After a playful half hour of taking questions in the school gymnasium from the all-student audience, the governor had students help hold his pen as he began signing House Bill 3035, the Third Grade Success Act, putting teachers aides in grades one through three.
With his bulldog Babydog by his side, Gov. Jim Justice traveled to Leon Elementary in Mason County on Tuesday to sign four bills passed during the West Virginia Legislative session. All of them were education based.
After a playful half hour of taking questions in the school gymnasium from the all-student audience, the governor had students help hold his pen as he began signing House Bill 3035, the Third Grade Success Act, putting teachers aides in grades one through three.
He told the kids the classroom helpers would help them better prepare for the future.
“What we want to have happen is we want to ensure that all of you, every single last one, gets off in school to a great start and you’re able to master certain skills that will absolutely take you off in a really good way. We don’t want anybody behind,” Justice said.
The governor and the students signed three other bills into law:
House Bill 3369 creates a School Safety Unit within the Division of Protective Services.
Senate Bill 422 requires public schools to publish curriculum online at the beginning of each new school year.
And, House Bill 2005 establishes the dual enrollment pilot program for high school juniors and seniors in conjunction with state colleges, universities and community and technical colleges.
Leon Elementary is the home school of fourth grade teacher and Senate Education Committee Chair Sen. Amy Grady, R-Mason, who was emcee of the event. Grady read questions to Justice submitted by the students.
Olivia from the sixth grade asked if the governor got a lot of letters. That prompted the longtime high school basketball coach to tell a story of perseverance.
“I got a letter the other day from a kid I coached 25 years ago,’ Justice said. “I hadn’t heard from him in 25 years and this kid was just like a lot of y’all, didn’t have a whole lot growing up just like me. This kid worked really hard and in his letter he told me, ‘You told us a long time ago when we were playing for you in the national tournament to keep sawing the wood.’ He asked me what that meant and I told him that it meant just to stay at it and you’ll make steady progress. The student said, ‘I went to West Point, then I went to army ranger school and said in every deployment I ever had, I reminded himself every day to keep sawing the wood.’”
The question that got the biggest reaction from Justice and the kids was, “What is your favorite food?” Justice said he and Babydog were the same – chicken nuggets. A few minutes later, someone handed the governor a bag of chicken nuggets.
Babydog smelled them, and got up off his front legs. Justice fed his beloved pet a nugget, but didn’t eat one himself.
The West Virginia Senate passed a bill Thursday aimed at keeping qualified teachers in the classroom.
SB 15 prohibits teachers from receiving a pay increase for any education level above a bachelor’s degree unless they have received a master’s degree that directly connects to the areas in which they teach. By doing this, that teacher would then be eligible to receive a bump in pay.
The bill, if signed into law, would only affect teachers receiving a master’s degree on or after July 1, 2022.
“This bill is essentially going to encourage teachers to become better teachers. That is the intent,” said Senate Education Chair Sen. Patricia Rucker, R-Jefferson.
To receive the in-field master’s level salary, a teacher must teach at least half of their classes in subjects that are consistent with their degrees.
A section in the bill also allows a teacher who does not meet the requirement but does meet certain criteria, to petition their county superintendent for the salary increase.
“We put this provision in to provide flexibility for those situations that, you know, just won’t fit [the] ‘one size fits all,’” Rucker said. “We definitely know that it’s not good to make it that way.”
To be eligible, teachers must meet one of two criteria: 30 credit hours of post-baccalaureate graduate credit in the specialization they completed at their undergraduate level and also in the field that the teacher is currently teaching; or 30 credit hours of post-baccalaureate graduate credit in an area approved by the West Virginia State Board of Education that enhances that classroom teacher’s effectiveness.
“So, this will encourage people to get [for example] a degree in math and teach in that area? It will incentivize them to do that?” Sen. Robert Plymale, D-Wayne, asked Rucker during discussion of the bill on the Senate floor.
“I think so, yes,” Rucker answered. “And it could also incentivize them [to take] other types of courses that would help them to teach math, or teach better.”
The state school board would be in charge of enacting rules regarding the in-field master’s salaries and criteria.
The bill passed the Senate with bipartisan support, but also saw bipartisan opposition.
Sen. Amy Grady, R-Mason, a school teacher who had expressed support for the intent of the bill in the Senate Education Committee last week, voted to reject it on the Senate floor.
Grady defeated former-Senate President Mitch Carmichael for his seat in the Senate. Carmichael was the target of many teachers’ frustrations during the teacher walk-outs of 2018 and 2019 in West Virginia.
Some users on Twitter signaled to West Virginia Public Broadcasting their concerns with the bill saying it would make getting the step increase in pay “more restrictive” and create more “bureaucracy to the process.”
Tega Toney, vice president for the American Federation of Teachers-West Virginia, said on Twitter the bill “limits the type of advanced degree a teacher can receive for the pay bump. It also works under the current salary scale, therefore not providing any additional ‘raises’ other than what is already allotted and codified” in state law.
SB 15 now heads to the House of Delegates for further consideration.
**Editor’s Note: This article was edited for clarification on the potential impacts of the bill.
The Jumpstart Savings Program, HB 2001, is an initiative coined by newly elected West Virginia State Treasurer Riley Moore. This program was one of his top three campaign promises. The bill, whose lead sponsor is House Speaker Roger Hanshaw, R-Clay, would create a tax-free savings plan for individuals working in trades such as welding or electrical work. Investments in these savings accounts could be used to pay for tools, equipment, certifications, apprenticeships, expenses or supplies needed for a trade or occupation, or to open an approved business.
“We would be the first state in the country,” Moore told the House Education Committee last week. “We feel very strongly that this would be a real model, in terms of how state government could help incentivize labor and small business growth, and really the working individuals of not only our state, but our country. So, it’s actually a really exciting opportunity.”
Perry Bennett
/
WV Legislative Photography
West Virginia State Treasurer Riley Moore answers questions pertaining to the West Virginia Jumpstart Saving Program during a meeting of the House Education Committee on Feb. 11, 2021.
Del. Sean Hornbuckle, D-Cabell, minority chair of House Education, offered an amendment that was approved by the committee. The amendment lowers the initial deposit requirement to start a Jumpstart account from $50 to $25.
“I just want to make sure that we’re affording more people the opportunity to start something like this — saving and investing,” Hornbuckle said. “They are hard principles to come by, especially for some of our population. A lot of it is actually just habit-building, so I don’t want to block anyone out. And I think that by lowering it to $25 from $50, it would encourage more people to get started.”
Hornbuckle also offered an amendment to expand the savings account to aid in transportation and childcare needs, but this amendment failed.
Perry Bennett
/
WV Legislative Photography
Minority Chair of House Education Del. Sean Hornbuckle, D-Cabell, asks questions during a House Education Committee meeting on Feb. 11, 2021.
The bill passed unanimously out of committee and was reported to the full House. It could be up for a vote by the full chamber as early as Tuesday.
The expansion would allow for up to 10 charters to be established in the state over a three-year period, and it would permit the state to also establish virtual charter schools. It would also approve the creation of a dispute option for charters. If an authorizer (which in West Virginia means a county school board) finds that a charter school is not living up to its contract, it wouldn’t be shut down immediately but given time to address those issues. If concerns continued after a five-year period, the county board could opt not to renew the school’s charter contract.
The bill also creates some checks and balances. An audit must be performed by the legislative auditor on the Public Charter School Program two years after the first public charter school is established. Those findings must then be reported to the Legislative Oversight Commission on Education Accountability, or LOCEA, which is a bi-partisan joint committee made up of House and Senate members. Additionally, the state school board must report on the status of the state’s public charter schools to LOCEA by Nov. 1, 2022 and every three years after that.
Virtual public charter schools would be held to the same requirements, but the governing body of the virtual charter must undergo at least one training per year “related to appropriate oversight of the virtual public charter school,” according to the bill. Families would not be eligible for the virtual charter school option, however, if they cannot afford internet or adequate devices.
In committee, there was some back-and-forth between three Democratic lawmakers and the committee’s counsel, but no amendments were adopted, nor was there any discussion on the bill itself.
Del. Ed Evans, D-McDowell, a retired science teacher, voiced concerns about ensuring charter schools would be held accountable and have oversight.
“I just want to make sure that we are monitoring, you know, progress,” Evans said. “If a local school system is failing, the state board steps in and does some adjustments, and if things continue to be bad, that they’re going to take that system over.”
The subject of public charter schools in West Virginia has long been debated at the statehouse. Teacher unions do not like the idea of public charter schools, because they are concerned charters will take funding away from traditional public schools. They argue that more funding and aid should be dedicated to and focused on traditional public schools to help them improve and grow.
Supporters of charters, however, argue that the traditional public model has failed West Virginia, and parents want more options for their children.
Last fall, there was an attempt to establish what would have been West Virginia’s first public charter school that would have served both Monongalia and Preston counties. The attempt failed, however, after both county school boards rejected the application.
HB 2012 will be on the amendment stage in the House of Delegates on Monday and could be passed out of the chamber as early as Tuesday this week.
Encouraging Teachers To Get Master’s Degrees
The third education bill that was considered in committee last week and is already on the floor in its respective chamber is SB 15, which relates to in-field master’s degrees.
The bill will be on first reading Monday in the Senate.
The bill prohibits teachers from receiving a pay increase “for any education level above A.B. plus 15” unless they have received a master’s degree that directly connects to their field. This would not affect teachers who are currently teaching and have already received a master’s degree, regardless of field.
The intent is to encourage teachers to pursue master’s degrees in the subjects they teach to help strengthen their effectiveness — and receive a salary boost for doing so.
Sen. Amy Grady, R-Mason, who is a school teacher, spoke in support of the bill.
“This seems to me as an incentive to keep quality teachers teaching in the classroom,” Grady said. “Because a lot of times what [teachers] do is they’ll get their administrative degree, and then they’ll move into administration to get that step increase … [but] they get the step increase based on getting a master’s or further certification in a field that makes them be a more effective teacher. I think it’s a good incentive.”
Will Price
/
WV Legislative Photography
Sen. Amy Grady, R-Mason, asks questions during a Senate Education Committee meeting on Feb. 13, 2021. Grady is a school teacher whose seat in the Senate was formerly held by Senate President Mitch Carmichael.
SB 13 passed without amendment or opposing votes and will be on first reading in the Senate chamber on Monday.
Hope Scholarship Program
HB 2013 would create the Hope Scholarship Program, which allows for the establishment of education savings accounts, or ESAs. It passed out of the House Education Committee last week and then out of the House Finance Committee on Saturday.
The issue of education savings accounts has been a source of contention in recent years in West Virginia.
The Hope Scholarship Program would allow eligible families to have access to public dollars to help support them in school. The education savings accounts could be used by students attending private schools, private religious schools or being homeschooled.
The money could be used in multiple ways: as tuition and fees at a participating school; for tutoring services; to pay for nationally standardized assessments; to pay for Advanced Placement examinations or any examinations related to college or university admission; for alternative education programs; and for fees for after-school or summer education programs and more.
Del. John Doyle, D-Jefferson, expressed concern in committee and voted to reject the bill.
“I think it lacks accountability in terms of how this public money is going to be spent,” Doyle said. “I know that a significant attempt has been made in writing to be able to come up with that accountability, but I don’t think we’ve got there … I think it doesn’t take into account sufficiently for low-income people or for rural people. And I think it discriminates geographically, among other ways, because almost all the private schools in the state are only in a few counties, and I think the provisions regarding discrimination are just way too loose.”
But Jefferson County Republican Wayne Clark spoke in favor of the bill, saying it would help students succeed.
“This is not a private school bill, this is homeschool,” Clark said. “This is additional tutoring services for kids who may be dysfunctional. I think this is a great thing for the state of West Virginia. It gives every kid in the state an option, whether it’s from homeschool, whether it’s private school, whether it’s virtual school — it gives every kid in the state of West Virginia an option to better their education.”
The bill is expected to be on first reading sometime this week.
State education leaders continue to hear concerns regarding the reopening strategy of West Virginia’s public and private K-12 schools. Some parents are frustrated with the education model officials have adopted, such as the color-coded map and the back-and-forths between in-person and virtual settings as a result of virus spread, and some teachers are feeling stretched-thin.
At the West Virginia Board of Education’s monthly meeting Thursday, members heard from parent and public school teacher Rachel Kittle.
“I feel like West Virginia as a whole, from the State Board of Education to all of our school districts, we did not adequately plan and prepare for consistency across the state,” Kittle said. “We have some school districts going five days a week with early outs and delays. Some three days a week, four days a week, and there’s just no consistency across the board.”
Kittle decided to step back from teaching this fall so she could care for her toddler, but she also has a seven-year-old who is in first grade this year. She said her seven-year-old has “regressed tremendously” due to the schooling inconsistencies.
“That worries me as a parent, because I think, ‘well what’s going to happen in the future,’” she said. “She comes from a good home … she doesn’t have any kind of, you know, needs not being met … But what about our kids that don’t come from good homes?”
Albert described teachers as at a “breaking point” — feeling overwhelmed by long hours and juggling learning settings.
“We have 104 teachers in Marion County, who are members of AFT, and they have filed a grievance, because they are being asked to do more than one job,” Albert said. “They’re being asked to teach face-to-face, and they’re being asked to do e-learning or virtual, remote learning. And they’re finding that it’s impossible. Their days are beyond extended.”
Albert said many teachers have identified hybrid schooling, where student groups take turns attending in-person and remote during a school week, as a potential remedy. He explained this model would allow teachers more time to plan.
“I know in some counties, they are doing the hybrid [model] where they have a day to do remote, but it’s also a day to kind of catch their breath,” he said.
Albert also noted that many teachers and parents have lost confidence in the color-coded school re-entry map, saying it doesn’t paint a true picture of coronavirus spread.
In Wednesday’s virtual press briefing with Gov. Jim Justice, the governor reported 885 new cases of the coronavirus within a 24-hour period — the highest record of new cases in the state since the pandemic began.
The governor, while he has not made any moves to add restrictions on the state, continues to encourage West Virginians to wear masks, social distance and get tested often for the coronavirus. Some other states however, including Utah and Massachusetts, have recently issued new statewide mandates, such as mask-wearing and a stay-at-home order respectively, due to virus surge.
It was also noted at the West Virginia Board of Education meeting that many school-related coronavirus outbreaks in the state have occured in music and health classes, and the majority of students who contract the virus are in special education. To-date, there are 118 cases of COVID-19 in 15 county school districts, according to the West Virginia Department of Education.
Homeschool Sports Changes
Board members, Thursday, also approved a policy following a public comment period on a new law that would allow homeschool students to play in public school sports after meeting certain requirements.
The issue has garnered heated debate in previous state legislative sessions, however, some states, such as North Dakota and Florida, allow homeschooled students to play sports with traditionally educated kids. Other states, like Ohio, require homeschoolers be allowed access to extracurricular activities in public school settings.
Under the new policy, homeschool students are only eligible if they have at least a 2.0 GPA, are enrolled in a virtual class in compliance with the county in which they would participate, and have been enrolled in homeschool for at least one academic year.
This policy comes from a bill that passed during the 2020 state legislative session and was signed by the governor in March.
There were 18 comments from 11 people during the written comment period, including teachers, parents, and a community member, but only minor editorial corrections were made. Of those 18 comments, eight were opposed to homeschool students having access to public school sports, while others criticized the number of eligibility requirements.
“I do not agree with allowing homeschooled students to play on public school athletic teams,” said commenter Melanie Meck. “To be eligible to participate in public school athletics, 6-12 grade students should be enrolled full-time in the local public school system. If public school education is not chosen, then community leagues should be the homeschool option.”
Another commenter, homeschool parent Theresa Dennison, felt differently.
“Thanks to the Dept. of Ed. and WVSSAC [West Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission] for working with homeschool liaison, Jamie Buckland, in developing language necessary for our kids to be included,” said Dennison. “Many kids are finally getting to participate in sports and band, have fun, meet new friends, and learn in these non-academic endeavors.”
The West Virginia Board of Education has proposed lowering some requirements to become a public school teacher.
The Charleston Gazette-Mail reported Saturday that among the proposed changes are exempting education bachelor’s degree holders who meet minimum grade point averages from having to pass a basic knowledge test.
Another change would be no longer requiring non-education master’s degree holders within “five years of directly related work experience” to pass a content knowledge test to teach the subject they hold a master’s in.
Other changes concern teacher licensure tests.
State Schools Superintendent Steve Paine says the proposed changes add more flexibility to help fill job positions without compromising quality.
All of the proposed changes can be found online at wvde.state.wv.us/policies. The official public comment period ends 4 p.m. Oct. 10.
