The main piece of Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin’s legislative agenda, the education reform bill, is now on its way to his desk. The House of Delegates passed the comprehensive bill 95-2 Friday.
The House made no changes to the legislation that came over from the state Senate earlier this week. Several delegates made some final comments on the much-talked-about bill before the final vote. Many of them praised the legislation while others said it doesn’t go far enough to reform education in the Mountain State.
“How ’bout we wait and see what the results of this bill are and the efforts of the education system before we start patting ourselves on the back—and in the meantime do more,” House Minority Leader Tim Armstead, R-Kanawha, said.
Del. Tiffany Lawrence, D-Jefferson, said she’s confident the bill will improve the state’s ranking in education, which is 49th in student achievement.
“Every single piece of this bill focuses on student achievement because we focus on the teachers, the service personnel, the parents, the faculty senate,” Lawrence said.
Much of the bill is based on the governor’s education audit that was completed and submitted to lawmakers more than a year ago but there are other recommendations in the audit that didn’t make into the legislation.
The bill does deal with professional development for teachers, teacher hiring, the school calendar, reading levels for elementary students and early childhood education.
Marion County Del. Mike Caputo says the process worked like it’s supposed to work with the interested parties doing a lot of work on the bill behind closed doors. Caputo praised Speaker Rick Thompson for holding things together.
“Mr. Speaker, I also know that you were the glue that kept them in that room. When the negotiations were about to break down our speaker kept them together,” Caputo told members of the House.
But the bulk of the work on the bill was done in the state Senate by Senate Education Committee Chair Bob Plymale who held his ground on things like teacher hiring and the school calendar. The unions representing teachers largely lost those battles.
The only two House members and thus the only two state lawmakers to vote against the bill were Del. Marty Gearheart of Mercer County and Del. Larry Kump of Berkeley County, both Republicans. Kump said he had too many questions.
“I’m concerned about our underpaid teachers. I’m concerned about the state Board of Education not being directly accountable to voters. I’m concerned about the state Board of Education still being too top heavy and with too much authority over local schools,” Kump said before the vote.
Gov. Tomblin said during his State of the State Address that that his bill would not alone do what’s needed to improve education. The governor says the state Board of Education and his office must also make moves, independent of the legislature, to create a better education system.
Lincoln County Del. Josh Stowers says he’s looking forward to returning to his job as assistant principal at Horace Mann Middle School in Kanawha County on April 15 after the legislative session.
“When I start high-fiving all of those kids when I go down the hall I’ll have a little more pride—we did something good this year,” Stowers said.
The governor is expected to sign the bill in a few days once it makes it to his desk.
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Comments
js
Stowers, you know if you blame parents, even the least bit, you and all the politicians know it will cost you votes. You may fool some on that, but not the people who really know.
March 22, 2013 at 1:49 pm | Report comment
Woodchuck0
Why do the politicians have to work behind closed doors?.. What did they discuss?. Who got what?
So much for holding public office.
March 22, 2013 at 1:56 pm | Report comment
C.Hoffman
Squirts & giggles all around. Untransparent hackery at it's finest. You can bet it misses it's target & cost's the taxpayers a bundle with further diminished results in actual education.
March 22, 2013 at 2:02 pm | Report comment
a concerned educator
Well, I see that we have two delegates who truly care about the success of education in the state. Unfortunately, the rest seem to want just fluff. This bill will change nothing.
March 22, 2013 at 2:31 pm | Report comment
MrJ
You're right, concerned educator. Over my career I have seen legislative bells-and-whistles come and go. This is another in a long line of finger-pointing with little to change the mindset of those whom we, as teachers, so desperately want to reach. There is little or no reason for the politicians to be patting themselves on the back.
Unfortunately we'll face this issue again soon and wonder who is left to blame.
Nothing has changed. Continue, concerned educator, to fight the good fight for children throughout our state.
March 22, 2013 at 3:14 pm | Report comment
J
I don't see a single thing in this bill that improves education. Can anyone enlighten me?
March 22, 2013 at 2:51 pm | Report comment
wvu999
All this bill does is make sure students that attend school get 180 days of school
March 22, 2013 at 2:59 pm | Report comment
Hilltopsandy
I'm a teacher and I can tell you this legislation won't do a thing to help education in our state. Our problems are based in our devolving culture. We are forced to put up with behaviors we never would have tolerated 30 years ago. You wan't to make a start on education reform? 1. No diploma no welfare for 18+ year olds. Then bring back true expulsion for incorrigible students. Then bring back corporal punishment. Then hire teachers that are willing and able to use it. Then require end of year exams to advance. That wouldn't cure the situation ,but it would be a start, and it wouldn't cost us anything. But don't hold your breath Nobody in our government has that kind of intestinal fortitude
March 22, 2013 at 4:04 pm | Report comment
Rhetoric
Would it not be great to have somebody to go to the West Virginia State Auditors site and obtain the salaries of the listed Dept of Education Supervisors/Directors of each department in Charleston and research their job description and determine why so many could (can) take on other responsibilites within their department to cut costs and resolve the high overhead. Humm, can we not lobby for this or is there to many prominent people in the WVDE rubbing elbows with our state government.
Let us start there and then continue down to county levels of administration where it has become a dumping ground for where old principals can find refuge and to continue to obtain a paycheck.
Come on Earl Ray, state senators and house delegates you are to top heavy and everybody knows it. We see you what your not doing. It is not going away .....LOL
March 22, 2013 at 4:56 pm | Report comment
Not Suprised
Same ole stuff-- different day. Always claiming to put kids first. I don't see where kids are in the spotlight in the bill. I'm an educator. I'll wait to see who gets blamed next. One last comment, we rank 49th academically and rank 48th in teacher pay. I don't remember the bill enticing future teachers into our profession.
March 22, 2013 at 6:38 pm | Report comment
Ross Ballard
Sadly, nothing will stop the syndicate WV'ians continuously elects to office. No one will hear nor care about the comments made in this section today. The new law is a fait accompli. This is the place to rant and bang your heads against the wall. Change the 'loser' culture our school boards foster tying the hands of teachers behind their backs, resist the siren song of Big Energy, and you might change the future. Accept the status quo, whine in the comments section, and even the unions will be powerless to improve our lot. God save us from the know-nothing Republicans and coward Democrats. Ross Ballard - An Honest Democrat. (No Screen Names - Own Your Words)
March 22, 2013 at 10:07 pm | Report comment
MrJ
I agree with you 100%, Mr. Ballard.
We're so preoccupied and distracted with sideshow issues such as guns and pepperoni rolls that we fail to acknowledge the real issues facing ourselves as well as our children: sustainable twenty-first century employment, education, drug abuse, exploitation of our people and their natural resources, political corruption, healthcare, infrastructure improvement--quality of life issues that should really matter.
In order to improve their lot, my son and daughter may have to move.
March 23, 2013 at 8:04 am | Report comment
CaptainQ
Gee, I'm surprised our lawmakers had the time to actually work on this while debating THE most important issue in WV at this moment. Guess it had to be a HUGE struggle to tear all of our elected leaders away from the "pepperoni roll" debate to do something meaningful this legislative session.
True, this bill doesn't go far enough, but in THIS state, ANY bill that will actually help our public school STUDENTS is a sight for sore eyes. Perhaps the power of the "WVEA/WVFT Voting Block" is not as mighty as it once was in Charleston.
March 23, 2013 at 12:40 pm | Report comment
mntnman
Have you read the bill. It will do little to improve achievement and outcomes. Its not that it doesn't go far enough -- it doesn't really go anywhere at all.
March 24, 2013 at 11:21 pm | Report comment
Keiffer
The education bill is going to raise Westest so much. I bet W.V. will rank in the top ten across the nation academically. This bill will really push the teachers hard and kids are going to really study hard and long. W.V. will have to open another medical school just to handle all the A students who are gonna want to be doctors. Hooray for our governor. The dividends are going to be huge. I bet other states will be sending educators here to see how great our education system has become. Hooray for the parents. Hooray for the students. Lookout Westest here we come.
March 25, 2013 at 11:06 am | Report comment