School Improvement Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Improving Schools, Holding Social Media Accountable On House Docket

From improving schools and learning, to providing guidance on social media and political campaign ads, along with harsher penalties for the sexual assault of a minor the House of Delegates had a wide range of bills on third reading Friday.

Local school improvement councils are one way the legislature hopes to improve academic performance.

Senate Bill 172 would revise the requirements of those councils to include teachers, staff, parents and students in grades seven or higher. Council members would be trained in school and community engagement, transparency and more.

The bill passed 93-4 and now goes to the Senate.

House Bill 4191 is intended to prevent corruption and provide transparency of election-related content on social media websites.

Key to this bill would be to hold social media platforms, like Facebook or X for example, responsible if found to cause any increase in online visibility or attempt by the social media platform to modify and influence a user’s understanding or opinion regarding any candidate, party, or political party in the State of West Virginia. Enforcement would be through the Secretary of State and Attorney General’s office.

The bill passed 61-35 and goes to the Senate

House Bill 5235 would double the criminal penalty for anyone found guilty of the sexual assault on a minor.

Del. Joey Garcia, D-Marion, had concerns over unintended consequences of the bill. He recalled from testimony in committee that double penalties could suppress plea agreements and adversely affect juvenile victims having to go to trial.

“If somebody is unwilling to take a plea, and they’re going to roll the dice on the trial, you have to prepare the victim, you have to have the victim testify and have to go through really the trauma, the trauma of that situation all over again,” Garcia said. “And there’s a possibility that they would lose, which can always happen at trial, and that somebody who may have committed an act like this gets off.”

But Del. Todd Kirby, R-Raleigh, voiced a different perspective. He noted that a large percentage of the cases that are tried in his district involve child sexual abuse.

“And the reason is, the penalties are already extremely high as well, they should be,” Kirby said. “But if we’re going to have the people that are victims of these horrible crimes come forward and express their story and tell their story to a jury, often in an open courtroom, we should allow them to secure a sufficient penalty for the perpetrator. And so I think that I don’t disagree that there may be some instances where this could keep a defendant from pleading guilty. So be it, let him come in and defend himself and let the victim tell the court and the jury exactly what happened. And when that happens, they should be rewarded with a stiff penalty of 40 years, and a doubling of all the other penalties.”

The bill passed 98-0 and also goes to the Senate.

Retirement, Trails, Schools And Hunger: Senate Keeps Pace, Passes 10 More Bills

The Senate did not slow down Tuesday, passing another 10 bills ranging on topics from energy to education and public employee retirement.

Senate Bill 160 would establish the West Virginia Rail Trails Program to acquire and develop abandoned railroad rights-of-way for interim use as public, non-motorized recreational trails.

Senate Bill 166 increases the amount retired public employees can earn in a year without suspending their retirement annuity. Sen. Eric Nelson, R-Kanawha, said the amount will need to be reviewed every five years, and does not impact the state’s other retirement funds.

“This bill will raise the minimum amount up to $25,000, which in essence reflects half or the average salary that employees in PERS system are currently earning,” Nelson said. “The bill only affects retirements in the Public Employees Retirement System. It does not have any effect on employees working part-time there in the Teachers Retirement System.”

Lawmakers have discussed encouraging retirees to return to work to help shore up some of the state’s labor shortfalls. The bill passed unanimously without debate.

Three bills originating from the Senate Education Committee also passed, including:

Senate Bill 222 to create an adult education taskforce.

Senate Bill 428 which would create new requirements for local school improvement councils, including the publication of meeting minutes.

Senate Bill 306, establishes the Summer Feeding for All Program to study statewide efforts to feed students when they are out of school. Sen. Mike Woelfel, D-Cabell, stood in support of the bill.

“Childhood hunger is very real in America and it’s certainly very real in West Virginia,” he said. “There will be an opportunity for each county to learn from different counties and ensure that there are no pockets of hunger for children during the summer. It’s just a comprehensive plan instead of our hodgepodge that we’ve had in the past and I appreciate it.”

Senate Bill 306 was the only bill that did not pass unanimously Tuesday. Sen. Robert Karnes, R-Randolph, was the sole dissenting vote.

Three other bills all originated on request of the state’s Tax Commissioner, including:

Senate Bill 443, which shifts estate administration fees from the Tax Commissioner to the State Auditor.

Senate Bill 446, to remove methanol and methanol fuel from definition of special fuel to reduce costs in industrial use.

Most notably among the three, Senate Bill 444 closes the West Virginia Future Fund. Sen. Eric Tarr, R-Putnam, chair of the Senate Finance Committee, said legislation passed last year made it impossible to deposit money in the fund.

“Some years ago the legislature created the Future Fund, which had the purpose of saving the anticipated revenue stream for the marcellus shale,” Tarr said. “This bill eliminates the fund and transfers over existing funds to general revenue. And just as an aside, in committee we also found that we couldn’t find any funds within this fund. So, it’s defunct.”

The Senate also passed Senate Bill 249 to change requirements for the state Real Estate License and Senate Bill 335 to authorize 11 legislative rules from the Department of Homeland Security.

All 10 bills now go to the House of Delegates for their consideration.

On Second Reading

Sen. Charles Trump, R-Morgan, presented an amendment to Senate Bill 426, colloquially known as the “TikTok Ban” bill.

The amendment mandates the state’s Chief Information Security Officer develop standards for, “high risk technology platforms, services, applications, programs or products” that would include exceptions for, “legitimate law enforcement or national security purposes.”

The bill is expected to be on third reading Wednesday, Feb. 1.

Debate Over Public Vs. Non-Traditional Education Gets Politically Heated

There are two schools of thought dominating the politics of improving West Virginia’s education systems. Some promote non-traditional education, while others say public schools must be prioritized.

State Treasurer Riley Moore oversees the legally revitalized Hope Scholarship program, offering state funding to families seeking educational avenues outside the public school system. Recently, while announcing his run for the U.S. Congress, Moore said he would push to create national educational savings accounts offering more school options across America. In doing so, he made a backhanded swipe at the public school system.

“This should be a federal program, we must have school choice for all of our children. You see the national test scores, they are abysmal,” Moore said. “Fourth grade and eighth grade reading and math has never been lower. We have to put our children first. There’s a war going on with the family in this country, and we have to be able to give them choice over indoctrination.”

Dale Lee is a long time educator and president of the West Virginia Education Association. He said implying that public schools indoctrinate students is a false, politically charged claim.

“We’re teaching them hopefully to become critical thinkers, and to look at all sides of issues,” Lee said. “As a middle school teacher told me, if I could indoctrinate my middle school kids, all of them would wear deodorant and stay off their phones during class. It’s not as simple as the far right wants to make us believe. We’re not indoctrinating anyone.”

Gov. Jim Justice said it was improper to speak so strongly against public schools.

“I do not think that it is constructive in any way for us to throw rocks,” Justice said. “Probably every last one of us that’s casting a rock went through the public school system, and I’m a believer in our public school system.”

Justice said supporting public and non-traditional schooling not only offers needed choice for West Virginia families, but sets up competition that makes the entire state education system better.

“Should we give our kids and our parents choice? Absolutely,” Justice said. “Without question, the competition level, whether it be charter or private or public, the competition level will make us better.“

Dale Lee countered that competition between public and private educational entities can not help improve things because they’re not on a level playing field.

“You’re not comparing apples to apples. I looked at a charter school back in the early 2010’s in Pittsburgh,” Lee said. “That school was successful, but it had a 15 to one student teacher ratio. I just left the classroom in Princeton High School, teaching a class of 38 kids and 12 on special needs. Anyone will tell you, in education, I can do far more at 15 to 1 students than 38 to 1.”

This debate will continue into the 2023 legislative session, where opinions on educating West Virginia children will become state policy proposals.

W.Va. to Get Funding for Low-Performing Schools

West Virginia will receive $3.2 million in federal funding for continued efforts to help low-performing schools.

The U.S. Department of Education announced more than $38 million in school improvement grants for West Virginia and five other states Friday. Education agencies in each state will dole out the funding to districts that demonstrate the greatest need for the funds.

West Virginia Department of Education spokeswoman Liza Cordeiro says 25 schools in 18 West Virginia counties are eligible to apply. She says schools would be able to use the funding on such things as parent and community activities, consultants, hiring staff or professional development for staff to improve student achievement.