Final Legislative Update (#9) - March 14, 2012
HB 4236 – Annual Evaluations for Teachers and Administrators
Beginning in the 2013-14 school year, the legislation requires full statewide implementation of an annual evaluation program. The bill follows guidelines established by a WVDE taskforce on evaluations that began meeting about 18 months ago.
WVEA president Dale Lee and other WVEA members served on this taskforce. The taskforce developed the pilot project that was implemented in 25 schools this year. The legislation creates basic guidelines for implementation, but leaves most of the details regarding the tools used for the procedures and policies to the taskforce. Under the WVDE’s current plan, during the 2012-2013 school year two schools in each county will pilot the project.
The legislation follows the WVDE’s pilot project to establish the evaluation standards. 80% of the evaluation is based upon the educator’s ability to perform the critical standard elements of the professional teaching standards.
The other 20% is based upon student growth. 15 of the 20 percent will be based upon evidence determined by the teacher that measures growth over two periods of time. The remaining 5% is based on the school wide summative assessment as an evaluative measure of all educators employed in the school. This is a total score of the entire school.
The WVDE taskforce was originally established to develop a policy of annual evaluations that includes a student growth component. Such an evaluation procedure became necessary because the federal government made annual evaluations and a student growth component a requirement for the continuation of certain federal funds.
In addition, the WVDE intends to apply for an NCLB Flexibility Waiver in September and an annual evaluation with a student growth component is a requirement of the waiver provisions.
“I understand many people will question the student growth component in the evaluation bill,” states WVEA President Dale Lee. “I am not crazy about it either, but it is a requirement if we are to get a waiver of NCLB and continue to receive some of our federal funds. It is something every state is going to and some states are including student growth components of as much as 50%.”
“The teacher members on the committee and I worked very hard to come up with an evaluation system that included a student growth component and was fair to teachers,” stated Lee. “The plan currently being piloted is as good as we could get and still meet the federal mandates. Under the current format, teachers select what to use to demonstrate the required 15% of student growth and only 5% is based on the WESTEST. The WESTEST portion cannot be the determining factor in someone receiving an unsatisfactory evaluation.”
“The Evaluation Taskforce continues to meet and make changes in the policy based upon feedback from teachers and administrators where it is being piloted. Next year when the pilot spreads into additional schools, the project will continue to be honed and improved. The taskforce continues plans to work diligently with the goal of creating the best evaluation process possible. The objective is a beneficial process that does not excessively saddle teachers with paperwork or observations, but improves professional practices,” concluded Lee.
WVEA has additional information on the Evaluation Pilot Project online.
Tax Giveaway Bills Were Plentiful During Session
This session saw a plethora of bills introduced to reduce business taxes claiming lower business taxes create economic growth and jobs. WV Center on Budget and Policy analyst, Sean O’Leary found, “No obvious connection between business taxes or business tax climate on the one hand, and economic growth on the other.”
As a matter of fact, over the past several years the state budget has lost over $400 million as a result of cuts made to the business franchise and corporate net income tax cuts; yet, we have seen no evidence in economic growth or job creation. Over the past few years we have seen a shift away from business taxes to personal income and other taxes paid by citizens.
The governor’s budget projections look dismal in the next few years mostly due to Medicaid funding. Now is not the time to cut more from the state budget if we are going to improve education salaries to a competitive level. WVEA strongly opposed any tax cuts or constitutional amendments that would reduce funding this session. Funding is paramount to county budgets and school funding. Tax dollars are precious and must be protected.
Fortunately, most of these tax giveaway bills hit a roadblock in the Senate Finance Committee thanks to the guidance and perseverance of Senate Finance Chair Roman Prezioso. Thank Senator Prezioso for seeing the big picture and stopping tax giveaways to corporations and protecting state revenues for the future. Tax dollars are important to counties and in turn imperative to school systems. Every dollar removed from the revenue stream is a dollar that must be replaced by the state.
OPEB Bill a Relief to County School Systems
One of the most important education related bills considered by the 2012 Legislature was SB 469, Other Post Employment Benefits (OPEB). In West Virginia the $4 billion liability is almost exclusively the cost of providing retiree health insurance coverage for the next thirty years. The bill passed early in the session and has already been signed by the governor.
There are four major provisions in SB 469:
1. County boards of education are relieved of an estimated $485 million in OPEB liability. This is the liability incurred to date for employees inside the school aid formula. County boards will have to continue to list the OPEB liability for employees hired outside the school aid formula. They will not be – and have never been – required to pay this liability, just report it on their books.
2. Beginning in 2016, the state will annually contribute $30 million to help pay off the OPEB liability. This state commitment will continue until 2039, when the debt is estimated to be paid off, and is projected to contribute $1 billion for retiree benefits. The state contribution, however, pales in comparison to what PEIA has shifted to retirees: $5 billion.
3. It also places into law the decision by the PEIA Finance Board to end the retiree subsidy for employees hired after July 1, 2010. WVEA successfully fought for a new trust fund to help cover the expenses of these employees once they retire. A guaranteed $5 million a year will be placed in this fund. The accumulated amount plus investment income will help offset the loss of the retiree subsidy for these new hires upon their retirement
4. The new law requires the PEIA Director to vigorously work to control costs. The cost of retiree benefits has skyrocketed and is on an unsustainable course. The PEIA Finance Board capped the state’s responsibility for future retiree health care at “no more than three percent.” Any inflationary cost above this threshold will be passed directly to retirees. Reducing costs by improving the quality of care retirees receive and making sure they receive coordinated care can save retirees from being priced out of PEIA in the near future.
The problem with the state’s solution to the OPEB liability is not with SB 469. It is with the PEIA Finance Board. In October 2011, the PEIA Finance Board adopted an amendment from the AFT representative on the Finance Board. This amendment limited the state’s liability for future retiree health care costs to three percent. The impact of the amendment will be devastating to Medicare retirees as the chart below illustrates.
Current First Year Fourth Year Seventh Year
Monthly of the Cap of the Cap of the Cap
Single retiree $55 $80 $153 $280
Retiree w/spouse
over age 65 $85 $125 $245 $454
Retiree w/spouse
under age 65 $288 $387 $682 $1,197
The impact on retirees under age 65 will be even more dramatic.
Current First Year Fourth Year Seventh Year
Monthly of the Cap of the Cap of the Cap
Single retiree $235 $312 $541 $939
Retiree w/spouse
over age 65 $280 $376 $665 $1,168
Retiree w/spouse
under age 65 $475 $628 $1,086 $1,883
It will be virtually impossible for school employees to be able to retire prior to age 65. Paying $235 a month now is difficult. Paying $939 a month for a single policy in 2020 will be prohibitively expensive. As will paying $1,883 a month in 2020 for a family plan until both you and your spouse reach age 65.
The charts above represent a best case scenario using the 3% cap in the Finance Board amendment. According to the motion, PEIA’s contribution can be “…no more than 3%.” This means the Finance Board might choose to contribute 2% or 1% or nothing to assist the cost of retiree health care. Those scenarios will make the charts above look good.
Is developing a plan to pay off the state’s last long-term debt important? Yes. But it is also important to protect the health care security of retirees and future retirees. The actions of the PEIA Finance Board achieved only one of these two important goals.
WVEA will continue to monitor the Finance Board and work to change the cap restrictions of the state’s contribution.
Resolution Studies set for Interim Committee Meetings
Legislators meet 3 days each month for interim committee meetings. WVEA monitors these interim meetings because legislation is developed from these studies for the next legislative session.
The Education Committees passed several resolutions this session that will drive the discussion in the interim committee meetings.
The studies interim committees will focus on this coming year include career and technical education readiness and funding, school health and wellness programs, the state’s cooperative purchasing program, athlete safety and adoption of safety plans for sporting events, cardiac defibrillators in all schools, school harassment laws, student truancy and a study of the WV Education Efficiency Audit to determine which recommendations presented in the study may be turned into legislation.
WVEA will keep you posted throughout the year of the discussions in the interim committee meetings.
Additional Education Related Bills Passing during the 2012 Session
HB 4072 – County Boards removes the requirement that county boards of education must meet on the first Monday of July.
HB 4101 – Teacher-in-Residence creates programs allowing student teachers to occupy vacant positions posted by county boards of education where no certified teachers applied. The student teacher is paid a stipend and monitored closely by a team of individuals comprised of a mentor, principal in the building, teacher in the building and college staff from the education department. To engage in the program a college must work with the state department and the county board to exercise the teacher in residence program. The teacher in residence must obtain a certificate from the state department of education before entering the classroom.
HB 4119 – Athletic Directors The definition provides that an athletic director is responsible for planning, management, operation and evaluation of the athletic program for the school or schools to which he or she is assigned among other optional assigned duties.
HB 4122 – Alternative Certification updates the code for teacher certification. Alternative certification credits will be offered in nontraditional methods and the approved education providers was expanded to include partnerships between one or more schools, school districts or regional educational service agencies who may work with higher education institutions in WV that have been approved by the state board. Programs were added for American Sign Language (ASL) and Technology Integration Specialists.
HB 4299 – Bus Operators allows buses to be operated by bus operators regularly employed by another county board if the operators from the county owning the bus are unavailable.
HB 4433 – Diplomas provides high school diplomas to veterans of World War II, the Korean War or the Vietnam Conflict regardless of their school attendance before entering the war.
HB 4583 – Personnel Deadlines This bill moves several personnel deadlines to dates that were in the code a few years ago. It changes the notification and hearing dates for RIF, transfer and non-renewals. In addition, it changes the notification for the retirement bonus.
HB 4655 – School Bus Operators The bill details situations in which the state superintendent may revoke a certificate. The bill also requires the superintendent to create a review panel to conduct hearings on certificate revocations or denials and make recommendations for action by the State Superintendent. A county superintendent who knows of any acts on the part of a bus operator for which a certificate may be revoked must report the action to the State Superintendent under this legislation as well.
SB 161 – Child Abuse adds to the list of mandatory reporters of child abuse youth camp administrator or counselor, employee, coach or volunteer of an entity that provides organized activities for children or commercial film or photographic print processor and volunteers of a public or private institutions. Also, the bill requires anyone with knowledge of sexual abuse or sexual assault of a child to report the circumstances to law-enforcement. The crime makes it a misdemeanor for failing to report the incident and maximum fines increase from $100 to $1000 with the maximum jail sentence increasing from 10 to 30 days.
SB 186 – Salary Equity places dollar values into code for the equity supplement payments that are already being paid to teachers and service personnel. This legislation ensures state funding continues to be provided to counties for the purpose of funding salary equity for counties, guaranteeing funding and the amounts at which salaries are funded.
SB 221 – Jason Flatt Act provides for the routine education of professional educators, principals, administrators, and service personnel having direct contact with students on warning signs and the availability of resources to assist in suicide prevention.
SB 371 – County Innovation Zones for county school systems under long term state control. The bill requires public meetings held in the county and sets guidelines for employee voting before plan submission and approval by the state board of education. The bill permits exceptions from statutes and protects personnel code similar to that in traditional innovation zone legislation.
SB 436 – Collaboration between the Public Schools, Vocational Schools, Community and Technical Colleges and Higher Education promoting programs of study and encouraging a more seamless curriculum between the entities. Itestablishes the West Virginia Earn a Degree Graduate Early initiative and the Collaboration Degree Completion Programthat allows students to earn dual community/technical college and high school credit.
SB 646 – GED requires the state board of education study issues relating to General Educational Development (GED) tests. The study specifically calls for an investigation of the potential negative impact on West Virginians that may result from increasing test fees and transitioning from a written to an online test format.
The final versions of the bills are not yet available. Additionally, many of the bills have not yet been signed by the governor. We believe that short of some type of technicality in the bill, the governor is unlikely to use his veto power on these bills.
Education Related Bills Failing to Pass During the 2012 Session
SB 340 – Concussions and Head Injuries would have required information be provided to parents, coaches, school administrators and athletes on concussion and head injuries in interscholastic sports. Additionally, student athletes exhibiting signs of a concussion or head injury would have been required to cease practice or play and may not have returned to games or practice without a release from a medical professional. The bill passed both houses in different versions, thus the Senate and House assigned it to a conference committee on the final day of session. Unfortunately, the committee failed to reach a mutual agreement. Doctors and lawyers in the legislature disagreed on language for volunteer medical professionals’ levels of liability.
SB 404 – Barrister Certificate would have provided attorneys with a barrister’s certificate, allowing them the ability to enter classrooms on a daily basis as co-teachers of certain social studies classes as determined by the State Superintendent. The bill passed the Senate but died in the House Education Committee because of concern regarding the level of certification provided by such a certificate.
SB 446 – Bullying would have required an act to be severe, continuous, pervasive and intentional before it could constitute harassment, intimidation or bullying. WVEA strongly opposed this legislation and felt it would create an unreasonably high standard and potentially endanger students. The bill was removed from the Senate floor and committed to Rules where it died.
SB 470 – Teachers Retirement System (TRS) would have required a medical examination by a member’s treating physician before the member applies for disability benefits. This exam would occur in addition to that of a physician selected by the Consolidated Public Retirement Board (CPRB). The bill died in the House Finance Committee. Currently CPRB rules include the provision; therefore the board enforces the policy. The board requested that the language be placed into the code to mirror the rule.
SB 522 – Shale Research, Education, Policy and Economic Development Center at WVU. The bill passed the House quickly and made it out of Senate Education to die in Senate Finance. It strangely had a fiscal note showing no cost to the state, however, WVU was said to fund the project at an estimated cost of $1 million over 4 years.
HB 4554 – Early Childhood Programs would have allowed counties to add additional students to existing programs. While current service needs are being met in some counties by Head Start, child care or private preschools, changes under this legislation could potentially increase costs to the WVDE and may decrease funding for the DHHR. The bill died in the Senate.
Final Update (PDF)