West Virginia Legislature Story Archives - Page 120 of 126

Senate Begins Debate Over Common Core Repeal

Members of the West Virginia Senate began discussing a bill Monday that, if approved, would repeal Common Core standards in West Virginia. The legislation passed the state House of Delegates Saturday.

House Bill 2934 calls on the West Virginia Department of Education to repeal the Common Core standards adopted in 2010 for math and language arts. It then requires the board, along with the state Department of Education, to draft new standards.

Members of the Senate Education Committee heard testimony from stakeholders, including parents and a fifth grade student from Kenova Elementary School. Republican sponsors of the bill, Delegates Jim Butler and Michael Moffatt also spoke to the committee calling for the repeal of the national standards.

Butler told the committee no West Virginia teachers were involved in writing the standards, which newly appointed state Board of Education member Beverly Kingery disagreed with.

Kingery is the former superintendent of Nicholas County schools and told Senators she sent teachers from her county to participate in workgroups that adapted the national standards to set that are West Virginia specific, known as the Next Generation Content Standards. Those standards are in place in West Virginia Schools today.

Speaking against the bill, American Federation of Teachers West Virginia President Christine Campbell said lawmakers should be more focused on making sure teachers across the state have the professional development they need to teach the more rigorous standards rather than repealing something teachers across the state tell her are working.

“We’re really moving in the right direction and we have to have the time to do this,” Campbell said, “and if we go back we’re going to be starting from scratch and set the state back at least five to seven years.”

State Superintendent of Schools Dr. Michael Martirano joined the department in September and told the committee he hears the legislature’s concerns over the standards, but asked for more time to dig in and analyze what the state has before them.

“I am doing a very intensive review of our education model. I’ve come with expectations from our citizens, from our elected officials to do certain things to improve our educational system I need the opportunity to dig in deep to our education standards and understand where those concerns are,” he told the committee.

The Department of Education predicts the repeal will cost the state $113 million to craft new standards.

The bill was placed in an education subcommittee for further discussion. Chaired by Sen. Boley, the committee also includes Sen. Robert Karnes and Sen. Bill Laird and will hold their first meeting Tuesday morning at 8:30.

Senate Studies House Bill to Repeal Common Core Education Standards

At the legislature today, there’s a deadline looming. By Wednesday at midnight, all the senate bills must be reported to the house and all the house bills reported to the senate. It makes for long lists of legislation to be considered on both floors. The house today passed a bill that keeps the Future Fund, an account created by Democrats last year, unfunded. And we’ll talk about the state budget with the Executive Director of the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy coming up on The Legislature Today.

Senate Approves Bill to Scale Back Storage Tank Law

Senators approved 30-1 a bill that will scale back the state’s above ground storage tank law approved in 2014. The law came as a reaction to the Freedom…

Senators approved 30-1 a bill that will scale back the state’s above ground storage tank law approved in 2014. The law came as a reaction to the Freedom Industries’ chemical spill into the Kanawha River that left 300,000 West Virginians without usable water for as many as ten days.

Senate Bill 423 separates tanks into two levels, with level one tanks receiving the highest level of scrutiny from the state Department of Environmental Protection.

Level one tanks include:

Any tank containing 50,000 gallons or more
Any tank containing a federally defined hazardous material
Any take located five hours upstream of a public water intake

Senate Judiciary Chair Charles Trump called the 2014 law “too broad” and said the focus of the new bill was to tighten the scope so the DEP could be focused on the tanks that have the greatest potential to cause harm to drinking water.

“I think the breadth of last year’s act suggests that the final act, the act that was passed by the House and sent to the governor, went substantially beyond the protection of drinking water. We tried in drafting this bill to remain focused on drinking water,” he said.

The 2014 Above Ground Storage Tank Act put some 50,000 tanks under the DEP’s purview. Trump says this bill will lessen the scope to about 5,000 tanks.

W.Va. Senate Approves Bill to Not Require Handgun Permits

Senators have approved a push to make West Virginia the sixth state not to require concealed handgun permits.

The Senate’s 32-2 vote Monday would drop concealed carry permit requirements. Arkansas, Alaska, Arizona, Vermont and Wyoming similarly don’t require them.

Open carry, like a holster on a hip, is legal without permitting in West Virginia. Thirty-one states total have similar open-carry rules.

Covering handguns up, like with a coat, requires a permit.

Senators rejected amendments requiring training, prohibiting people younger than 21 from concealed carrying and mandating licenses for nonresidents.

The state Sheriffs Association expressed concerns. Association Executive Director Rodney Miller said officers would have to assume more people had concealed firearms and lacked training.

Proponents cited 2nd Amendment arguments.

The measure heads to the House.

State Board of Education Holds Emergency Meeting Over Common Core Repeal

At the legislature today, the senate passes the Governor’s bill to reform the state’s juvenile justice system. Senators from both sides of the aisle praise the bill they say will mend troubled kids and their families. A public hearing this morning brings out the issue of discrimination against the LGBT community in West Virginia. And the State Board of Education held an emergency meeting Friday to discuss a bill they say could cause substantial harm to students, teachers, and school systems in the state. We’ll find out more on The Legislature Today.

Secretary of State Decries Unlimited Campaign Contribution Bill

At the legislature today, after a high school principal resigned and faces misdemeanor charges for failing to report a sexual assault at his school, lawmakers revisit a law pertaining to that issue. One senator lashes out at a house bill that prohibits local anti-discrimination ordinances. And we’ll talk with the Secretary of State about election bills at this session on The Legislature Today.