WEST virginia Legislature

2017 regular session

Introduced

House Bill 2334

By Delegate McGeehan

[Introduced February 10, 2017; Referred
to the Committee on Education.]

A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated §18-1-5, relating to school curricular standards and assessments; discontinuing the use of common core standards and assessments in the state; requiring the Department of Education to promulgate new standards for academic curriculum and assessment; and allowing school districts to develop academic standards that exceed statewide standards.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended by adding thereto a new section, designated §18-1-5, to read as follows:

ARTICLE 1.  DEFINITIONS; LIMITATIONS OF CHAPTER; GOALS FOR EDUCATION.

§18-1-5.  Public school curricular standards and assessments.

(a) For purposes of this section:

(1) "Assessments" means the Smarter Balanced Assessments or any other student assessments intended to measure student achievement in the common core standards.

(2) "Common Core" means the academic standards published by the Common Core State Standards Initiative or the Next Generation Science Standards Initiative and adopted by the West Virginia Board of Education, including the West Virginia Next Generation Standards or any related program.

(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of this code, effective July 1, 2017, the State Board of Education may not:

(1) Continue to implement the academic content standards for English, language arts, mathematics or any other subject developed by the Common Core State Standards Initiative or any assessments currently implemented as part of the initiative;

(2) Implement the science standards developed by the Next Generation Science Standards Initiative led by the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences; or

(3) Use the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for Colleges and Careers, the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium, or any other assessment based on the Common Core Standards or Next Generation Science Standards.

(b) As of the effective date of this section, any actions taken to adopt or implement the Common Core Standards or the Next Generation Science Standards are void.

(c) On or before July 1, 2017, the State Board of Education shall develop statewide academic content standards to replace any Common Core or Next Generation Standards currently in use.

(d) The state board shall post for a minimum of ninety days public notice any proposed revision of academic content standards on the department's website and shall invite comments on the proposed changes from the general public, including parents, teachers, experts on college and career readiness standards, representatives of nonpartisan institutes and political, educational, and faith-based organizations.

(e) A local Board of Education may adopt for use by the school district academic content standards that exceed those approved by the state board.

NOTE:  The purpose of this bill is to discontinue the use of Common Core Standards and assessments in the state; require the Department of Education to promulgate new standards for academic curriculum and assessment; and allow school districts to develop academic standards that exceed statewide standards.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.