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CHARLESTON -- A bill championed last year by House Speaker Roger Hanshaw to provide teachers in early elementary school grades with assistants received good grades from the House Education Committee Wednesday.
Committee members recommended House Bill 2003, providing childhood assistant teachers in elementary schools, for passage. The bill heads to the House Finance Committee next.
HB 2003 would provide early childhood assistant teachers and additional systems of support for teachers to help students meet requirements for understanding literacy and math by third grade.
The bill would provide funding for public elementary schools to hire assistant teachers that can help students with basic questions and allow teachers to assist students struggling the most. The bill would provide first, second, and third grade teachers with an assistant teacher for classrooms with more than 12 students.
County boards of education would provide in-service training to assistant teachers in areas of literacy and math, as we well as training for teachers on how to best use assistant teachers, though the specific roles of assistant teachers would be determined by principals.
The bill also creates a new multi-tiered support system for early elementary school teachers to address student educational attainment issues with literacy and math. It would create new benchmark assessments to be taken by students in grades one, two, and three to determine whether students are understanding literacy and math. The assessments would be used to shift resources to students in need of the most help.
It also would require third grade students who do not meet the minimal standards for English Language Arts (ELA) and math to be held back on the recommendation of their teacher or student assistance team with exceptions. Beginning in the fourth grade, students who score below proficient in ELA and math on the state annual summative assessment would receive intervention until they become grade-level proficient.
"This is what I came here to do," said Del. D. Rolland Jennings, R-Preston. "Our greatest asset is our children. We worry about drugs, we worry about non-participation in the workforce. Most of that is cured through education … it's been proven if you can't read by a third-grade level, you'll never catch up."
According to a fiscal note provided by the state Department of Education, the bill has a price tag of $100.4 million beginning in fiscal year 2024, with the bill taking effect in July. The bill would amend the school aid formula allowance for service personnel to increase the number of state funded positions per 1,000 students in net enrollment to provide state funding for the added positions. The price tag did not sit well with Del. Bill Ridenour, R-Jefferson.
"I can't support the bill as written because I do not want to levy another $100 million-dollar-plus bill on the people of West Virginia," Ridenour said. "If the amount can be offset within the (Department of Education), I would in fact favor this bill. Until we are able to start cutting some of our bureaucracy within the department and ensure that money goes to teachers in the classroom, I just can't support the bill at this point."
House Education Committee Vice Chairman Joe Statler, R-Monongalia, said he supports the bill. While sympathetic to Ridenour's arguments, Statler said he also serves on the House Finance Committee and would receive a thorough vetting.
"I do believe it's a big bill … it's a higher price tag than I thought it would be, but at the end of the day I'm going to vote for this today," Statler said.
"This is an investment," agreed House Education Committee Minority Chairman Sean Hornbuckle, D-Cabell. "The return on this investment will be guaranteed and pay high dividends. I think we should all give this a resounding yes."
According to the department, there are 881 pre-k classrooms, 698 kindergarten classrooms with more than 10 students, and 868 first grade, 826 second grade, and 797 third grade classrooms with more than 12 students. Assistant teachers are already provided for pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten, with 1,579 assistant teachers already employed. The department estimates another 2,491 assistant teachers would need to be hired if the bill passes.
Speaking by phone Wednesday, Fred Albert, the president of the West Virginia chapter of the American Federation of Teachers, said he was happy to see the bill moving this year.
"I think it is much needed. We've said that for quite some time," Albert said. "As we've traveled throughout the state and talked to teachers, we hear that they need more help, especially in those early grades. I do think it will help with student achievement, so I think it is a positive move."
Albert, a life-long teacher who spent his early years teaching in Kindergarten, said HB 2003 will prove invaluable to early elementary teachers helping struggling students.
"I remember how valuable the aide was to help with other students while I was giving certain students attention," Albert said. "It is a valuable asset in the classroom to have that extra set of hands and extra pair of eyes. It frees up the teacher to do his or her job and give attention to those students who need a little bit more attention. I just think it is a positive move and a good bill. I hope it will pass."
Hanshaw, R-Clay, first proposed a similar bill last year that passed the House 90-3. The bill was recommended for passage by the Senate Education Committee but was never taken up by the Senate Finance Committee.
This year, the Senate Education Committee is also considering a similar bill to HB 2003. Senate Bill 274, the Third Grade Success Act, would also allow for assistant teachers in early elementary school grades and establish screeners or benchmark assessments for ELA and math for students K-3 twice each year to identify students struggling with those subjects. The Senate Education Committee will take up SB 274 Thursday morning.
Steven Allen Adams can be reached at sadams@newsandsentinel.com