Bill Text: WV SCR5 | 2020 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requesting Joint Committee on Government and Finance study ways to achieve higher levels of effectiveness and fairness in public school system
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 4-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-01-16 - To Education [SCR5 Detail]
Download: West_Virginia-2020-SCR5-Introduced.html
SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 5
(By Senator Rucker)
[Introduced January 15, 2020]
Requesting the Joint Committee on Government and Finance study adjustments needed to help achieve higher levels of effectiveness and fairness within the public school system; to ensure that students are internationally competitive and truly prepared for the future; and to ensure public school students are prepared for the future success of self, state, and country.
Whereas, We are now competing and living in a global community, and this new reality can be a benefit; and
Whereas, Our public school students no longer compete only with peers in their state or even our country; and
Whereas, Our nation’s students are now also competing against students in countries all over the world; and
Whereas, As changes make our world much smaller, we must do everything we can to prepare our students for this new reality; and
Whereas, With collective effort and support, our students can achieve any goal placed before them, including being abundantly prepared to compete in the global economy; and
Whereas, The Every Student Succeeds Act was a bipartisan legislative effort signed into law in December 2015, replacing the No Child Left Behind Act; and
Whereas, The Every Student Succeeds Act provides the states an opportunity to further shape school systems in a way that will best prepare our public school students for the future; and
Whereas, In the recent past, we have seen that by states’ leading policy discussions around public education, positive results in increasing student learning outcomes and preparedness can be achieved; and
Whereas, A suitable school system is effective and fair in how it prepares students within the constructs of that particular system; and
Whereas, An increase in these two variables will lead to better overall preparedness of all our public school students; and
Whereas, For the purpose of the preceding two clauses, fairness is defined by how equitably funding resources are allocated per pupil based on need, with a minimal annual baseline funding amount of $9,585 per pupil when adjusted for the comparative wage index as this is the lowest recorded amount of funding allocated per student in a public school system that has achieved international competitiveness within the past decade; and
Whereas, An effective school system can be defined in different ways; and
Whereas, The National Conference of State Legislatures convened a bipartisan working group of 28 veteran education-policy legislators from around the country which recently issued a report titled, No Time to Lose: How to Build a World-Class Education System State by State; and
Whereas, The report released findings on effective school systems around the world and, after an 18-month period of labor, the group concluded that there were some recurring components and several repeated overarching factors in these effective systems; and
Whereas, According to the report, an effective public education system is one:
(1) In which “children come to school ready to learn with extra support given to struggling students so all have an opportunity to achieve high standards”;
(2) That includes “a world-class teaching profession who supports a world-class instructional system, where every student has access to highly effective teachers and is expected to succeed”;
(3) That includes “a highly effective, intellectually rigorous system of career and technical education available to those preferring an applied education”; and
(4) That is characterized by “individual reforms that are connected and aligned as parts of a clearly planned and carefully designed comprehensive system”; and
Whereas, For the purpose of the preceding clause:
(1) An “effective school system” is defined as a public school system that sets high student learning outcomes, including academic standards, and then implements changes to achieve those high standards within the system;
(2) “High standards” is defined as standards that are internationally competitive; and
(3) “Internationally competitive” can be defined as a public school system globally ranked amongst the top ten with respect to the Program for International Student Assessment; and
Whereas, The Legislature believes that with proper support, our children can be amongst the most internationally competitive students; therefore, be it
Resolved by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Joint Committee on Government and Finance study adjustments needed to help achieve higher levels of effectiveness and fairness within the public school system; to ensure that students are internationally competitive and truly prepared for the future; and to ensure public school students are prepared for the future success of self, state, and country; and, be it
Further Resolved, That the Joint Committee on Government and Finance report to the regular session of the Legislature, 2021, on its findings, conclusions, and recommendations, together with drafts of any legislation necessary to effectuate its recommendations; and, be it
Further Resolved, That the expenses necessary to conduct this study, to prepare a report, and to draft necessary legislation be paid from legislative appropriations to the Joint Committee on Government and Finance.
