SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 32

(By Senators Tomblin, Mr. President, Plymale, Bailey, Bowman, Caldwell, Chafin, Dempsey, Edgell, Fanning, Helmick, Hunter, Jenkins, Kessler, Love, McCabe, Minard, Oliverio, Prezioso, Ross, Rowe, Sharpe, Snyder, Unger, White and McKenzie)




Requesting West Virginia's congressional delegation support certain amendments to and funding for the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

Whereas, IDEA is a federal law that was first enacted in 1975 and NCLB is federal legislation signed into law on January 8, 2002; and

Whereas, Neither federal act has been funded by the federal government; and

Whereas, Under IDEA, goals and objectives for IDEA-eligible students with disabilities are set in their individualized education plan (IEP); and

Whereas, Under NCLB, IDEA-eligible students with disabilities are tested against the same academic standards as other students. If any subgroup of students in a school does not meet adequate yearly progress (AYP) for two consecutive years, the school must
offer school choice to all students at the school. Sanctions would apply to a school that has any subgroup fail to meet AYP in any indicator in year one and has any subgroup fail to meet AYP in any indicator in year two. This means that the failure to meet AYP in consecutive years does not have to be by the same subgroup in a school or in the same indicator in order for the sanction to apply. A school can fail to make adequate yearly progress solely because a subgroup does not meet the 95 percent test participation requirement; therefore, be it
Resolved by the Legislature of West Virginia:

That the Legislature hereby requests West Virginia's congressional delegation support certain amendments to and funding for the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA); and, be it

Further Resolved, That the Legislature also requests that West Virginia's congressional delegation support:

(1) Full federal funding for both NCLB and IDEA;

(2) A grade-level equivalent form of assessment for IDEA- eligible students with disabilities in order to resolve the inconsistency between the two acts;

(3) Limiting school choice to the subgroup or subgroups that do not meet adequate yearly progress;

(4) Requiring sanctions to apply to schools, or to subgroups within schools, only when the same subgroup fails to meet AYP in
the same indicator in consecutive years; and
(5) Elimination of the penalties on schools who have not met AYP solely because a subgroup does not meet the 95 percent test participation requirement; and, be it

Further Resolved, That the Clerk of the Senate is hereby directed to forward a copy of this resolution to West Virginia's congressional delegation.