Education Bills – 2009 Session

Several education-related bills are moving in the state Legislature. Here is an overview of several of these:

The Senate Education Committee has advanced the following bills:

Com. Sub. S.B. 249 – would change the school calendar to allow flexibility to ensure 180 days of instruction.  It also would require the first semester of instruction to end before December 23^rd and would allow the scheduling of days of instruction on days that had been set aside for staff development.  This bill has passed the Senate and is now over on the House.

Committee substitute for S.B. 498 – the legislation pertains to early childhood development, and it would strengthen the collaborative process, create a review board for receiving complaints from community-based programs, implement a waiver process and create a quality rating and improvement system.  It has passed the Senate Finance Committee.

Com. Sub. for S.B. 273 – would create incentives to encourage W.Va. workers to obtain their GED. It also would create incentives to WV employers to allow their employees to study for and obtain a GED.  The student must have been out of secondary school for at least three years and has entered in a learning contract with an adult education program and their employer and completed the learning contract within the preceding one-year period.  The discount would be $250 per semester for a maximum of four semesters. The bill moves to the Senate Finance Committee.

Com. Sub. for S.B. 265 – would authorize a tax credit for new teachers in critical needs areas.  New teachers hired to teach in critical needs areas would be entitled to receive credit against their state personal income tax.  For the first three years that credit would be $1,000 and for the fourth through eighth years the tax credit would be $500.  Referred to Finance.

S.B. 758 – would authorize public charter schools in WV.  Any individual, group or other organization may file an application in support of the establishment of a non-profit public charter school.  Charter schools operate outside the regulations of other public schools; at least sixty percent of the parents or teachers assigned to the school must sign a petition and demonstrate support for the charter school. The bill sets forth the regulatory and statutory requirements exemptions from state laws and provides for conversion of public schools to public charter schools.  The bill sets the funding, enrollment of students and their transportation, the school term, and employment of school personnel and their benefits.  The bill died in the Senate Finance Committee.

S.B. 435 – would create a Learn and Earn Cooperative Education Program, which would create a cooperative program among eligible community and technical colleges and participating companies for students enrolled in technical programs and to provide for legislative and emergency rules to implement the program.  The Learn and Earn Program would require a dollar-for-dollar cash match from participating employers or groups of employers from which the student receives a full-time salary from the employer or employers while participating in the program. Participants may not substitute a match in-kind for the cash match required.  An institution would be eligible to apply for a Learn and Earn Program grant in cooperation with one or more employer partners if it meets the definition of a community and technical college.

S.B. 63 -- would increase the amount from the State Excess Lottery Revenue Fund that is deposited each fiscal year into the Higher Education Improvement Fund for higher education from $10 million to $15 million.

Com. Sub. for S.B. 638 – would provide added strategic resources for higher education capital facilities and needs, including capital project planning, financing, management and maintenance. The bill provides for the acquisition, sale, transfer, exchange, lease, conveyance and condemnation of real property and the construction and operation of capital facilities. The bill would establish a special revenue fund known as the Higher Education Policy Commission Capital Improvement Fund. The bill would direct the use of certain lottery proceeds. The bill further would establish in the State Treasury a capital maintenance fund for each state institution of higher education. The bill also would provide for system-wide facilities planning and institution facilities planning.

The House Education Committee has advanced the following bills:

Com. Sub. for H. B. 2836 -- would establish zones of educational innovation that allow school employees to collaboratively devise and implement 21st Century school improvement strategies that are currently restrained and/or restricted by policies issued by the state board or the West Virginia Code. This bill has been passed by the House and is in the Senate Education Committee.

Com. Sub. for B. 3146 -- would clarify service personnel relating to the assignment of aides and custodians.  The assignment of aides to particular positions within a school would be based on seniority within the aide classification category if the aide is qualified for the position.  Assignment of custodians to work shifts within a school or work site shall be based on seniority within the custodian classification category.