Bill To Hand Legislature Control Over State Board Of Education Passes Senate

Senate Bill 705 aims to give the Legislature oversight and decision-making authority over the State Board of Education . 

Sen. Eric Tarr, R-Putnam, said the Board of Education is political, and should be under the control of elected officials.  

“We just talked about a DEI bill and talked about wokeness in our education system. If you don’t think politics is in our schools, open your eyes,” Tarr said. 

Sen. Charles Clements, R-Wetzel, said the legislature already passes a lot of legislation that affects schools in the state. He pointed to five bills the legislature had passed in that same floor session that directly affected education in the state. 

“I still think that the people at home don’t want us messing with education, because we’re not educators, and we don’t know exactly how to educate,” Clements said. 

He said the bill focuses on the wrong things in West Virginia’s lagging educational system, and that it goes against what state voters have indicated they want. 

Sen. Amy Grady, R-Mason, is a public school teacher and the chair of the Senate Education Health Committee. She urged a no vote as well for reasons similar to those that Clements expressed. 

“I think that this sends the wrong message to our voters. I think it tells them that we think they got it wrong and we’re going to do it anyway,” Grady said. 

The bill passed with a slim margin, 19 for and 15 against. 

A similar bill, House Bill 2755, passed the house last week.