H. B. 2315
(By Delegates Paxton, Crosier, Romine and Hamilton)
[Introduced February 14, 2005; referred to the
Committee on Education then Finance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §18-2E-8b of the code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to providing for a framework to
avoid imposition of policies and practices on the public
schools that distract from a thorough and efficient education;
making findings and expressing legislative intent; requiring
fiscal notes on policies, rules and programs affecting public
schools and outlining applicable costs; providing alternative
conditions under which policies, rules and programs may be
adopted and the consequences of such; and providing for an
audit of capacity to implement certain past policies, rules
and programs; and, requiring the issuance of a report of
recommendations.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §18-2E-8b of the code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2E. HIGH QUALITY EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS.
§18-2E-8b. Audit of State Board policies; legislative findings;
report to legislative oversight commission; required
plan of improvement; exemptions from determination
of accreditation status.
(a) The Legislature finds that, makes the following findings
and statement of legislative intent:
(1) Pursuant to its constitutional responsibility to provide
for a thorough and efficient system of schools, the Legislature
enacted a process for improving education was enacted and set forth
in section five of this article a and this process that was
endorsed by the West Virginia Board of Education in a resolution
that was adopted; The Legislature finds that
(2) The process for improving education includes four primary
elements, those being standards, assessments, accountability and
capacity building; The Legislature finds that
(3) As the constitutional body charged with the general
supervision of schools, as provided by general law, the West
Virginia Board of Education has the authority and responsibility to
establish policies, which are not subject to approval by the
Legislature, to assess performance against the standards, to hold
schools and school systems accountable for meeting the standards
and to assist schools and school systems to build their capacity to
meet the standards, including, when necessary, seeking additional resources in consultation with the Legislature and the governor;
The Legislature finds that
(4) In fulfilling its constitutional responsibility to provide
for a thorough and efficient system of schools, the Legislature has
been diligent in not mandating the delivery of programs that are
beyond the capacity of schools and school systems without providing
the necessary additional resources; The Legislature further finds,
however, that
(5) Concerns exist, however, with respect to the capacity of
schools and school systems to meet certain mandates and expenses,
both financially and without losing productivity as the result of
excessive regulation and documentation requirements, which arise
either from State Board policy or the need for better
communication, technical assistance and support by the State Board
and State Department of Education; The Legislature finds that
(6) It is imperative that these concerns be addressed so as
not to adversely affect the progress West Virginia has made toward
improving its system of education or negate the excellent work of
dedicated personnel at local schools and school systems to more
thoroughly prepare their students for college, other post-secondary
education and employment; Therefore, it is the intent of this
section
(7) The Legislature enacted the process for improving
education council set forth in section five-c of this article to engage the State Board and the State department in the spirit of
cooperation and collaboration intended in the process for improving
education to examine the impact of their policies and the efforts
being made by the State Board and the State Department of Education
to assist schools and school systems to meet them; and
(8) Therefore, in light of these findings and a continuing and
heightened interest on improving efficiency so that the resources
focused on improving student, school and school system performance
and progress may be maximized, it is the intent of this section to
establish a framework to avoid the imposition of policies and
practices upon the public schools that interfere with the
Legislature's ability to provide for a thorough and efficient
system of education by distracting attention and resources from the
core mission of the public schools, improving student, school and
school system performance and progress.
(b) Every policy, rule or proposed program under consideration
by the State Board, its agencies or any other agency of the State
that will affect the public schools shall have a fiscal note
attached to it that estimates the cost to the public schools
including, but not limited to, the following as applicable:
(1) Direct expenditures for personnel, including substitute
coverage and the need for personnel in specific certification
areas, materials, training, equipment, facilities, travel and any
other areas for which direct expenditures may be necessary;
(2) Indirect expenses and costs such as the anticipated
additional time that will be required for teachers and
administrators to comply with the requirements of the policy, rule
or proposed program, including any additional documentation or
reporting requirements; and
(3) Opportunity costs to the extent that any existing duties,
functions or activities will or may be hindered, diminished or
eliminated as a result of the policy, rule or proposed program and
the contribution of these duties, functions and activities toward
providing a thorough and efficient education that will be lost,
including, but not limited to, changes in the allocation of time
and effort by teachers and principals, changes in the allocation of
instructional time and resources, existing courses and programs of
study that will or are likely to be reduced or eliminated if new
requirements are added without additional resources and any other
current activities that will or may be hindered, diminished or
eliminated.
(c) Any policy, rule or program adopted by the State Board, an
agency of the State Board or other agency of the State that affects
the public schools shall be subject to the following alternative
conditions:
(1) The State Board, the agency of the State Board or another
agency of the State that adopts a policy, rule or program affecting
the public schools is solely responsible for any direct, indirect or opportunity costs to the public schools resulting from the
policy, rule or program and such policy, rule or program shall be
enforceable in the public schools only to the extent that the State
Board, agency of the board or other agency of the State that
adopted the policy, rule or program provides the resources
necessary for implementation; or
(2) The State Board, an agency of the State Board or another
agency of the State that has a policy, rule or proposed program
affecting the public schools under consideration may notify the
members of the process for improving council of the policy, rule or
proposed program and its fiscal note and request a meeting to
consult on the policy, rule or proposed program with the objective
of achieving consensus on the importance of the policy, rule or
program for improving student, school and school system performance
and progress, the strategies for minimizing the direct, indirect
and opportunity costs to the public schools of implementation of
the policy, rule or program and the action to be undertaken to
ensure the capacity of the public schools to implement the policy,
rule or program including, if necessary, plans for requesting and
receiving additional resources from the Legislature or other
sources prior to adoption of the policy, rule or program; or
(3) The State Board, an agency of the State Board or another
agency of the State that has a policy, rule or proposed program
affecting the public schools under consideration may submit an improvement package in its budget request to the Legislature prior
to adoption of the policy, rule or program requesting such
additional resources and statutory amendments it considers
necessary to provide adequate capacity for the public schools to
implement the policy, rule or program.
(b) The state board shall:
(1) Direct the office of education performance audits to
include in its review of county boards and schools a determination
of
(d) The office of education performance audits shall conduct
a review of all policies, rules and programs affecting the public
schools that have been adopted, amended or initiated since the
initial effective date of this section, the first day of July, one
thousand ninety-nine, to determine whether the county boards and
schools have the capacity to meet the requirements within the
policies, rules and programs. to the of the state board for school
systems to provide additional new courses and determine the
capacity of school systems to deliver these new courses, if any If
it is determined that a the county boards and schools do does not
have the capacity to meet these requirements, the office of
education performance audits shall report these findings to the
State Board along with any recommendations it considers necessary
for additional capacity building, or modification or repeal of the
policy, rule or program. A copy of each report shall also be filed with the legislative oversight commission on education
accountability. state board shall direct the department to develop
and implement a plan to assist the counties in meeting the
requirements
(2) Review the organization of the state department of
education to ensure that it is able to provide the best
communication, technical assistance and support for schools and
school systems in a number of areas, including, but not limited to:
(i) The advantages and disadvantages of various methods of
scheduling and how they can be modified to best meet the needs of
students;
(ii) Establishing policies which allow advanced students to
test out of required courses for which they already possess the
required academic skills; and
(iii) Subject to the provision of section eight-d of this
article, establishing policies which allow students, whether they
are preparing for college, other post-secondary education or work,
to take a higher level course, advanced placement course, college
course or other more rigorous substitute in place of a required
major course as set forth in the applicable program of study.
(3) Prepare and report annually to the legislative oversight
committee on educational accountability by the first day of
December a plan for the repair, maintenance and upgrade of
technology in the public schools.
(c) (e) It is further the intent of the Legislature to
regularly consult with the State Board, examine the progress it is
making with respect to these issues, and consider alternative
measures to ensure that all students continue receiving the
thorough and efficient education to which they are entitled.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide a framework to
avoid imposition of policies and practices on the public schools
that distract from the education process. The bill contains the
following provisions in furtherance of its primary purpose, as
aforesaid: (1) It makes findings and expresses legislative intent;
(2) it requires the use of fiscal notes on policies, rules and
programs affecting public schools which outline applicable costs;
(3) it provides alternative conditions under which policies, rules
and programs may be adopted; and (4) it provides for an audit of
capacity to implement certain past policies, rules and programs as
well as requiring the issuance of a report of recommendations.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.