SB 1 AND SB 451
EDUCATION
By Jessica Wintz-Adams
Education continues to be one of the most hotly debated topics among lawmakers and interest groups both inside and out-
side the classroom. Memories of last year’s historic teacher work stoppage that saw hundreds of teachers filling committee
rooms, galleries in the Senate and House of Delegates and the halls of the state Capitol lingered throughout the 2019 legislative
session as lawmakers worked on two significant pieces of education legislation. SB 1, referred to as the last dollar in bill, pro-
vides postsecondary education opportunities to attract students and put West Virginia’s workforce into job fields with high
demand, while SB 451, known as the omnibus education bill, was meant to reform the state’s public education system.
SB 451
POSTPONED FOR 2019 SPECIAL SESSION
SB 1
SENATE: 33-0 HOUSE: 85-13
For the second consecutive year, the West Virginia Legisla-
ture worked on a bill to provide students free tuition at in-state,
public community colleges in an effort to amp up workforce
training efforts. SB 1 completed legislative action with changes
from its introduced form, but it maintained its goal of increas-
ing workforce training, which is often cited as the main cause
of the state’s poor workforce participation numbers.
SB 1 has two major components. The first establishes ad-
vanced career education—or ACE—programs in which public
and postsecondary schools form partnerships to set up edu-
cation pathways for students to obtain associate degrees or
advanced job certifications. The second component is the WV
Invests Grants portion. Under this, the West Virginia Depart-
ment of Commerce will develop a hierarchy of high-demand
skilled professions and workforce needs with shortages. This
grant will allow students who pursue associate degrees or
career certificates in programs that satisfy those workforce
needs at a community or technical college or a public four-year
school the opportunity to apply for state grants to supplement
any federal aid and other assistance they receive.
High school graduates of any age are eligible for the pro-
gram, but there are numerous criteria they must meet for
eligibility. Among those, applicants must pay for and pass drug
tests before each semester, stay in West Virginia for at least
two years after obtaining a certification or degree, complete
at least eight hours of community service during their time of
study and maintain a GPA of 2.0 or better.
SB 1 was signed into law by Governor Jim Justice and went
into effect on June 5, 2019.
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WEST VIRGINIA EXECUTIVE
SB 451, also known as the omnibus education bill, was a
wide-ranging education reform plan that included charter
schools and education savings accounts (ESAs), as well as pay
raises for teachers and school service personnel. The 137-page
bill also called for more support for wraparound services for
students, additional flexibility for counties to increase pay
for highly needed teachers of certain subjects and funding for
hiring more counselors and psychologists.
While in the House of Delegates, the bill underwent a wide
variety of changes from the Senate’s version. During a nearly
12-hour House floor session, SB 451 was amended to reduce
the number of charter schools to a pilot program of two, and
ESAs were removed completely. When the amended SB 451
passed the House and returned to the Senate for approval,
Senate Republicans re-amended the bill to allow for up to seven
charter schools and added ESAs back to the bill.
For teachers, the quick roll-out of SB 451 felt like déjà vu,
bringing back memories of dissatisfaction with last year’s pay
raise legislation and the strike that ensued. It didn’t take long
before the halls of the state Capitol were echoing once again
with the outcries of teachers who felt their concerns regarding
charter schools and ESAs were falling on deaf ears. They
felt the creation of these programs would take away import-
ant funding and resources from students in the public school
system and endanger public education. What followed was
the second teacher strike in as many years. For two days, 54
of 55 counties went on a work stoppage in protest of SB 451.
While SB 451 died during a procedural vote in the House,
the education fight is long from over. Immediately after the
regular session was over, the governor called for a special
session to address the issue of education reform. While in
recess between the regular session and upcoming special ses-
sion, the West Virginia Department of Education held var-
ious education forums across the state to gather ideas from
education stakeholders and the public on how to improve the
state’s education system with the hope that all voices will be
heard, all concerns will be addressed and all students will
benefit from an improved public education system.
Editor’s Note: At the time of print, the 2019 special session
had not resumed but was expected to do so by June.