Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin’s education reform bill has cleared its first hurdle. The state Senate Education Committee approved the bill Tuesday afternoon on a voice vote. It was not unanimous.
The governor’s original bill includes several changes following behind-closed-door negotiations between committee chairman Sen. Bob Plymale, teacher groups, state education leaders and Gov. Tomblin’s office.
The bill passed without the support of the teacher unions. Both the West Virginia Education Association and West Virginia American Federation of Teachers don’t like several of the bill’s provisions.
Plymale said they were aware of how the teacher unions felt.
“I respect the groups and I know what they are doing and what their job is for their constituency members, but at the end of the day we have to come out and try to raise student achievement and try to work towards making sure we have the most qualified teacher in front of students,” said Plymale.
Tomblin’s plan to change the way teachers are hired in West Virginia remains virtually intact. Seniority, which many say is the key component in hiring today, is listed as the 7th of 8 criteria to be considered when a hiring takes place.
The bill does include a provision that would prohibit a school principal from hiring a relative.
It also has the state Department of Education being in charge of certifying any outside group that might supply teachers to the state in critical need areas. The bill does not specifically mention Teach For America, like Tomblin’s original bill did.
Plymale said this seemed to be the best approach to take in this area.
“We thought it was natural to do it that way,” said Plymale. “It certainly doesn’t name any group by name but it allows them to go through a process.”
A five percent reduction in personnel spending in the state Dept. of Education each of the next two budget years, 2014 and 2015, was added to the bill as well to address the top heaviness of the department. Something that wasn’t addressed in the Governor’s original bill.
Plymale said top heaviness was a popular concern in last years audit.
“That was brought up a number of times and we felt like that was a very strong statement that we could send that we are concerned about that and this helps us address that,” said Plymale.
Other changes include:
–the state Dept. of Education will study teacher planning periods and submit a report to state lawmakers.
–Faculty Senate days would happen four times a school year or every 45 days. They would not be counted as instructional days.
–student trips to state high school basketball tournaments would not be counted as an instructional day.
–the bill also deals with the school calendar to require 180 instructional days.
Sen. Daniel Hall, D-Wyoming, tried twice to amend the bill. He was unsuccessful both times. Hall wanted to eliminate the language that deals with outside groups to help fill teacher vacancies and he wanted to set specific dates in the school calendar language.
Sen. Erik Wells, D-Kanawha, said counties would run the risk of not making 180-instructional days by placing the days in a certain time frame.
“There’s not a person around this committee room who is in business who would be willing to pay somebody a full amount for not getting the full value,” Wells said.
The bill now heads to the Senate Finance Committee for consideration.