session has already dragged through five days, including meetings on Saturday and Sunday. And it’s anything but easy.

Senators and delegates are struggling to understand the bills Gov. Manchin has presented to them and to figure out how to fix them so they will have their intended effects.

“I think perhaps that these bills are too comprehensive, and it’s too much in a small amount of time. They’re trying to get so much accomplished, and I just don’t think it can be done in a special session like this.” – Judy Hale of AFT-WV

“I think there have been a lot of amendments both in the Senate and the House,” Judy Hale, president of the American Federation of Teachers-West Virginia, said. “So it looks like this special session is going to turn into a long session. I think perhaps that these bills are too comprehensive, and it’s too much in a small amount of time. They’re trying to get so much accomplished, and I just don’t think it can be done in a special session like this.”

Dale Lee, president of the West Virginia Education Association, called the session “confusing. All the questions that are being asked and the major changes that are being made from subcommittee then to full committee – and I believe once it goes to the floor, you’ll see additional changes, and once it goes to Finance, you’ll see additional changes – shows that it’s a hastily-put-together session where stakeholders that should have been involved were not involved.”

 

Different circumstances this session.

Usually when the governor calls a special session, it’s done only after the administration has worked out the legislation with key lawmakers. That allows the Legislature to wrap up its work in a day or two. Also, special sessions typically are scheduled to coincide with monthly legislative interim meetings when lawmakers are already in town.

However, neither of those conditions was true for the special session that began last Thursday. The eight education reform bills, which represent the major issues for the special session, are much more ambitious than bills normally on the agenda for such sessions. Gov. Manchin essentially committed himself to calling the special session in January, when he gave his State of the State address to open the regular, 60-day legislative session.

“If West Virginia is not awarded the first round of Race to the Top funding, I will call this Legislature into a special session on education to make the changes needed to win the second round of funding, which will be awarded in June,” Manchin said at the time.

West Virginia’s first application for $80 million in federal funding in the Race to the Top competition was not successful. In fact, the state placed 36th among the 41 entrants in the competition. That indicates how much West Virginia must change to prepare for the second round of the competition, in which it might get as much as $75 million.

Last week, Manchin explained that he had to call for the special session to start last Thursday – just two days after most lawmakers had been on primary election ballots – because June 1 is the deadline for filing the Race to the Top application. Not only must lawmakers decide whether to accept the package of education reforms the governor has proposed but the state Education Department must have time to prepare the application based on the bills the Legislature passes. Thus, Manchin couldn’t wait to hold the special session around May 24-26, when lawmakers’ next interim meetings are scheduled.

 

Lawmakers question the motive.

Among the many issues legislators are grappling with is whether Manchin’s package of reforms is more than an attempt to get federal money.

“Why are we driving ourselves on one program chasing this money? I can remember several years ago when No Child Left Behind came out and the outcry of this Legislature and every person in West Virginia was like, we’re not going to let the federal government dictate our educational program.” – Sen. John Unger

“Why are we doing this?” Sen. John Unger, D-Berkeley, asked during a Senate Education Committee meeting Saturday morning. “Why are we driving ourselves on one program chasing this money? I can remember several years ago when No Child Left Behind came out and the outcry of this Legislature and every person in West Virginia was like, we’re not going to let the federal government dictate our educational program. We’re going to stand up. And that was a lot more money, as far as I know. There are a lot of unfunded mandates here. But all of a sudden, they dangle $40 million in Race to the Top, and we’re falling over ourselves to do anything and everything just to try to do something.”

Representatives of teachers’ unions applauded that remark.

“Where did the shift come?” Unger went on. “Was it purely political or is there something more to it I’m not seeing here?”

“We should take politics out of this completely and look at how we support our Department of Education and how we support our educators to make sure our children get the best. That’s really what it’s about.” – Gov. Manchin

State Supt. Steve Paine said the state school board discussed that same issue. But at a news conference announcing the special session’s agenda last week, Gov. Manchin insisted he wasn’t playing politics: “We should take politics out of this completely and look at how we support our Department of Education and how we support our educators to make sure our children get the best. That’s really what it’s about.”

Although many of the changes are designed to meet criteria on which West Virginia fell short in its first Race to the Top application, Paine explained several times in different meetings that they also were designed for more than that.

“The reauthorization of the Elementary-Secondary Education Act, I believe based on the discussions I’ve had as the president of the Council of Chief State School Officers, is going to necessitate these changes in a year,” he said. “I would like to be in a position to make those changes now and look at the Race to the Top application to seek funds. I think that is the responsible thing to do and to transfer our system before a reauthorization occurs – before we have to be in a reactionary position as opposed to being in a proactive position.”

It was also with that upcoming federal legislation in mind, Paine said, that the state school board adopted a 28-point report called “It’s All about the Kids.” He said the report’s recommendations are based on information gathered from teachers, students, principals, superintendents, local board presidents, current and past state board members, the Parent-Teacher Association, the business community, teachers’ organizations and other entities. Eleven of the items in the report are included in eight bills on the special session agenda. Paine said the state board can handle the other 17 on its own without legislation. (To read “It’s All about the Kids,” go to: http://wvde.state.wv.us/aboutthekids/.) 

Here are the governor’s eight education reform proposals with Paine’s explanations:

1. Charter Innovation Zone 2.0 Schools – “This builds upon Innovation Zones 1.0, if you will, and moves further in that there’s the ability with the majority of classroom teacher members to come together with proceeding on authorization for a charter – very much like a charter school but not a charter school – in looking at transformations that should occur or could occur within that charter in those Charter Innovation Zone schools,” Paine said.
   
   
2. Monetary Payments – This is especially important, along with the first item, for the Race to the Top application, Paine said. It’s an attempt to move highly effective teachers into high-poverty or high-minority areas or into science and math positions. It also would provide for monetary incentives for student performance growth. “The performance growth target will be identified through the Teacher Evaluation Task Force of the state Board of Education,” Paine said. “We’re hoping that that work will be completed by July 1, 2011, so the specific targets aren’t specified yet, but we know that those need to be objective, they need to be fair, and it is an incentive both in the district and by school for teachers within those schools to have an opportunity to earn additional compensation.”
   
   
3. Professional School Personnel Hiring – “It’s a bill that came out of the Jobs Cabinet,” he said, and the state board voted to support it. It calls for one set of hiring criteria and for use of a hiring committee at each school consisting of a teacher, a principal and a central office staff member designated by the superintendent.
   
   
4. Professional School Personnel Evaluations – “Another very important provision for Race to the Top,” Paine said. “Present law says that teachers with five years or more successful experience with no unsatisfactory ratings only need to have evaluations as the principal determines necessary. In our present cumbersome teacher evaluation process, that becomes a burden on principals. So what we hope to do in the Teacher Evaluation Task Force is look at a new evaluation procedure for teachers and for principals, as well, that is less cumbersome but is more associated with meaningful means of evaluating teacher performance.” He said it’s important for the evaluations be conducted on an annual basis and that they include multiple tiers of evaluation as opposed to the current binary approach in which employees are rated either satisfactory or unsatisfactory. That’s both to be eligible for Race to the Top and to address the needs of the reauthorization of the Elementary-Secondary Education Act.
   
   
5. Improving Low-Performing Schools – “This is a bill that takes a look at the Office of Education Performance Audits and the process that’s used for auditing schools,” Paine said. “It really moves us from a compliance-based process to looking at a performance-based process by which we evaluate our schools. It also has specific guidance, including an Early Warning and Indicator Intervention System.”
   
   
6. Alternative Teacher and Principal Certification – “I’m very highly complementary of our system of higher education in West Virginia,” he said. “We produce outstanding teachers, I believe. But there’s a thought that there needs to be other ways of preparing teachers as well throughout this country and sometimes that those can occur outside of higher education. We currently have a provision in code, for example, that allows [Regional Education Service Agencies] to develop one of those programs and deliver those programs. The state board can also develop programs as well.” Thus, Paine said, the Education Department hasn’t felt a need to create other certification methods, but because of the demands of Race to the Top, the department is working with the higher education system to develop other ways to prepare teachers.
   
   
7. Comprehensive Health Screenings – “We have a very highly successful school program where kids entering public school for the first time have a comprehensive health screening,” Paine said. “It’s very important to those children. This expands that program, removes the requirement that the county board provide a screening and requires county boards to coordinate with parents and community health care providers.”
   
   
8. Teacher Empowerment Teams – Paine said much research shows that teachers need to work together in classroom teams. “This does that,” he said. “It allows for waivers to be applied for by teachers in learning communities.” The idea is to allow teachers to consolidate some of the many committees that exist, although not student assistance teams or faculty senates. “It’s a good bill to empower teachers to get at the learning needs of our kids and address specific teaching needs of teachers,” Paine said.

Before the special session began, Manchin estimated the total cost of his proposed reforms would be in the range of $30 million to $35 million. Most of that is for bonuses that would go to teachers in high-poverty and high-minority schools and those who fill science and math positions. Some lawmakers have questioned whether the state would end up spending in the process of qualifying for Race to the Top most of the $75 million it might get from the competition – or even more than that.

 

Governor doesn’t want to spread blame.

When the governor announced the special session agenda, he emphasized that he wasn’t accusing teachers or anyone else of not doing their best but was issuing a plea for cooperation to make the public education system better.

“It’s everybody’s fault if we haven’t gotten good results, and to blame one segment of society and people who give their life to doing the best they can, it’s wrong.” – Gov. Manchin

“It makes me so infuriated when people say it’s the teachers’ fault or it’s the principal’s fault or it’s the superintendent’s fault,” Manchin said. “It’s all of our faults. It’s everybody’s fault if we haven’t gotten good results, and to blame one segment of society and people who give their life to doing the best they can, it’s wrong. Have we given them all the tools? Have we given them the backup, the assistance? Have we done what we need to do? These are the tools they’re saying that need to be given to education to be able to get the results that we need to be getting.”

Leaders of the unions representing teachers and school service personnel initially were noncommittal on the governor’s proposals, because they had not seen the bills yet.
 
“Certainly, both organizations are willing to look at the proposals, offer suggestions where we feel need to be and work from there,” Dale Lee of the WVEA said.

Judy Hale of the AFT said, “I’m excited that we’re going to have a session where we can focus on education, but as he said, we haven’t been privy to the bills. The devil is always in the details.”

“Give them the opportunity to have their input heard, and then let’s move from there, not try to do things quickly just to chase dollars.” – Dale Lee of WVEA

It was noteworthy that the two of them sat together during Manchin’s presentation with Paine, because the two unions often take different positions on education legislation. So far, during this special session, they have been sticking together. Mainly, they are skeptical about having lawmakers make so many changes to the public school system in a short time.

Lee said Monday he would prefer it if the Legislature would put off some of the proposed changes until teachers have more time to consider and make their own recommendations. “Give them the opportunity to have their input heard, and then let’s move from there, not try to do things quickly just to chase dollars,” he said.

Likewise, Hale said she was concerned the results of the special session might not be good for the education system. “I think there are a lot of mistakes in a lot of these bills,” she said. “Some of these bills are pretty poorly written, and I’m not sure they were written by people who understand the system or the language in 18-A [the section of state code dealing with public schools]. So they have some intent that I’m not sure that people understand.”

Senate Education Chairman Bob Plymale, D-Wayne, said he is trying to move bills through his committee but there is still a lot of work to do on them. “So obviously, it’s a pretty fluid process,” he said.

 

Education Reform Bills in the Special Session

House Bill	Senate Bill	Topic
104	1007	Creation of Charter Innovation Zone 2.0 Schools
105	1012	Salary supplements for teachers and principals in schools with high poverty or high minority student populations
106	1008	Compulsory comprehensive health screening for students entering public school for the first time in this state and students entering third, sixth and ninth grades
107	1013	Updating certain provisions governing the hiring of professional personnel in the public schools
108	1009	Improving school performance
109	1001	Providing for teacher empowerment teams
110	1006	Authorizing alternative training and certification of principals, assistant principals and teachers
111	1002	Providing for annual evaluations of professional personnel in the public schools

 

 

Bill would provide limited charter schools

By Jim Wallace

West Virginia is one of just a handful of states that do not permit the creation of charter schools. One of Gov. Manchin’s education reform proposals would change that – to a degree.

The “Charter Innovation Zone 2.0 Schools” bill (House Bill 104/Senate Bill 1007) would not go as far as charter school laws in other states. For example, private entities would not be allowed to come in and take over public schools. Instead, the bill would authorize public schools to have certain autonomy, such as in leadership and learning models, from state law and policies – but they would remain public schools.

Each authorized school would have a governing council on which classroom teachers would have a majority. To become a Charter Innovation Zone 2.0 school, 80 percent of the affected employees at the school must agree to the change. Under the governor’s version of the bill, approval also would be needed from the county school board and a new ten-member commission. Ultimately, the state school board would have the final decision on whether to authorize the change.

 

Need for commission is doubted.

“It seems to me that me that if we’re trying to move down decisions related to education to the school or even classroom level under this bill that we’re creating an entire new level of bureaucracy for applications to go through.” – Delegate Troy Andes

In meetings on both the House and the Senate side, lawmakers have expressed many doubts about whether that new commission is needed.

“It seems to me that me that if we’re trying to move down decisions related to education to the school or even classroom level under this bill that we’re creating an entire new level of bureaucracy for applications to go through,” Delegate Troy Andes, R-Putnam, said during a House Education Committee meeting. “Why is it not sufficient that these applications could be reviewed at the county level and approved there with some guidance from the existing state board of education?”

The task of explaining the reason for the commission has fallen mainly on Howard O’Cull, executive director of the West Virginia School Board Association, because he was chairman of a Jobs Cabinet subcommittee on charter schools. He said a problem with some of the early charter schools in other states was a lack of oversight.

 “As a result of that, there’s low quality in many of the charter schools,” O’Cull said. “You need to have a connection between the public schools and the charter schools that are literally going to be created.”

The role of the commission would be to ensure quality and provide a means of getting information back about how charter schools could work and be replicated, he said. The Secondary Schools Athletic Commission and a committee on teacher licensure already operate in a similar way in relation to the county boards and the state board, O’Cull said.

“This is not a concept that will deny or stymie or obstruct what could happen with charter schools. It’s more or less to create awareness and communication.” – Howard O’Cull

“This is a way of bringing everyone to the table,” he said. “This is not a concept that will deny or stymie or obstruct what could happen with charter schools. It’s more or less to create awareness and communication.”

But Andes suggested county school boards could do that. However, O’Cull pointed out that only the state school board, not county boards, is allowed to authorize schools to operate.

“The reason for that is constitutional,” he said.  “You cannot set up a system – I don’t believe you’d want to set up a system – whereby county boards can themselves create schools outside of the realm of the state board.”

O’Cull admitted that it’s possible to have Charter Innovation Zone schools without the proposed commission, “but we felt like there’d be a cushion there. We felt there would be a way in which you could share information between the various levels that are involved.”

Colorado, which scored the most points on its Race to the Top application in the area of charter schools, operates with a similar system, he added.

“The process in this bill is way too onerous and way too long. This bill, the way that it is written, is not a practical way to do it.” – Sen. Bob Plymale

But Senate Education Chairman Bob Plymale doesn’t like the proposed commission or the proposed process for creating Charter Innovation Zone schools.

“The process in this bill is way too onerous and way too long,” he said “This bill, the way that it is written, is not a practical way to do it.”

Plymale figured it would take at least two years to go through the process of creating a Charter Innovation Zone school, and that wouldn’t meet his definition of innovation. “I will propose that we remove the commission out of this completely,” he said. “I’m in favor of doing something on charter schools. I think we have to do something.”

The only cost projected in the bill is about $12,000 for the proposed commission. Eliminating the commission would eliminate that cost, although $12,000 is insignificant in terms of state spending.

 

Personnel law would not be touched.

Delegate Woody Ireland, R-Ritchie, wanted to know why the bill would give a Charter Innovation Zone school autonomy on just about everything except for personnel. State Supt. Steve Paine said he didn’t think it was necessary to disturb the personnel law.

“My job…was to try to find some ground that I felt that we could pass a bill to get the maximum number of points in the Race to the Top application,” he said. “For that reason, that’s where we are in regard to exempting personnel.”

“It’s my belief that we really ought to be taking this opportunity to look at the broad-based improvement with respect to education in our counties and educating the children as opposed to focusing on what it’s going to take to make the Race to the Top.” – Delegate Woody Ireland

But Ireland responded, “It’s my belief that we really ought to be taking this opportunity to look at the broad-based improvement with respect to education in our counties and educating the children as opposed to focusing on what it’s going to take to make the Race to the Top.”

Delegate Ron Fragale, D-Harrison, expressed concern that the charter school concept would not work well in small, rural counties. “To implement some of these things would be a huge expense, especially in smaller counties,” he said.

Paine agreed that charter schools have generally been designed for urban areas with failing schools, but he thought rural schools in West Virginia could benefit from teacher-led innovations.

 “I don’t think we have failing schools in West Virginia,” he said. “I think we can get better.”

Delegate Ralph Rodighiero, D-Logan, asked whether it would be possible to have a Charter Innovation Zone within a school. The answer was yes, one department within a school could seek to do something different. Rodighiero wanted to know why schools aren’t already doing that. Donna Peduto of the Education Department said schools now operate under too many “constraining policies and codes” to permit such autonomy.

So far, the Charter Innovation Zones bill has not gone very far in the House of Delegates, and some observers have questioned whether it can get through the House Education Committee. However, a Senate Education subcommittee was scheduled to work on its version of the bill Monday evening. Plymale sounded hopeful about getting the bill through the full Senate Education Committee soon.

 

Health screenings bill gets action in the Senate

By Jim Wallace

One education reform bill that is moving, at least in the Senate, would require comprehensive health screenings not only for children entering public school for the first time but also in the third, sixth and nine grades. The Senate Education Committee advanced its version of the bill, Senate Bill 1008, to the Senate Finance Committee Monday.

The bill also would remove the requirement for county school boards to provide such screenings. Instead the county boards would be required to coordinate with parents and community health care providers to ensure they provide appropriate documentation about those screenings to the school system.

But members of the committee were concerned about whether the bill would work out very well in the form the governor presented it to them.

“Conceptually, I certainly agree with what we’re trying to do here,” Senate Education Chairman Bob Plymale, D-Wayne, said. “But like many of the eight bills we’ve gotten in this special session, the practical implementation – partly because I don’t think they consulted the Legislature or the staffs – but the practical implementation is quite vague.”

“I don’t want to miss a generation of kids because we’re trying to phase this in. But at the same time, we’ve been missing a lot of generations of kids, because we haven’t been doing this. We only do it for people that are in athletics.” – Sen. Bob Plymale

Plymale suggested implementing the bill in phases with the Legislature monitoring how well each phase works out and how much it costs before moving on to the next phase.

“I don’t want to miss a generation of kids because we’re trying to phase this in,” Plymale said. “But at the same time, we’ve been missing a lot of generations of kids, because we haven’t been doing this. We only do it for people that are in athletics.”

Sen. Richard Browning, D-Wyoming, was concerned that the bill would create an unfunded mandate.

“It’s not well thought out for two reasons,” he said. “The first is cost to our system. If we pass it as it is, it’s a huge unfunded mandate. If we phase it in, it’s still an unfunded mandate but not as bad.”

However, Sharon Carte, director of the Children’s Health Insurance Program, assured senators that CHIP, the Public Employees Insurance Agency and most private insurance would cover preventive wellness visits for children. She added that CHIP could cover some children who do not now have health insurance.

Brenda Isaac, lead school nurse for the Kanawha County schools, told the committee she thought the bill might be “overly ambitious by trying to do so much at one time.” But she said it would help ensure that each child has a “medical home,” a regular health care provider, which is important.

The two physicians on the committee favored the bill. Sen. Dan Foster, D-Kanawha, said the screenings children would get are important to discover problems before they get worse. Sen. Ron Stollings, D-Boone, said, “This is a stick and it’s a good stick.” He said many children in lower socio-economic areas are not getting such exams.

“This is a stick and it’s a good stick.” – Sen. Ron Stollings

Sen. Clark Barnes, R-Randolph, expressed concern that the bill would infringe on citizens’ rights. He was especially concerned that the original version of a form to be used for the screenings would have had physicians ask eight-year-olds, “If you could, how would you change your life?” And they would be expected to ask 11-year-olds if they were sexually active. Barnes said it might be proper for a physician to ask such questions, but he didn’t want the answers in the children’s files at school.

Melanie Purkey of the Education Department assured the process already was being changed. The new language of the bill would simply require the physicians to provide “comprehensive health screening certification.”

The committee rejected an amendment Barnes wanted to add to provide an exemption to the screenings for religious purposes. But the senators accepted an amendment from Browning that would require the screenings for kindergarteners and third-graders in the next school year. Screenings for sixth-graders would be added in 2012 and those for ninth-graders in 2014.

The committee sent the bill to the Senate Finance Committee for further consideration.
 
Source: West Virginia School Board Association.

 

A few counties get new superintendents, others still search

Cyrus Cecil “C.C.” Lester, principal of Richwood High School in Nicholas County and the former principal of Marlinton Middle School, has been named Pocahontas County schools superintendent effective July 1, 2010.

In Brooke County, Kathy Kidder-Wilkerson has been named superintendent, based on a news release issued by the Brooke County Board of Education. Kidder-Wilkerson currently is assistant superintendent under Mary Hervey DeGarmo, who will retire June 30.

The Lincoln County Board of Education will meet Thursday, May 20, to interview four candidates for superintendent. The board then will submit the recommended nominees to the state school superintendent for final consideration and selection as per an agreement with the Lincoln County board.

Late last winter, the Wood County Board of Education selected Patrick J. Law, Ed.D., as superintendent. He succeeds Bill Niday, who is retiring effective July 1.

The Barbour County Board of Education will meet May 24, with representatives of the West Virginia School Board Association to commence a superintendent search, because  Supt. Deedra J. Lundeen has been  named the Grant County schools’ superintendent. She replaces Ted Mattern, who had been appointed superintendent by state Supt. Steve Paine last fall after the state takeover of the Grant County schools.

Dwight Dials, former Mingo County superintendent, has been placed in Fayette County. Paine appointed David Roach, former Lincoln County superintendent, to be superintendent in Mingo County.

In addition to the Barbour County search, the West Virginia School Board Association has conducted superintendent searches in Pocahontas and Wood Counties and has been assisting the Monroe County Board of Education.

The Clay County Board of Education has yet to name a superintendent for Larry Gillespie, who is retiring.

 

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.

 

 

Monroe court issues Temporary Restraining Order regarding superintendent vacancy

In Monroe County, Circuit Court  issued a Temporary Restraining Order May 17, 2010,  enjoining four members of the Monroe County Board of Education "from taking any actions to hire, engage, and/or contract with any person for the position of Superintendent of Schools of Monroe County." 

In doing so, the Court found that, unless enjoined, the defendants would hire and engage a person for the position of superintendent whose term of service would be under a new County Board of Education that will be installed as a result of the recent primary election.  The Court described the current school board as "a lame duck board whose practices and procedures were overwhelmingly repudiated and rejected by the people of Monroe County" at the election.

 A hearing on whether the Court should issue a Preliminary Injunction is scheduled for May 25.  The Temporary Restraining Order expires on May 27.

 The suit was instituted by three members-elect of the Monroe County Board of Education, a former Board member, and five other Monroe County residents.  The TRO was entered without notice to the defendants and in the face of what the Court found was the school board's intention to hire a Superintendent at its meeting on May 18.

The MCBOE voted earlier in the year not to renew long-time superintendent Lyn Guy’s, Ed.D., contract.

 

2010 County Board Election Snapshot

 

2010 County Board Election Snapshot

• 167 positions statewide. (Three (3) members of each county board were up for reelection. Due to vacancies, there were two (2) additional board seats to be filled by Primary Election voting.)
• 132 incumbents sought reelection.
• 106 incumbents were reelected.
• 26 incumbents were defeated.
• 61 candidates (non-incumbents) were elected.

 

 

Administrative Perspective

Bills get different treatment in the two chambers

By Martha Dean, Ed.D.

This special session began with both houses getting right down to work.  They attacked their tasks differently with the Senate dividing up the work among three subcommittees and the House listening to lengthy explanations of all bills as a full committee.  Now it has been time to see what kind of legislation can be accomplished. 

The Senate Education Subcommittee B met Mo­­­nday and took up Senate Bill 1013.  This bill relates to hiring professional school personnel.  It is the bill that came out of the work of the Jobs Cabinet.  It has only one set of criteria instead of two.  It also requires the establishment of hiring committees.  Senator Browning offered an amendment to require that the hiring committees receive compensation, but that failed and the bill passed out of the subcommittee to the full Education Committee.

Later, the full Senate met and there were two education bills on the agenda.  Senate Bill 1001 was on second reading.  It is the bill regarding school committees and granting schools the option to combine several by submitting a request to the state school board.  It was recommitted to the Education Committee. 

Positive comments mainly centered on the benefit of annual evaluations in private business   Negative comments focused on the amount of time it takes for principals to do evaluations and the fact that the new evaluation policy has yet to be written and passed by the state Board of Education. There is some hesitancy to vote for something when senators don’t know exactly what it is.

The second bill on the agenda was Senate Bill 1002.  It was also on second reading, was read, and the rules were suspended to allow a third reading without waiting another day. Senate Education Chairman Bob Plymale, D-Wayne, explained the bill, which mandates all professional educators be evaluated annually. There was a lot of discussion with various senators expressing their opinions, reservations, and positive comments.  The debate, if you want to call it that, lasted over an hour.  In the end, the bill passed with 28 yes votes, four no votes and one senator absent.  Positive comments mainly centered on the benefit of annual evaluations in private business   Negative comments focused on the amount of time it takes for principals to do evaluations and the fact that the new evaluation policy has yet to be written and passed by the state Board of Education. There is some hesitancy to vote for something when senators don’t know exactly what it is.

The House passed House Bill 109 on Monday.  This is bill authorizes the waiver of some school committees but the House Education Committee had modified the bill to exempt the local school improvement councils from being subject to the waiver. 

 The House Education Committee met to consider two bills:  House Bill 111, providing for annual evaluations of professional personnel and House Bill 108, improving school performance in low performing counties and schools.  Both bills had been modified and the committee considered committee substitutes for the bills.  After staff explained the committee substitute for House Bill 111, Delegate David Perry, D-Fayette, offered an amendment to remove the annual evaluation requirement completely.  The amendment passed and so did the amended committee substitute.  The bill now requires the state board to conduct a study and use the results to develop a new evaluation policy and to have it approved by the Legislative Oversight Commission on Education Accountability.  It further adds the provision that evaluations cannot be used to determine monetary incentives or compensation.  Both the amendment and the amended bill were opposed by Delegate Troy Andes, R-Putnam, but passed out of the Education Committee to the full House.

Although there have been several meetings and some bills are progressing, it is unclear to me that there is a lot of sentiment to pass all the items on the governor’s call.  There appears to be dissatisfaction with the level of involvement of the Legislature in the development of the legislation, and therefore a lack of commitment to really step up and fight to get the bills completely through the legislative process. 

There was a lot of discussion on House Bill 108 to learn what can be done to help failing schools.  Some of the questions were technical and required detailed explanation.  After spending the time to discuss and answer questions, the bill failed to get out of committee.

Although there have been several meetings and some bills are progressing, it is unclear to me that there is a lot of sentiment to pass all the items on the governor’s call.  There appears to be dissatisfaction with the level of involvement of the Legislature in the development of the legislation, and therefore a lack of commitment to really step up and fight to get the bills completely through the legislative process.  Some comments are being made about passing some laws just to try to get the federal education money.  Other comments seem to indicate that part of the bills don’t actually address requirements of the federal Race to the Top application.  Some of us have probably read the article in the paper that observes that in previous sessions the governor made sure the items on his call had the support of key legislative leaders and that seems to be missing with this session.  I look for part of the work to be accomplished in the next few days and the rest of the bills to either die in committee or when the two versions get to conference.

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

 

 

Commentary

 

 

What Tuesday Taught Us

By  Robert Rupp

Four lessons about the depth of this anti-incumbency surge can be drawn from our state’s primary.

 

First:  Incumbency is no longer an annuity that one can count on.

When the word “re-elect” doesn’t appear on an office holder’s poster, you know that something is happening. For incumbency has always been the asset. More than 95 percent of members of Congress and the Legislature win because they are both familiar (name identification) and faithful (delivery of services) and face only token opposition.

But the defeat of Congressman Alan Mollohan suggests otherwise. Voters are mean and mad in 2010 on the national level. Their anxieties over the economy and their frustration with politicians and government have made this the year for incumbents.

When a congressional candidate can no longer talk about the seniority that he has or the earmarks he has delivered, then we know the electoral script has changed in 2010.  Ironically for Mollohan, the very things that got him elected in the past prevented him from getting a 15th term.

Those who want to dismiss the anti-incumbency mood point out that other factors were at work in that primary race: the congressman’s continued ethics cloud despite a lack of indictment, his complacent campaign, and the perception that he was out of step with the increasingly conservative district.

And one should not underestimate the assets of his opponent, Mike Oliverio. For even in this anti-incumbent environment, it is difficult to defeat somebody with a nobody.  A state senator, Oliverio had been on the ballot in many of the counties in the First District. And he has run in a statewide primary. Moreover, he had a message (fiscal conservatism) and endorsements that resonated with the electorate in this district, but all such strengths needed a historic anti-incumbency ambience.

Second: Negativity is no longer a refuge of the desperate.

Just as important as Oliverio‘s campaign experience was his aggressive stance. He came out of the blocks negative. He was not alone. Pulling punches did not characterize this primary nor will it characterize the upcoming general election.

Fasten your seatbelts voters, for it is going to be bumpy and negative ride in 2010. We saw it in the defeat of Mollohan and carried to the extreme in the defeat of state Sen. Randy White (although he also faced an electorally experienced candidate).

Third:  Negativity carries with it the danger of overreach.

A hope for the incumbents in 2010 in general election is that their opponents will succumb to the “over-the-top” attack ads that will generate a blowback of sympathy.

This is what happened for state Sen. Erik Wells; an attack ad against him highlighted the recent coal tragedy. It constituted that “one step too far” that is popular with the political consultants, but poison to the electorate.

It was made worse by the public’s understanding that at issue was not coal miners but teachers. And the fact that Wells was a popular state senator who was championing a popular issue.

Fourth:   In politics make sure that your grasp exceeds your reach.

The failed ambush of Wells by the teachers’ unions constitutes the fourth and final lesson from the 2010 primary.

The saying, “If you are going to strike the king, you must kill the king,” points out that all risks should be carefully weighed. For the unsuccessful targeting of Wells by the teacher unions not only weakened their perceived power in the state, but also strengthened both Wells and the cause of educational reform in the state.

Conclusion

As the general election campaign begins, Democratic incumbents can take comfort that their party’s dominance in many regions insures that they will face weak or non-existent opposition.

But all incumbents in the state this year should be on the alert and take three steps. Specifically they should: a) watch out for the experienced, aggressive, financed opponents; b) expect a blitz of negative attacks; and c) be ready to campaign not just more, but better.

 For this is the year when the “i” word (incumbent) has become in many places a liability and not an asset.

Dr. Robert Rupp is a professor in the History Department at West Virginia Wesleyan College.

 

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.

 

 

Bill Derby - And They're Off!

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

Bill	Links	Status	Committee	Step	Date
HB 104 Creation of Charter Innovation Zone 2.0 Schools	text | history	Pending	House Education	Committee	05/13/10
HB 105 Salary supplements for teachers and principals in schools with high poverty or high minority student populations	text | history	Pending	House Education	Committee	05/13/10
HB 106 Compulsory comprehensive health screening for students entering public school for the first time in this state and students entering third, sixth and ninth grades	text | history	Pending	House Education	Committee	05/13/10
HB 107 Updating certain provisions governing the hiring of professional personnel in the public schools	text | history	Pending	House Education	Committee	05/13/10
HB 108 Improving school performance	text | history	Pending	House Education	Committee	05/13/10
HB 109 Providing for teacher empowerment teams	text | history	Pending		Conference	05/18/10
HB 110 Authorizing alternative training and certification of principals, assistant principals and teachers	text | history	Pending	House Education	Committee	05/13/10
HB 111 Providing for annual evaluations of professional personnel in the public schools	text | history	Pending		2nd Reading	05/18/10
SB 1001 Relating to school committees	text | history	Pending	Senate Education	Committee	05/18/10
SB 1002 Relating to annual professional personnel evaluations in public schools	text | history	Pending		2nd Reading  House Calendar	05/18/10
SB 1006 Relating to alternative training and certification of principals and teachers	text | history	Pending	House Education	Committee	05/17/10
SB 1007 Creating Charter Innovation Zone 2.0 Schools	text | history	Pending	Senate Education	Committee	05/13/10
SB 1008 Relating to compulsory comprehensive health screenings for students	text | history	Pending	Senate Finance	Committee	05/17/10
SB 1009 Relating to improving performance of schools and school districts	text | history	Pending	House Education	Committee	05/17/10
SB 1012 Relating to additional compensation for certain professional school personnel	text | history	Pending	Senate Finance	Committee	05/18/10
SB 1013 Relating to hiring professional school personnel	text | history	Pending	House Introduction		05/18/10

Source: West Virginia Legislautre

http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Status/Bills_all_bills.cfm?year=2010&sessiontype=1X&btype=bill

 

 

ETC.

 

 

 

Meanwhile in Rhode Island...

The superintendent and Providence’s teachers union reached a tentative agreement that would save the jobs of all the 93 teachers, staff and administrators at Central Falls High School. The mass firings drew national attention, as Rhode Island became the first state to act on a new federal mandate for the lowest-performing schools. Under the agreement, if ratified, teachers would work a longer school day and submit to rigorous evaluation to help determine how many will return for 2011-12. Teachers also would provide more after-school tutoring and participate in more professional development. (Providence Journal, 05/17/10)

 

Wisdom

“Be careful what you ask for because you just might get it. .”  - Unknown, Source

 

 

Soundbites

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

 

“We should take politics out of this completely and look at how we support our Department of Education and how we support our educators to make sure our children get the best. That’s really what it’s about.” – Gov. Joe Manchin on education reform

“I believe we have a good system of education. It needs to get better.” – Supt. Steve Paine

“The reauthorization of the Elementary-Secondary Education Act...is going to necessitate these changes in a year. I would like to be in a position to make those changes now and look at the Race to the Top application to seek funds.” – Supt. Steve Paine

“Why are we doing this? Why are we driving ourselves on one program chasing this money? I can remember several years ago when No Child Left Behind came out and the outcry of this Legislature and every person in West Virginia was like, we’re not going to let the federal government dictate our educational program. We’re going to stand up. And that was a lot more money, as far as I know. There are a lot of unfunded mandates here. But all of a sudden, they dangle $40 million in Race to the Top, and we’re falling over ourselves to do anything and everything just to try to do something.” – Sen. John Unger

“It’s my belief that we really ought to be taking this opportunity to look at the broad-based improvement with respect to education in our counties and educating the children as opposed to focusing on what it’s going to take to make the Race to the Top.” – Delegate Woody Ireland

“Conceptually, I certainly agree with what we’re trying to do here. But like many of the eight bills we’ve gotten in this special session, the practical implementation – partly because I don’t think they consulted the Legislature or the staffs – but the practical implementation is quite vague.” – Senate Education Chairman Bob Plymale on the health screenings bill

“Every single child in America and in West Virginia ought to have health care coverage. I just absolutely believe it. I’ve seen where kids that don’t have coverage have ended up incurring devastating illness.” – Supt. Steve Paine on health screenings

“We need to transform school boards to be education boards.” – Senate Education Chairman Bob Plymale

 

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.

Special session offers opportunity for change

By Steven L. Paine

As state superintendent, I have spent a lot of time preparing and planning for this special session. These are historic times for our state and I believe lawmakers, educators, parents and others will set the stage for our future during the next week. Our state has a unique opportunity to create a public school system which is the envy of the country.

West Virginia has already had several educational successes, such as outperforming every other state on the Standards, Assessment and Accountability section of the Quality Counts report, receiving a nearly perfect score of 98.3; chalking up one of the top 10 spots for state preschool education, according to the annual survey of state-funded preschool programs; outscoring students in many other states in critical reading and writing on the SAT college entrance exam; and many others.

But we can do better. Because we can have a stronger educational system, the West Virginia Board of Education and the West Virginia Department of Education reached out to more than 2,000 teachers, parents, county board members and others to find out what really needs to be improved. At the core of our conversations were the students of our state. The outcome of the input resulted in It’s ALL About the Kids: Progressive Action Steps for West Virginia’s Education System (http://wvde.state.wv.us/aboutthekids). The report, a comprehensive framework for the transformation of education in West Virginia, was presented to Gov. Joe Manchin with 28 progressive suggestions for the special session.

The governor chose to further develop eight of the 28 suggestions. The eight pieces of legislation proposed by the governor will require sweeping legislative changes as well as policy changes.  Some will believe we have not gone far enough. Others will think we have gone too far.  Whatever your opinion, understand that the board’s and the department’s suggestions are for the kids. As a matter of fact, in the future we expect to discuss the suggestions that were not chosen by the governor for this session that comprise the remainder of the It’s ALL About the Kids report.     

I have consistently said kids and their parents come first but those that work in the system, including teachers and principals, are a close second. Throughout all of my years in the state’s educational system, West Virginia teachers, when given the time and adequate resources, have exceeded expectations in every instance. When presented with any tasks, our teachers step up. When asked for help, our teachers lend a hand. When challenged, our teachers address the problem with thoughtfulness, dedication and an unwavering loyalty to students.

During this special session, I know that our teachers will provide guidance and solutions as legislators make sweeping changes to state education law.

The West Virginia Board of Education, the West Virginia Department of Education and I are grateful to the governor for his willingness to lead historic steps to improved public education. His vision will set the stage for the state’s future. That vision puts kids first and teachers and principals a close second, because we all believe its all about the kids.

Steven L. Paine is state superintendent of West Virginia schools.

 

Marketplace

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

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

Rick Olcott (Wood), President

Howard M. O’Cull, Ed. D., Executive Director, Editor
hocull@wvsba.org
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Production and Circulation
sdavidson@wvsba.org

Vincit omnia veritas
“Truth conquers all”