Tag: Omnibus Education Reform Bill

Teachers Warily Celebrate Tabled Education Reform Bill

Teachers and service personnel in the Northern Panhandle joined picket lines this morning and were on their way home before a typical school day would have closed. Many teachers were relieved, but uneasy.

Teachers in Marshall County will return to their classrooms tomorrow, but Marshall County American Federation of Teachers President Josh Gary hopes the message of the short-lived strike is received by the public as well as legislators.

“The fact that teachers wanted the bill killed even though it included an over $2,000 pay raise for them should give people pause and understanding that it was a very bad bill,” Gary said.

There was a sense of relief that the House of Delegates tabled the sweeping education reform measure, but John Marshall high school teacher Joe Kuskey worries the celebration may be short-lived.

“I don’t feel like it’s a dead issue,” Kuskey said. “It’s probably going to come back to haunt us again, just like it did this year.”

Kuskey and other teachers expressed frustration that today’s disruption was necessary at all. He says concerns remain that the education reform bill could be revived before the end of the legislative session.

House of Delegates Votes To Postpone Action Indefinitely on Omnibus Education Bill

Editor’s Note: A previous headline on this story said the House killed the education omnibus education bill. While the vote today makes it difficult for the bill to survive, there are still some technical maneuvers that could bring the bill back to the floor. This story will be updated when the situation becomes clearer.

The West Virginia House of Delegates has effectively killed a controversial education reform measure that has forced the second teacher strike in as many years.

With hundreds of teachers and school service personnel screaming and chanting outside the House chamber and even more educators lining the each of the chamber’s three galleries, a roar went up in the chamber and outside as the vote was made.

A motion to postpone action on the latest version of Senate Bill 451 was adopted on a 53-45 vote, with 12 Republicans joining all House Democrats to kill the bill.

It is unclear whether the House vote will end the strike. 

Three unions representing teachers and school service workers say they’ll meet with union members before deciding on further action, which could include ending a strike that began Tuesday. The unions have scheduled a late afternoon news conference.

Senate President, R-Jackson, expressed disappointment in the bill’s failing. He said he expected the House to concur with the upper chamber’s amendment and send the bill to Gov. Jim Justice.

“I’ll say in this political world, all you really have is your word. And, so, when one gives you your word, you take them at their word and we take actions accordingly,” Carmichael said. “We had an agreement and then, you know, it wasn’t honored.”

How House Lawmakers Got To Their Vote

The House gaveled in at 11 a.m. and received the Senate message about the upper chamber’s passage of an amended version of Senate Bill 451.

Delegates were set to consider action on the latest version of the bill and had been left with two options, concur in the Senate’s amendments to the measure or reject it — and likely force yet another version to be hashed out by a select few lawmakers in a conference committee.

The latest version of Senate Bill 451 — as amended by the upper chamber Monday — called for pay raises for teachers and school service personnel raises.

An earlier version approved by the House of Delegates had capped charter schools at two pilots and had removed education savings accounts from the bill entirely.

Immediately following the bill being received by the House, Del. Mike Caputo, D-Marion, moved to postpone action on Senate Bill 451 indefinitely.

But, before that motion went straight to a vote, Majority Leader Amy Summers moved to postpone action on the bill until 4 p.m.

After debate over whether delegates had enough time to review the bill, the House rejected Summers’ motion on a 45-53 vote.

With Summers’ motion downed, delegates turned their attention back to Caputo’s motion to postpone Senate Bill 451 indefinitely, killing the bill on the 53-45 vote.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

W.Va. Teacher, School Service Personnel Unions Announce 2nd Strike in as Many Years

Updated February 18, 2019 at 7:27 p.m.

Leaders of West Virginia teacher and school service personnel unions have announced a statewide strike will begin Tuesday. That announcement came at a Monday news conference as the upper chamber was set to adopt an amendment to the House of Delegates’ version of Senate Bill 451.

Representatives of the American Federation of Teachers-West Virginia, the West Virginia Education Association and the West Virginia School Service Personnel Association made the announcement at a 6 p.m. news conference outside the Senate chamber. 

The statewide strike will be the second in as many years. In February 2018, West Virginia teachers went on strike over pay and benefits. The 2018 walkouts lasted nine school days.

This year, teachers and school employees are set to walk off the job in protest of the latest developments on Senate Bill 451 — a long, sweeping and controversial education reform package. The bill ties another round of pay raises with charter schools and other provisions opposed by teachers.

That measure has been on a winding path since being unveiled in the Senate in late January — with some hotly contested components being removed and then being reinstated as the bill made its way through committees and the House and Senate as a whole.

The announcement of the strike came as senators were set to vote on an amendment that would reinstate education savings accounts (with a limit of 1,000 and for parents of students with special needs) and raise the proposed cap on charter schools from two pilot schools to seven charters statewide.

Union leaders said they were not premature in their announcement, arguing that they had heard the House had whipped up enough votes to concur with the Senate’s latest proposal, which was expected to clear the upper chamber Monday night.

“We want the process to work. We want the House to take their time like they’ve done before,” American Federation of Teachers-West Virginia president Fred Albert said. “But we’re not leaving anything to chance and we’re not waiting a day longer.”

The House would be left with only a couple options.

“The only chance they have is either accept the Senate insert amendment or to reject it and possibly go to conference [committee]. So, it doesn’t matter what happened last week,” West Virginia Education Association president Dale Lee said. “We’re now dealing with the final version of this bill, which is the Senate amended version and we’ll go from there.”

But a strike would likely bring friction between unions and some county school administrators. With some superintendents — including Ron Duerring of Kanawha County — planning to keep schools open, union leaders say they don’t know what to expect until something happens.

“We’ll wait and see what the superintendent’s do tomorrow. We’ve heard anecdotally what will happen, but we’ll deal with that day by day as it happens. I don’t know what their actions are going to be. We’ll deal with that as it comes,” Lee said.

By 7 p.m. Monday, county officials began calling off school for Tuesday.

Update: Senate Adopts Amendment to Reinstate ESAs, Boost Charter Schools to 7 in 'Omnibus' Bill

Updated on Monday, Feb. 18, 2019 at 7:58 p.m.

The West Virginia Legislature continued a back and forth Monday on a long, sweeping and controversial education reform bill. The upper chamber adopted an amendment to the House of Delegate’s version Senate Bill 451, which makes some notable changes to the measure.

Senate Education Chair Patricia Rucker, R-Jefferson unveiled the amendment in a Monday afternoon floor session.

The amendment reinstates education savings accounts into the measure — allowing for 1,000 accounts for parents of students with special needs. The version the House passed had eliminated that component from the bill entirely.

As for charter schools, seven may be authorized statewide and no more than two charter schools may be newly authorized statewide per year, according to the Senate amendment offered Monday. The House version had capped charters at two pilots statewide.

Another change to the bill puts a bonus for teachers and other school workers missing four or fewer days in a year back at $500. The House had upped that bonus to $1,000 in an amendment adopted on the floor last week. 

The Senate adopted the proposal on a 18-16 vote. Republican Sens. Bill Hamilton (Upshur) and Kenny Mann (Monroe) broke with the majority to join Democrats in voting no. A half hour later, that same vote count properly cleared the bill from the Senate and sent it to the House.

Senate Democrats argued that they were not given an opportunity to review the amendment.  

“This is like legislation by ambush,” Sen. Mike Woelfel, D-Cabell, said. 

The chamber then recessed for more than an hour to allow members to review the amendment to the bill. 

But before the Senate could put the amendment to a vote, leaders of teacher and school service personnel unions announced the second statewide strike in as many years.

Earlier Monday, the House adjourned until 11 a.m. Tuesday, leaving any action on SB 451 out of the question in the meantime.

The lower chamber is left with two options — concur with the Senate changes or reject the bill and send it to a conference committee. 

West Virginia Educators Vote ‘Overwhelmingly’ to Authorize Union Leaders to Call Work Action

Leaders of educator and service personnel unions in West Virginia have the greenlight to call a work action if and when they deem it necessary. The…

Leaders of educator and service personnel unions in West Virginia have the greenlight to call a work action if and when they deem it necessary. The decision comes as the Legislature considers a long, sweeping and controversial education reform measure that’s sparked reaction from teachers, school service personnel and their unions.

Union leaders said Saturday that public educators across the state voted “overwhelmingly” to authorize the leaders of the American Federation of Teachers-West Virginia, the West Virginia Education Association and the West Virginia School Service Personnel Association to call a work action as needed. Members and their leaders met Saturday in Flatwoods to tally votes that were cast over the course of the week.

 

Ballots sent to members this week stated: “I authorize the state leadership of AFT-WV, WVSSPA and WVEA to call a statewide work action should circumstances surrounding he Omnibus Education Bill merit such a work stoppage. And I further authorize the state leadership of the organizations to determine the appropriate time for that action to take place.” 

 

Response options on the ballot were limited to “yes” and “no” on the authorization vote. 

 

A “work action” is undefined, but could be anything from a picket to a full blown strike. Union leaders also did not provide totals of the authorization vote.

The announcement comes a day after the House Education Committee approved a stripped down strike-and-insert version of Senate Bill 451 — as compared to what was passed earlier this week in the Senate.

The House Education Committee’s version removes many of the provisions opposed by educators and the leaders of their unions, including provisions that would force members to sign off annually on the deduction of union dues, education savings accounts, and withholding pay during a strike. A non-severability clause — which would make the entire measure null and void should any of its provisions be struck down in a court challenge — was also pulled from the committee’s proposal.

Other provisions in the bill — including the establishment of charter schools — have been significantly altered through amendments in the committee.

While union leaders say they are happy with the bill being whittled away, nothing is final until the legislation is signed by Gov. Jim Justice. The House Education Committee’s strike-and-insert amendment is also merely formative until it is adopted on the chamber floor. If approved with any changes to the version passed by the Senate, the bill would be sent back to the upper chamber.

“Currently, the bill is better than it was,” American Federation of Teachers-West Virginia president Fred Albert said.

But Albert and his counterparts at the other unions say there is still a long way to go.

“We will continue to monitor the bill as continues to move through the process,” West Virginia Education Association president Dale Lee said.

The process for Senate Bill 451 will include two public hearings scheduled for Monday, Feb. 11 — with one at 8 a.m. and another at 5:30 p.m. The House Finance Committee will also consider the measure before it heads to the floor for the full chamber’s consideration.

 

 

 

“We are going to continue to meet with our members and listen to them as to what they feel they want to do as this bill moves through the legislative session,” Albert said.

House Committee Advances Stripped-Down Version of Education Reform Measure

A West Virginia House of Delegates committee has whittled down a sweeping and controversial education reform bill to a point that it is virtually unrecognizable from the bill that the Senate passed earlier this week. The House Education Committee passed a strike-and-insert version on a 15-10 party-line vote Friday, with Republicans in support and Democrats opposed to advancing the measure.

The House Education Committee has offered a proposal that would eliminate many provisions of Senate Bill 451 that public educators and the leaders of their unions oppose. The measure still calls for an average 5 percent pay raise for teachers and school service personnel.

During the committee’s Friday meeting — which began at 9 a.m. and recessed off and on throughout the day for a floor session and other breaks — members removed education savings accounts, as well as a provision that would withhold teacher pay during a strike.

All votes against the amendments to the committee’s proposal came from Republicans.

In meetings earlier this week, the House Education Committee unveiled the proposed strike-and-insert amendment that removed a provision that would force members to sign off annually on the deduction of union dues.

The committee’s initial proposal also removed a non-severability clause that would have made the entire measure null and void if any of its provisions were struck down in a court challenge.

Another change the House Education Committee offered this week would have limited charter schools to two specific programs — one elementary school in Kanawha County and another in Cabell County. An amendment adopted Friday removed the specific counties of the would-be pilots.

The Senate passed the bill Monday on an 18-16 vote that included all of the provisions that have been removed from the House Education Committee’s proposal.

The proposed strike-and-insert amendment from the House Education Committee is formative until it is adopted on the floor on second reading, should delegates choose to do so.

The House Finance Committee will also get a chance to tackle Senate Bill 451 before the full chamber takes it up for consideration.

Educators and school service personnel unions will gather Saturday in Flatwoods to count votes from local members whether to authorize their leaders to call a strike if and when they feel it necessary.

Two public hearings on Senate Bill 451 will be held Monday in the House of Delegates — one at 8 a.m. and another at 5:30 p.m. The second hearing was added after discussion on the House floor about accommodating the travel teachers from out of town who would want to attend.

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