Committees in both chambers wasted no time in taking up the bills advanced by their counterparts following Crossover Day. The House Education committee set to work on two of the more controversial bills to come out of the Senate this year.
Senate Bill 154 seeks to prohibit public schools from providing instruction related to sexual orientation or gender identity.
But the bill would also require schools to report actions taken to affirm a student’s gender identity, like using their preferred pronouns, to their parents or guardians. Plus, it would allow for parents and guardians to take civil action against schools if impacted by violations of the new law.
Jim Brown, executive director for the West Virginia School Board Association, told the House Education Committee Wednesday afternoon that, as written, the bill would violate existing disciplinary and grievance procedures for teachers and staff accused of violating the new code established by the bill.
“It talks about the process for the employee, and it actually eliminates all due process, which is again illegal,” Brown said. “It actually provides the only recourse through Circuit Court. It eliminates the ability for the employee to file a grievance. And in actuality, it doesn’t even reference in the bill how they are allowed to provide a personnel hearing, which is also a violation of due process.”
Representatives from both of the state’s major educator’s unions stood to oppose the bill. Heather Hutchens, general counsel for the West Virginia Education Association, also spent much of her time in front of the counsel identifying various issues with the bill’s requirements for the handling of violations, what she called a disrespect to the teaching profession.
But Hutchens also spoke against the concept of the bill, saying it would pit staff against students.
“The bill potentially pits teachers against students by requiring them to second guess conversations that their students may have with them, and to infer the intent behind those conversations,” she said. “That erodes the concept that I’m sure that this committee has heard about many times, which is that very important concept that schools provide and that teachers be those caring adults for students, and there’s a lot of research that shows that being that caring adult is one of the essence essential items to student success with the passage of this bill, that concept for any student who has any question about gender identity is completely eroded.”
Hutchens highlighted the unique effects the bill would have on counselors, and concluded by saying she believed the bill would worsen the state’s teacher shortage by discouraging applicants.
A Putnam County teacher with 22 years in the profession, Cynthia Velo told the committee the bill would create a significant burden for educators not only from more bureaucracy and paperwork, but also the mental strain of questioning every interaction with students.
“As a kindergarten teacher, do I need to call home every time little Johnny picks up and wants to play in the kitchen set, rather than with the trucks? Is that gender identity dysphoria in kindergarten?” she asked. “Do I need to call home every time I accidentally call a student by the wrong gender name? Maybe Jenny sits there in first block and Gerald sits there in second. I accidentally call Jenny Gerald, do I need to worry then? Do I need to fill out more paperwork to go over? Maybe I said something, maybe I didn’t.”
Senate Bill 154 was not included on Thursday’s committee’s agenda despite being approved to advance to markup and discussion Wednesday.
Ending Diversity, Equity And Inclusion
House Education also heard discussion on Senate Bill 474, Gov. Patrick Morrisey’s bill to end DEI, or diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in state government, including institutions of higher education.
Delegates questioned the governor’s deputy counsel, Katie Franklin, about the bill’s language and the lack of definitions for the terms diversity, equity and inclusion.
Rev. Matthew Watts, spokesperson for the nonprofit advocacy Tuesday Morning Group, called the bill a solution in search of a problem and said he had not seen a compelling case presented for its need.
“The unintended consequences is that we’re going to send the message to people in this state that have come here to go to school – because it’s one of the best education values in the country, is one of West Virginia’s high education institutions – and they may be dissuaded from staying here, simply because they may feel like this is not a place that welcomes me or welcomes someone like me to be here,” Watts said. “We will have invested in them, and we need for them to stay because we have the lowest percentage of adults with a college degree in the United States of America, and we have the lowest labor participation rate in the United States of America”
Thursday afternoon, Del. Anitra Hamilton, D-Monongalia, presented two amendments to the bill, but both were voted down. Ahead of the committee’s vote, she gave an impassioned speech on the need for diversity and inclusion.
“Some of the ghosts of our past we keep alive because we won’t deal with issues. DEI, we don’t have this problem in West Virginia,” Hamilton said. “We create these problems, and when we do have the problems, we won’t stand for what’s right. Today, I’m standing and I’m going to be on the right side of history, because it matters.”
Hamilton is the only Black woman serving in the state Legislature.
“It’s offensive to me. It’s offensive to my ancestors. My great, great grandfather was a slave. That’s how my family got here,” she said. “But no one else has that testimony in here. DEI matters, and I’m tired of having these conversations every year, while I have to have a seat at the table, I’m tired of it.”
Hamilton concluded by saying that “at some point, West Virginia has to move beyond this.”
She echoed Watts and questioned the need for the bill before stating her intention to vote against it.
The committee voted 15 to 7 to advance the bill ending DEI practices in the state to the full House of Delegates.
