Special Session Final - 7/22/10

Only three amended bills passed

Special Session brings little change

 

The recently concluded legislative special session actually started in May as a response to losing the first round of Race to the Top (RTTT) funding and the hope of securing funding for the second round. The governor appeared before the State Board and challenged them to address school reform legislation needed in order to win RTTT funding in the second round. The WVBE responded with the report “It’s all about the kids” that included twenty-eight+ items.

 

The governor placed eight of those items on the call for the May special session – charter schools, health screening, hiring criteria, school teams, alternative certification, low performing schools, evaluations and incentive pay.

 

During the May session it appears the governor did very little to build consensus for his so called ‘reform agenda’. It also became apparent he did not have the support to pass his agenda through the legislature.  Instead of allowing the bills to be defeated, he brought the parties together and created a work group. Even thought the deadline for the second round of RTTT funding had already passed, the governor was determined to go forward with an education reform special session in the future.

 

WVEA agreed to participate in the work group believing that we would be a true participant in the process and that we would be able to initiate true reform to improve our public schools instead of the unproven trends offered in response to the RTTT application.

 

Our hopes were soon dampened as it became clear the unions could not vote, offer amendments or propose new items in the work group. So rather than work to improve the legislation, the work group adopted bills that were very polarizing.

 

An opportunity for real input with an equal voice could have improved the legislation and fostered bills that were better positioned to pass.  Unfortunately, after many days and hours spent discussing the legislation, the work group finished with bills that were similar to those originally introduced.

 

The work group did produce a number of good recommendations for the governor with the suggestion they be included in the special session. WVEA recommendations included: salary increases, alternative education programs for elementary and middle schools, reducing truancy, and others. However, with the exception of alternative education programs, the governor did not include our items in the call.

 

Fortunately, many members of the House Education Committee are or were actual education professionals, teachers, principals or support professionals.  They recognized from the beginning the items proposed by the governor did not constitute real reform and would not lead to increased student achievement. They are people who are trained in education, child development and are teaching professionals. 

 

It is unfortunate, however, the House members were labeled by the press, the governor, the Senate and others as problems in the process. Simply because you have a greater level of understanding and disagree with a concept does not mean you are stuck in the past or beholden to special interest as many have portrayed.

 

Quite the opposite is true. The House is the larger and more deliberative body of the legislature.  They are closer and more accountable to their constituents due to their small regions and the fact they are up for election every two years.

 

It was also clear during this special session the governor had lost interest in his education agenda.  He chose not to introduce a number of the items recommended by WVEA in the work group that would truly improve our schools. As a matter of fact, the education portion of the special session was completely overshadowed by the bill to fill the US Senate vacancy. The governor actually held a press conference to announce his candidacy for the vacancy as the House was upstairs debating his education agenda.

 

It is time to stop pointing fingers as to why bad legislation did not pass and look forward to the next legislative session in January.  We must work throughout the fall to create the atmosphere and write legislation which will truly reform education in our state.

 

We know our members are dedicated to great schools.  It is time to work together and make it happen!

 

 

1.  210/2010 Alternative Learning Centers creates uniform standards for all alternative learning centers (ALCs) and  creates a pilot programs for five elementary schools and middle schools. $1 million was appropriated for the pilots.

 

2.  209/2009 Community School Pilot Program creates a special community school pilot program to be implemented at one public school for a five year period. The school, to be designated by the State Superintendent, will have significant enrollments of disadvantaged minority and under-achieving students. The school will work with community organizations, higher education and the State Board to develop and implement strategies that could be replicated in other schools with similar enrollment characteristics. All other provisions of the governor’s original bill - differential pay, career ladder, incentives based on student growth- were stricken from the bill.

 

3.  206/2006 School Teams and School Committees allows for the combining of certain school teams and committees to encourage greater collaboration.

 

 



Wednesday, July 21, 2010 - 11 am

The House and Senate will not meet again until later this afternoon.  Yesterday the House simply received the bills from the committee and adjourned.  The full House is expected to take up the bills later today.  Once the bills have passed the House they will be sent to conference committees (joint House and Senate members) to work out the differences between the House and Senate version of the bills.

WVEA expects some of the conference committees to begin work later this evening.


Monday, July 19, 2010 - 10 pm

Most of the day was spent in negotiations between the House, Senate and governor’s office over how to handle the Senate vacancy.  The election bill was signed this evening.  The filing period begins Tuesday and the primary election is scheduled for August 28th.

 

Since the Senate already passed the governor’s bills, the action today centered in the House Education Committee.  The committee amended a number of bills:

205/2005 – school improvement and school districts – this bill did not pass House Education and is considered dead

209/2009 – incentive pay pilots to increase student achievement – was amended to remove the section of the bill dealing with incentive pay.  The House version of the bill still contains the community outreach pilot that was included in the governor’s bill.

208/2008 – evaluations – the House Education Committee amended the bill to include an informal evaluation for those teachers with satisfactory evaluations and 4+ years of experience. A teacher cannot be declared unsatisfactory in an informal evaluation.  They must be formally evaluated for an unsatisfactory evaluation to occur.

207/2007 – alternative schools  - House Ed amended the bill to include $1 million in funding for the pilots.

 

The alternative certification bill for teachers and principals (210/2010) has been placed in a House Education subcommittee. A subcommittee meeting has not yet been scheduled.

 

The full House will meet again tomorrow at 4 pm.  The education bills should be on the agenda.



Monday, July 19, 2010 - 4 pm

House reconvenes at 5 pm today

 

The governor introduced seven bills relating to education during the special session.

204/2004 – Health screenings for students

205/2005 – low performing schools/school districts

206/2006 – school teams and school committees

207/2007 – Alternative certification for teachers and principals

208/2008 – annual evaluations

209/2009 – salary incentives regarding increased academic achievement pilot projects

210/2010 – alternative schools in elem and middle school

 

The senate has passed all of the bills.  In nearly each instance, the bill passed by the senate is the same version introduced by the governor.  The House Education committee has made significant amendments to almost all of the bills.

 

Once passed by the full House, the bills will be sent to a conference committee in an effort to find language both houses can agree on.

 

Items not put on the call for the special session included: charter schools, salary increases, truancy, planning periods and hiring criteria.

 

Once the House passes the bills we will outline the changes in the House and Senate versions of the bills.


Sunday, July 18, 2010

 

In the Senate:

The Senate passed five education bills during this evening's floor session, suspending the constitutional rules requiring a bill be read on three separate days for each bill.

Senate Bill 2004 relates to compulsory comprehensive health screens for students, and Senate Bill 2006 relates to school committees and school teams. Senate Bill 2008 relates to annual professional personnel evaluations in public schools.

Senate Bill 2009 relates to pilot programs to increase academic achievement and Senate Bill 2010 relates to pilot programs for alternative schools in elementary and middle schools.

These bills will now advance to the House for consideration.

The Senate has adjourned until 1 p.m. on Monday.

In the House:

During this evening's floor session, the House received Senate messages that the Senate has passed Senate Bill 2003,which extends sunset provisions relating to foundation investments by MU and WVU, Senate Bill 2005, relating to improving performance of schools and school districts, and Senate Bill 2007, relating to alternative training and certification of principals and teachers. The House referred the bills to their respective committees for further consideration.

The House also received committee reports regarding House Bill 206, which encourages teacher collaboration through the establishment of alternative school-level decision-making bodies, and House Bill 210, which would provide uniformity in alternative schools and requiring a pilot program that will allow alternative schools in elementary and middle schools.

The following committees will meet tomorrow, July 19:
Education- 434M- 9 a.m.
Judiciary- 410M- 9 a.m.
Finance - 460M- 10 a.m.

 


July 12, 2010

Today the Taskforce on Education approved the following bills for recommendation to the Governor.

*Relating to planning periods that would require consent by a teacher before any duties may be assigned during planning periods.

*Establishing up to 5 pilot alternative education projects in elementary or middle schools, instructing students on appropriate behaviors with the ultimate goal of returning disruptive students to the classroom.  The State Board is to report progress to LOCEA on December 1, 2010.

*Reducing class size as part of innovation zones for the purpose of allowing schools to submit innovation zone plans imposing class limits in 7th and 8th grades.  The same provisions apply as currently are in place for Innovation Zone authorization.

Studies were also recommended to the Governor on the following issues:

*Providing adequate preparation, planning and collaboration time for teachers.

*Reevaluating the Underwood Smith Teacher Scholarship Program and its role in meeting the need for highly qualified teachers.

*Auditing of the expenditures of public education dollars and the administrative efficiency of the public school system, including SSAC, OEPA, CPD and RESA.  The audit should examine spending on administration, instruction. The audits should be conducted by research institutions, and reported during the regular session in 2012 to the Joint committee on Government and Finance.


T
he taskforce will send an official resolution requesting Governor Manchin to include in his upcoming legislative special session call a salary increase of $1000 for professionals and $500 for service personnel.

The Governor has called a special session Thursday to address the elections and succession process in Federal races and possibly the office of Governor. No indication is made as to when the special session on education will begin. Originally it was tentatively set to begin on Monday.


June 25, 2010 - 3 pm

6-25 - WVEA Press Release

Task force agrees to recommend WVEA proposed pay raise to governor. 
The task force this morning agreed to recommend a $1,000 salary increase for teachers and a $500 increase for service personnel.  WVEA has advocated throughout the task force meetings for salary increases for education employees.  They also recommended a pilot project regarding lower class size in the middle school.

 

The recommendations are for the governor to add the pay increase to the special session call in July.




June 24, 2010 - 9 pm

WVEA members dominate task force meeting; discuss classroom/teaching issues.

 

A number of WVEA members were in attendance at the Education Reform task force meeting today.  They spoke about a number of issues that hinder their ability to teach and negatively impact student achievement. Their discussion topics included:

·         student discipline/disruptive students

·         the need for alternative learning centers

·         excessive testing requirement and time spent doing assessments

·         lack of time for planning and collaboration with colleagues

 

Their presentations were well received by the task force members. WVEA members can be proud of their colleagues for the well reasoned and well planned remarks.

 

WVEA also invited the Alliance for Children to speak at the meeting.  The group discussed truancy prevention programs.  During the Wise Administration, the group operated a number of pilot projects with local boards of education.


The work group approved alternative classrooms for disruptive elementary students. The House-Senate working group agreed to submit a pilot project proposal to Gov. Joe Manchin after hearing WVEA members testify at the meeting.

The task force meeting will resume tomorrow.