The House Education Committee questioned several witnesses over provisions in a Senate education bill and presented further proposed changes to the bill Thursday evening.
The Senate passed the bill earlier this week following many days of debate and deliberation. The House Education Committee presented a proposed strike-and-insert amendment that made several changes to the version passed out of the Senate.
Some of the proposed changes included capping charter schools at six statewide, removing virtual charter schools from the bill, and changing the implementation date of establishing charter schools to July 2020. The strike-and-insert also proposed limiting Education Savings Accounts, or ESAs, to families of students with special needs.
The strike-and-insert also would add a severability clause, changed the section related to payment during work stoppages, and removed a provision that would require unions to get written permission from members before spending membership dues on political causes.
The committee presented changes to the strike-and-insert Thursday evening. Most of the changes were technical in nature. The biggest change involved the number of charter schools, decreasing from six to two statewide.
The newest version proposes a pilot project for charter schools consisting of one elementary school in Cabell County and one elementary school in Kanawha County that are low performing and designated as a federal Title I eligible schools.
The committee also heard input from several people Thursday.
In the evening portion of the meeting, legislators heard from Rachelle Engen from the Institute for Justice, a parent of a special needs student, a high school teacher, a political director of the American Federation of Teachers-West Virginia and the president of the West Virginia Education Association.
Delegates questioned Engen on ESAs. Six states currently have ESA programs although Nevada’s program currently is not operating. Engen told the committee that Florida has the highest participation rate, representing about 3 percent of eligible students.
Many questions focused on fraud prevention. Engen described the monitoring conducted by the state Treasurer’s office on ESAs.
Delegates asked what the ESA funds would cover. Engen told the committee people could use ESA funds for courses at charter schools, community colleges or private schools and additionally use ESAs for therapy and other services. Public funds are put into the ESAs with 75 percent of state aid going into it. Parents do not contribute to the ESA.
Kristy Black, a parent of a 15-year-old daughter who has down syndrome, also spoke before the committee. She talked about the services her daughter receives. She expressed concern with ESAs, saying the approximate $3,200 from an ESA would not come close to paying for services she receives through the public school system and the additional tutoring and therapy services her daughter needs.
The committee also heard from Greg Phillips, a social studies teacher at Robert C. Byrd High School and the president of the Harrison County Education Association. Phillips told the committee he didn’t think the $250 tax credit would go far.
The committee additionally heard from Kris Mallory, political director for the American Federation of Teachers-West Virginia, and Dale Lee, president of the West Virginia Education Association, who answered questions including discussing the differences between innovation zones and charter schools.
Innovation Zones are designated by the West Virginia Board of Education that provides schools with support and flexibility to collaboratively implement innovation to enhance student learning, according to the West Virginia Department of Education. Innovation Zones means that schools have been awarded grants to address student learning or dropout prevention, according to the state Department of Education.
The committee is adjourned until 9 a.m. Friday. The committee will meet in the Government Organization Committee room.
