Education Week - April 24, 2013 - 20

EDUCATION WEEK

APRIL 24, 2013

LEGISLATIVE
BRIEFS
W.Va. Governor’s Plan Prevails
Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin has signed a
K-12 overhaul bill that will significantly
affect both district governance and earlychildhood education in West Virginia.
Senate Bill 359, which was introduced at
the request of the Democratic governor,
will allow school districts more flexibility
in setting their school-day calendars and
meeting the state requirement of offering
180 days of instruction. The measure
also provides optional full-day preschool
programs for 4-year-olds in every county,
and changes the way the state holds schools
accountable by including the share of
students successfully completing Advanced
Placement classes and graduation rates,
among other statistics.
Mr. Tomblin also said the law that he
signed this month will help students by
“empowering our teachers to participate in
the hiring process.”
Teachers’ unions in the state protested
parts of the bill relating to teachers.
But aft-West Virginia, which has about
16,000 members, said that thanks to
teachers’ lobbying efforts, the final bill
is better than the original, particularly
concerning teachers’ influence over hiring
and provisions “ensuring collaboration and
planning time” for educators.

Fla. Acts to Alter Diploma Rules
In what Florida lawmakers called an
effort to better connect the state’s high
school graduates with the job market,

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the legislature has approved revisions
to the state’s diploma requirements
similar to controversial changes under
discussion in Texas.
The Florida House and Senate both
approved Senate Bill 1076, which
requires the state school board to
create new “pathways” for earning a
diploma that include allowing industry
certification in various trades to be
used for academic credit. One provision
allows such certifications to replace
requirements that students take certain
subject courses and tests, including
Algebra 2, which is part of the math
sequence in the Common Core State
Standards that Florida has adopted.
Supporters say that allowing for such
flexibility would give more students
access to better jobs out of high school
and thus would boost the state’s
economy. Gov. Rick Scott, a Republican,
had not signed the bill as of last week.
Meanwhile, Texas business leaders
concerned about a similar plan in the
Lone Star State say such changes would
weaken the value of schools’ academic
standards as well as some diplomas.

Ohio Eyes Limit on Sex Ed.
As part of a bill dealing with budget
matters, a committee in the Ohio
House of Representatives has approved
provisions that would restrict what
teachers can discuss in sex education
classes.
The legislation says that instructors
cannot promote “gateway sexual
activities” in their classes, defined as
activities intended to cause sexual
arousal. It also says that while
teachers can discuss contraception,
they must state that students can

still contract sexually transmitted
diseases if they use condoms and other
contraception.
In a statement last week, the
National Abstinence Education
Association applauded the action
by the finance committee, saying it
would prevent such classes in the
state from promoting “teen sexual
experimentation.” But other groups,
such as Advocates for Youth, say such
efforts are misleading and would
undermine confidence in the efficacy
of condoms in preventing disease
transmission.

School Security Bills Signed
Kansas last week became the second
state since the school shootings in
Newtown, Conn., to explicitly permit
local school boards to decide whether
some school employees can carry
firearms.
House Bill 2052, signed by Gov. Sam
Brownback, a Republican, gives school
boards the authority to allow employees
licensed to carry concealed handguns to
do so on school grounds. The provision
applies only to districts that don’t have
their own policies prohibiting employees
from carrying concealed firearms.
Kansas follows South Dakota, where
in March, Gov. Dennis Daugaard, also a
Republican, signed a bill giving school
boards the same authority.
Other varieties of school security bills
also are getting governors’ approval. In
Oklahoma, Gov. Mary Fallin has signed
Senate Bill 257 creating the Oklahoma
School Security Institute, under the
state’s office of homeland security. The
new institute will oversee a phone
tipline for reporting activity potentially

harmful to school safety and would serve
as a security resource for public and
private schools.
Gov. Fallin, a Republican, signed three
other school safety bills last week that
deal with required reporting of firearms
on school grounds and safety drills,
among other issues.

Charters, Tax Credits Fail in Mont.
Despite a significant push by Montana
Republicans to institute both charter
schools and tax credits for private
education, both efforts ultimately fell
short this year in the legislature.
Montana is one of eight states that
do not permit charter schools. Senate
Republicans introduced a bill to allow
them, but the House did not approve
it. Two separate bills, one to provide
a tax credit for parents sending their
children to private schools, and another
that would have provided tax credits to
individuals and corporations donating
to organizations granting private-school
scholarships, also failed to gain the
approval of both chambers.
Gov. Steve Bullock, a Democrat, had
previously made statements signaling his
opposition to both policies.
Schools Superintendent Denise
Juneau, also a Democrat, indicated that
she thought pro-charter and pro-taxcredit legislation would return in 2015.
(Montana lawmakers meet every two
years.)
She added that the state already
is overseeing K-12 innovation, with
growing online enrollment and flexible
school calendars: “Setting up a parallel
education system just will not work in
our state,” she said.
—ANDREW UJIFUSA

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Education Week - April 24, 2013

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