Tag: Common Core Repeal

Common Core, School Calendar Bills Vetoed

Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin has vetoed two education bills, one that would have repealed Common Core aligned standardized test in the state and a second that would have allowed county boards to schedule fewer then 180 days in their school calendars.

House Bill 4014 started as a repeal of the state’s Common Core-based education standards, but the state Board of Education approved their repeal in December, replacing them with the West Virginia College and Career Ready Standards.

As it moved through the legislative process, the bill became a repeal of any standardized tests aligned with Common Core. The bill also created a review panel that includes higher education professors or deans to suggestion changes to the current standards to the state board.

In his veto message, Tomblin said requiring the board stop using its current summative assessment in such a short timeframe “discounts the time and consideration” needed to find a replacement. He says it could also disrupt the ongoing implementation of the state’s A through F grading scale for schools.

Tomblin says that revisions to assessments and standards may be warranted in the future, but the state should ensure the stability of its school system by giving the current changes and means of measurement more time to take hold.

The governor also vetoed a bill that would have removed the requirement that county Boards of Education provide 180 separate days of learning and also limited the school operating dates to between August 10 and June 10.

In his veto message, Tomblin said 180 separate days of learning ensures students will be ready for college or a career after high school and school systems should be prepared to properly deal with weather or other emergencies by building flexibility into their calendars.

Tomblin said limiting school systems to operation between August 10 and June 10 also would have reversed legislation he approved in 2013, which gave counties more control over their calendars.

Lawmakers Complete Action to Common Core Repeal Bill

Editor’s Note: For the latest updates on the final day of the legislative session, be sure to keep checking our live blog.

Updated Saturday, March 12, 2016 at 7:28 p.m.: 

Members of the Senate have concurred in the House amendments to House Bill 4014 after voting 27-4 during a Saturday evening floor session.

With the concurrence and passing vote, the bill now heads to Governor Tomblin for further consideration.

Original Story: The House of Delegates has agreed to adopt the Senate’s amendments to a bill that would repeal the state’s Common Core education standards and aligned standardized tests.

Delegates, however, further amended the bill to remove the requirement to submit high school students in grades 9 and 10 to a standardized test. The House also removed the requirement for the West Virginia Board of Education to develop a policy setting accountability measures for testing.

As amended, the bill still requires the repeal of the Smarter Balanced Assessment, the standardized test aligned with Common Core. 

The bill as amended in the Senate requires the deans of the West Virginia University and Marshall University departments or colleges of English, math and enginering appoint a commission to review the state’s current education standards and suggest changes to the state Board of Education.

The Board voted to repeal Common Core in December and replace it with the West Virginia College and Career Ready Standards. The commission, made up of West Virginia teachers, principals and professors in the fields of English, math and science would be overseen by the chancellor of the Higher Education Policy Commission.

Senators also included an amendment that would keep the current science standards in place, allowing them to take effect in July of this year, but would make those standards subject to the review of the commission.

If the Senate agrees to the House’s additional amendment, the bill will move on to Governor Tomblin for consideration.

Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this story reported the House removed all high school testing requirements. The Hous eonly removed those requirements for 9th and 10th graders. Eleventh graders will still be submitted to a standardized test. 

House Passes 8 Amendments to Common Core Bill

Members of the House debated amendments to a bill Thursday that would repeal the state’s Common Core based education standards and require new assessments for the public education system. Common Core was repealed by the West Virginia Board of Education in December, but some Delegates believe the state board still hasn’t gone far enough.

When the West Virginia Board of Education repealed the state’s Common Core based education standards in December, they replaced them with the West Virginia College and Career Ready Standards. Those were the result of an 8 month review process led by state Superintendent of Schools Dr. Michael Martirano. Still, some members of the House believe Martirano’s standards are too similar to Common Core and they want them removed.

That’s what House Bill 4014 would do. As approved by the House Education Committee, the bill would repeal any education standards based on Common Core and also prohibit the state from allowing students to take standardized tests aligned with those standards.

Del. Mike Folk of Berkeley County, has been an outspoken opponent of Common Core. He was not satisfied with the committee’s version of the bill and attempted to amend it on the floor.

It failed on a vote of 35 to 62, but would’ve done three things. It would’ve replaced the state’s Math standards with those established by California in 1997. It would have replaced the West Virginia English Language Arts standards with standards written pre-Common Core in Massachusetts, and also created a board of teachers from all 55 counties to write the assessments for these standards.

But it was just one of 12 the body considered Thursday. Here are a few that passed:

  • One amendment calls on the Senate President and House Speaker to appoint a panel of Math and English curriculum experts to review the current standards and make any necessary changes by October 2016. Those experts do not have to be from West Virginia.
  • Changes were made to the standardized testing requirements, including requiring only one assessment in high school. All of the assessments in West Virginia would have to measure Science as well as Math and English.
  • Another amendment prohibits the state Board of Education from implementing the Common Core based Science standards that would have taken effect July 1, 2016.
  • Protections were added to the bill for students and parents who opt-out or refuse to take a standardized test. The amended version of the bill says those students cannot be punished or have their grades reduced, but they also cannot be precluded from receiving the Promise Scholarship or being accepted to a West Virginian higher education institution.

House Bill 4014 will be up for a final vote in the House Friday. If approved, the bill will be sent to the state Senate.

House Education Introduces Changes to Common Core Repeal

A bill to repeal Common Core based education standards and assessments in West Virginia is making its way through the House of Delegates, but has slowed in the chamber’s Education Committee.

Members of the committee spent three meetings last week discussing a bill that would require the state to repeal Common Core. After hours of testimony, committee chair Del. Paul Espinosa pulled the bill before putting it to a vote, explaining he wanted to give members more time to digest the information shared. This morning, the committee put the bill back on the agenda, but didn’t discuss it.

In December, members of the West Virginia Board of Education voted to repeal the Common Core based standards they had in place, replacing them with a new set, the West Virginia College and Career Ready Standards. Those standards were the result of an 8-month study led by state Superintendent Dr. Michael Martirano, consulting West Virginia teachers and higher education official as well as members of the public.

But lawmakers have continued to voice concerns over the standards, saying they are too similar to the previous Common Core aligned set.

Education Chair Del. Paul Espinosa says his committee will consider a committee substitute, a new version of the bill that makes changes to the introduced version.

“Essentially what the committee substitute would do is codify the repeal that the board makes last year,” Espinosa said. “Also, it calls upon the board to work continue to work collaboratively with the legislature to address remaining concerns that there are with the standards. The proposed committee substitute also deals with the question of testing. That is one of the things there seems to be the widest agreement on, the current summative assessment is perhaps do not best fit the needs of West Virginia.”

West Virginia Board Repeals Common Core

The West Virginia Board of Education voted unanimously Thursday to repeal the state’s Common Core-based education standards for English and math and replace them with a newly developed set called the West Virginia College and Career Ready Standards.

The new standards are the result of a months-long review process headed by West Virginia’s Superintendent of Schools Dr. Michael Martirano called the Academic Spotlight.

After the review, which included multiple meetings across the state that allowed parents and teachers to ask questions and make comments about the Common Core-based Next Generation Content Standards, the West Virginia Department of Education worked with education experts at West Virginia University as well as West Virginia teachers, principals and superintendents to write the new standards.

The College and Career Ready Standards were on public comment for 30 days and with a total 87 combined comments on both the English Language Arts and math standards, few changes were made before the board gave its approval Thursday.

“This went through a very, very intense vetting period, it was open to the public to make comments and we’re very confident in the fact that we have a very good set of standards to move forward with,” Board President Mike Green said after the vote.

The Next Generation Content Standards came under fire during the 2015 Legislative Session as members of both chambers debated a bill to repeal them.

In the end, the bill failed and Martirano moved forward with his own plan of replacement, but lawmakers are still discussing offering changes to the new standards.  Martirano said Thursday he only hopes those suggestions will come quickly.

“This process has been going on for close to a year, please provide me with some specific feedback,” Martirano said.

“If there are still changes to come, please bring those forward soon so that I can review those and see what adjustments need to occur because I don’t want to interrupt the educational process with some draconian change that has been thrust upon us from another body.”

Martirano added he is open to any suggestion lawmakers may have to strengthen the new standards.

The West Virginia College and Career Ready Standards take effect July 1, 2016.

Board of Education to Vote on Educational Standards

The West Virginia Board of Education is set to vote on new educational standards to replace those based on Common Core.

Last month state schools Superintendent Michael Martirano recommended getting rid of the K-12 Next Generation Standards for math and English amid growing pressure from Republican lawmakers to nix them. Martirano also recommended less testing.

The new standards include handwriting instruction in grades K-4, and the expectation for students to learn multiplication tables by the end of grade 3.

The state Department of Education has said the new standards would give teachers more autonomy and flexibility, and emphasize problem-solving skills related to college, careers and life-needed skills.

The testing and standards changes were put out for public comment for 30 days.

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