MORGANTOWN — The House of Delegates sent to the Senate a bill to require schools teach cursive handwriting to fifth graders and tweaked a bill to give schools a bit more wiggle room in their calendars. That was part of Tuesday’s floor action.
HB 4089 is the handwriting bill. Delegate Rodney Pyles, D-Monongalia, is lead sponsor. His sole co-sponsor was Delegate Eric Porterfield, R-Mercer, though that changed when discussion began.
Pyles called the bill the Gertrude Martin Act after his third grade teacher at Wiles Hill School. Three other delegates — Tom Fast, R-Fayette, Daniel Linville, R-Cabell, and Kenneth Hicks, D-Wayne — decided they liked it so much they asked to be tacked on as co-sponsors before the discussion began.
The bill requires schools to teach cursive handwriting in grades 3-5. Education Committee members learned last week that state school board policy, as of 2016, requires cursive instruction in grades 2-4, so the effect of this bill would be to just add grade 5. Before 2106, teaching cursive was an option for teachers and many didn’t.
Education chair Joe Ellington, R-Mercer, told the House that this is one of a number of bills that have come up calling for education measures that are already in code but apparently no one knows about. “The concern is things aren’t being taught properly.”
He reminded them that the Legislature has no real oversight over the state board except withholding funding. “We have to get back to basics. … In order to prompt our Board of Education to get this job done, I recommend we pass this bill.”
Ellington said many teachers, families and some state board members support it.
Delegate John Kelley, R-Wood, said his teenage granddaughter was one of those who fell into the pre-2016 hole and never learned cursive, though she’s a 4.0 student. People who can’t read cursive can’t read the U.S. Constitution or the Declaration of Independence, among other things.
“It’s a shame that this small group of people were penalized because they were not given the opportunity to write in cursive,” he said.
It passed 87-8. All local delegates voted for it.
Calendar bill
HB 2433 originated as a bill to change county school calendars to begin no earlier than Labor Day and end no later than Memorial Day. Last week, the Education Committee adopted an amendment offered by the lead sponsor, John Kelly, R-Wood, to change that range to Sept. 1 and May 31.
Kelley offered a floor amendment to change the end date from May 31 to June 7. He said the amendment arose from concerns that the May 31 date may not allow schools enough time to make up snow days or deer-hunting school closures.
Delegate Paul Espinosa, R-Jefferson, called delegates’ attention to a National Rifle Association handout requesting the amendment to allow for deer season time off.
He opposes the bill and opposed the amendment, saying the amendment affects the end of the school year and doesn’t help the 32 counties that begin as early as possible to end their first semester by Christmas break.
Delegate Brandon Steele, R-Raleigh, said the bill and the amendment both run counter to the Legislature’s preference to allow more local control.
Delegate Cody Thompson, D-Randolph, said he didn’t think the NRA should be influencing education policy but he comes from a family of hunters. “I really think this is a good amendment.”
It passed in a voice vote and the bill will be on third reading for passage on Wednesday. It arose, Kelley said in committee, from concerns parents, teachers, families and some school boards had about school years beginning in August and interfering with fairs, festivals, vacations and tourism.
Other bills
HB 2497 expands protections for public employee whistleblowers. It forbids an employer from denying a whistleblower employee covered by the civil service system a promotion or raise to which they were entitled and allows the employee to file a grievance for retaliation.
It also bars employers from prohibiting civil service employees from engaging in off-duty political activity.
It passed 89-6 and goes to the Senate. All local delegates voted for it.
HB 4094 spells out the duties for the new office of Foster Care Ombudsman. It had been parked on the inactive calendar on second reading last week but was brought back Tuesday and amended on the floor.
Based on concerns raised by the ombudsman office, it eliminates a section allowing the ombudsman to initiate enforcement actions through the attorney general’s office. Instead, the ombudsman would submit regular reports about foster care complaints to the Legislative Oversight Commission on Health and Human Resources Accountability for legislative consideration.
The amendment passed in a voice vote and the bill is up for passage on Wednesday.
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