By Ryan Quinn, Charleston Gazette-Mail
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — After nearly a month of the proposal not advancing, the West Virginia Senate Finance Committee suddenly furthered Thursday a constitutional amendment that would let lawmakers amend and reject the state Board of Education’s policies.
The state school board’s policies set, among other things: what students must learn, how they can be disciplined, what specifically is required to become a teacher, and how charter schools are regulated.
If the constitutional amendment succeeds, the Legislature will have the final say over all of this.
Lawmakers can already amend and reject the policies and rules proposed by other agencies, but the state school board currently has a special standing under the state Constitution. The state Supreme Court of Appeals has interpreted this special standing as exempting the state board from having to submit its policies to lawmakers…
