Public Comments

I do not support this bill. The reason there is a separation of church and state is to allow religion to be practiced without fear or governmental intervention. By posting the Ten Commandments in all elementary schools, you are infringing on student’s religious rights. Would the legislature allow a county to decide that every school in the district must post a copy of the Quran? No! This same principle applies to Christian texts in public schools.

This bill seems to me to violate the separation of church and state.

I am writing to express my opposition to any effort to post the Ten Commandments in public schools. Public schools serve a diverse population of students from many religious backgrounds, as well as those who practice no religion. Displaying a document rooted in a single faith inherently excludes and alienates students who do not share that tradition. Education should be inclusive and neutral when it comes to religion. Families who wish for their children to receive religious instruction have the option of enrolling them in private or religious schools. Public schools, funded by all taxpayers, should not promote a particular religious viewpoint. This type of legislation does not address the real needs of students or schools and appears to be a symbolic measure aimed at appealing to a political base rather than serving the public interest. It diverts attention and resources from core educational priorities such as improving literacy, funding teachers, and maintaining safe learning environments. For these reasons, I urge you to oppose any legislation that would post the Ten Commandments or any religious text in public schools. Public education should remain a space of inclusion, respect, and neutrality.

I have concerns about this bill being introduced. It ignores an important precedent to not discriminate based on religion or creed. By forcing public schools to display the Ten Commandments, it sends a message to children and faculty that are Muslim, Jewish, Atheist etc that they are excluded in a place of mandatory attendance. It favors one religion over all others. Let public school be for education and churches, mosques, synagogues and other places of worship be separate. As an alternative, why not post the Golden Rule?

I am writing to express my strong opposition to HB 4100, the so-called “Baby Olivia Act.” This bill mandates that public schools use specific materials—such as the Live Action “Meet Baby Olivia” video—to teach students about fetal development. These materials are not rooted in peer‑reviewed, scientifically validated research, but rather reflect a particular ideological perspective.

Education, particularly in human biology and health, must be based on credible science and evidence, not propaganda designed to promote a political or religious agenda. If this bill passes and my children’s schools are required to comply, I will remove my children from class on the days this content is taught. Parents should not be forced to have their children taught content that substitutes ideology for science.

HB 4100 prioritizes beliefs over evidence, and in doing so, it undermines both education and trust in public schools. I urge you to vote against this bill to protect science-based instruction and respect parents’ rights.

As a seminarian to be a future ordained minister in Word and Service, I object House Bill 4034, based on theological grounds, and rooted in my own Christian faith and traditions. I always ask the question of such bills, what is the intention behind such implementation? As a Christian, I hold the Ten Commandments as sacred Scripture. Precisely because of that reverence, I believe they should never be compelled by the state as a display in public school classrooms. When the government mandates the use of holy text, it does not honor faith — it diminishes it. In Christian theology, God’s law is not a decorative object, nor is it a tool of coercion. The Commandments are given within covenant and relationship, not imposed by political authority. To require their display by the state divorces them from their sacred context and risks turning living faith into a symbol of power rather than a call to love God and neighbor. My faith teaches a careful distinction between the vocation of the state and the vocation of the church. The state is charged with maintaining justice and order. The church is charged with proclaiming the Word, forming conscience, and teaching faith. When the state assumes the role of religious instructor or symbol-bearer, it oversteps its vocation and harms both church and society. I am also deeply concerned about the impact of this bill on children. Public school classrooms serve students of many faiths and of no faith. Mandating the display of a particular religious text signals to some children that they are outsiders in a space meant to belong equally to all. As Christians, we are commanded to care especially for the vulnerable — not to place additional burdens on them. Faith that is compelled is not faith. Scripture displayed by mandate does not transform hearts; it risks hardening them. Genuine moral formation arises through relationship, teaching, community, and example — not through state-imposed religious symbols. The 10 Commandments given by God are YOURS to own. Are MINE to own. Not to be told from another person, entity, or organization, what the laws of nature are for me. For these reasons, I believe HB 4034 is not only constitutionally troubling, but theologically unsound. It confuses the mission of the church with the authority of the state and undermines the very faith it claims to honor. This bill risks entangling the state in religious endorsement in ways that will invite litigation, public backlash, and long-term harm to religious freedom. Once the government decides which religious texts must be displayed, it sets a precedent that future legislatures — with very different values — can use in ways current supporters may not welcome. I urge you to reject this bill and to uphold both religious freedom and the proper boundaries between faith and government. Respectfully, Andrea Barron

I strongly oppose the posting of the Ten Commandments in public schools. As government entities, public schools are bound by the First Amendment, which prohibits the establishment of religion and requires state neutrality with respect to religious belief. Posting a religious text specific to certain faith traditions constitutes government endorsement of religion. Students are a captive audience and cannot reasonably opt out of exposure to religious messaging in the school environment. Such displays risk marginalizing students of differing faiths or no faith, undermining the constitutional guarantee of equal protection and religious freedom. Religious instruction is appropriately left to families and faith-based institutions. Public schools must remain secular to ensure compliance with constitutional principles and to serve all students equitably.

Please don’t allow or require schools to post any religious content. All students of all faith and non-faith backgrounds deserve to feel welcome. Government is, by law, secular. School is no place for religious indoctrination. Passage of this bill is nothing but costly virtue signaling. It will be challenged and overturned in court. Focus on funding schools and ensuring better pay for teachers, staff, and administrators. That’s what you were elected to do.

This bill could help people trying to get certified through a non traditional pathway.  Working your way up from a substitute to a fully certified teacher will be easier when the pay is not as restricted.

I oppose this bill. West Virginians are of many faiths, with some having no religious background at all. It is inappropriate for the state to hold up any one religious doctrine above others as would be done with this bill. Also, considering the legislative majority's supposed focus on jobs and the state economy this session, I question why we are again seeing socially divisive bills like this being introduced by its members.

I do not agree with this bill. Separation of church and state.  Not all students are Christians so this seems like it is forcing one religion upon ALL students.

I oppose this bill. Putting up a poster doesn’t change the culture of a school. Showing the kids and staff they are supported, fed, and important to our state.

There are existing issues with the Special Education camera law that this was copied from. Legislation will be presented to change that law very soon and I would urge that this not be passed as it is currently written.

This bill would help protect our students and also the teachers from inappropriate behaviors and allegations. We have had so many news headlines lately of teachers being arrested for abuse and sexual misconduct this would be a deterrent for those behaviors as they could be held accountable for their actions much sooner before extended periods of time and abuse happen.

HB 4497 raises serious concerns about restricting access to education based on a single test outcome. The West Virginia Constitution guarantees a thorough and efficient system of free schools and places education at the center of the state’s public responsibility (W. Va. Const. art. XII, § 1). Denying student aid because an individual does not pass a specific exam risks excluding people with learning differences, disabilities, or unequal educational access, rather than improving workforce readiness. Policies that arbitrarily block access to education undermine due-process and equal-protection principles under Article III, § 10 of the West Virginia Constitution and the Fourteenth Amendment, and work against long-term economic productivity and revenue growth that depend on inclusive education opportunities.

Gross. Forty five...FORTY FIVE years of experience and still can't crack 70k. No wonder WV continues to rank 48th to 49th in education. You want and require master level educators, but pay them pennies. But the judiciary branch and your salaries continue to increase.

This is egregious; employees shouldn't have to rely on their coworkers to donate time to take care of and spend time with their newborn children. You want to force women to have children, but not provide them with adequate time off or pay to do it.

This is a copy and paste of the Special Education camera law that as I’ve discussed with many legislators, has a multitude of issues that need to be corrected and legislation coming to session VERY soon would help do this. The intention of these laws are good (and without them we wouldn’t have known how my son was being treated so we are thankful that the Special Education camera law existed) , but as a mother who found out the hard way that there are changes that need to happen to protect the child(ren), I urge you not to pass this as it is written.

West Virginia's teachers are hired to be educators, not tactical responders. HB 4372 ignores the reality that even highly trained police officers have a hit rate of less than 30% in active gunfights, and expecting a teacher with minimal training to do better is a fantasy that will result in the accidental death of students. Furthermore, this bill creates a massive liability dark zone that could leave our already poverty-stricken state uninsurable and taxpayers liable for multi-million dollar wrongful death suits. Beyond the fiscal risk, we are ignoring the warning of law enforcement, who state that plainclothes civilians with guns create a target identification nightmare for first responders. In the chaos of a crisis, a teacher with a gun is just another person the police might have to shoot. We are essentially asking our educators to carry the burden of potential state-created danger for a policy that has no proven track record of increasing safety. If we want to protect our children, we should fund professional school resource officers and mental health professionals, not deputize volunteers. Do not trade the lives of our children and the solvency of our districts for a false sense of security.

House Bill 4103 does nothing to improve educational outcomes in West Virginia. Mandating the display of the Ten Commandments in classrooms will not raise academic achievement, address teacher shortages, or improve student preparedness. West Virginia ranks 48-49th nationally in education and has consistently for years now. Our most urgent needs are evidence-based solutions, competitive teacher pay, classroom resources, and academic support. Not symbolic legislation. Public schools should focus on proven educational strategies that benefit all students, regardless of religious beliefs.

House Bill 4034 does nothing to improve educational outcomes in West Virginia. Mandating the display of the Ten Commandments in classrooms will not raise academic achievement, address teacher shortages, or improve student preparedness. West Virginia ranks 48-49th nationally in education and has consistently for years now. Our most urgent needs are evidence-based solutions, competitive teacher pay, classroom resources, and academic support. Not symbolic legislation. Public schools should focus on proven educational strategies that benefit all students, regardless of religious beliefs.

Religious beliefs should never be displayed in Public Schools.

I absolutely support this bill. Children need to understand the basis of law comes from a higher power than government and are not the result of popular opinion.  The Ten Commandments don’t establish a religion, but promote respect for God and others.

While I support rights involving that of guns, I do support this attempted action.

I do not agree with this wholeheartedly. This places an undue burden of practicing a religion. Secondly, what if someone has trauma relating to that of religion and thus the Ten Commandments? How are they supposed to in good conscience be able to achieve an education and/or work in a building where this is intended to be displayed.

HB 4063 would require spending hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars to build and maintain a new state system designed to support families leaving taxpayer-funded public schools. At a time when public schools are underfunded and understaffed, it’s worth questioning whether this is the best use of limited state resources.

If this is supposed to be a collaboratory, why is it being housed at Marshall University?

I believe in today's time it is necessary to have cameras in a classroom but i also think this has to be heavily restricted. The children also need to be protected from outsiders such as someone hacking the system to watch the kids and see the routines of the class. We live in a society where technology can also be dangerous. People use technology to hurt children as well.  There has to be safety measures for these cameras as well. Who will be able watch these cameras? How will we protect these children if someone hacks the system? If an incident does occur and a parent sees the video will you have someone to block the others kids faces out to protect their identity.  We are in a new age of technology and we have to be aware of the dangers as well.

Our founding fathers explicitly stated keep church and state separated. There are so many different religions.

Has anyone heard of separation church and state? if you want a Christian school build a Christian school. If you want to teach religion, teach all religions, equally I am a Christian but what about the Muslims, Buddhists, or non-religious persons? Is the goal to cause separation in the schools? Education is supposed to be a place of diversity. That is how we grow by expanding our understanding of different cultures and not isolating them. West Virginia is isolated enough. Our state has a very close relationship with the country of Qatar, which is a predominantly Muslim country, and this would show them exactly how backwards we are; especially as a country who is attempting to westernize and be more inclusive.

Out of respect of separation of church and state - I am very against this bill. It will immediately be challenged in court and will waste state funds.

Important transparency issue

This part is significant:

• Advisory Group meetings do NOT have to be open to the public

• Their documents are NOT subject to public records (FOIA) requests

In short:

The public cannot attend these meetings or request their internal records.

This is unusual and may raise transparency concerns. I seriously have a problem with this. There is no way that it is reasonable that there is no transparency for this. In fact a report should be published at the end of the year with what the money was used for, and what was discovered by the research group.

Having a CHL does not mean a person has any more or less mental stability, adherence to law, or emotional regulation as the average citizen. Allowing any person who can achieve the task of sitting in a class, firing a few rounds, paying their County Sheriff’s Office like $50, and not being a felon or wife beater at the time of application is a real low standard. Furthermore, are we just going to make our unarmed school staff check and verify the authenticity of any given person’s CHL? I feel like that is a route to disaster. Finally, what’s the end goal? Do we think a random person who has a CHL, is in a school, a violent incident like a school shooting occurs, and what? Johnny on the spot is going to hunt down the danger? Given there are several incidents where trained law enforcement fail to do that when they have plate carriers, rifles, and tactical teams, I think that’s improbable. The more probable outcome is they either die pointlessly trying and give the offender another weapon and more ammunition, or end up hurting an innocent bystander. CQC and active threat training is not particularly pervasive in the general populace. There’s infinitely more risks than benefits here.

Delegate Crouse

It’s difficult to reconcile requiring cameras in schools while opposing cameras in legislative committees. Transparency should start with lawmakers.

I have been teaching in Raleigh County for 14 years and I think there is so much more you could be doing to support education in our state and this bill is useless. I am a Christian, but there is no need to make a law or mandate of what needs to be posted in our public schools. Please focus on issues that support instruction in our schools.

As a teacher and a parent of a student in Raleigh County, I support this bill when it comes to instructional days and built in semester breaks. I have taught third grade for 14 years and the days drug out after standardized testing is not beneficial. If we could have that standardized testing within the last 2-3 weeks of school that would be perfect to allow for end of the year activities. As someone who was apart of the last strike, I would love not to have a reason to ever strike again. I hate the instability in our educational system, and would love all the support from our state legislature so another strike isn't necessary.

I strongly oppose this bill.

Absolutely NOT a great idea!!! In reference to HB4106 (Permitting 18-20 year olds to conceal carry) please keep in mind that 18 year olds are still in high-school. There are many ways a firearm could get into the wrong hands.

I respectfully oppose House Bill 4034.

Public schools exist to serve students of all faiths and of no faith. Requiring the display of the Ten Commandments in every public school classroom crosses the constitutional line between freedom of religion and government endorsement of religion.

The language in this bill is not neutral or historical. It mandates a specific religious text, in a specific translation, presented prominently in every classroom. That is not about teaching history or civic values. It is a government requirement to display a religious doctrine, which directly conflicts with the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause.

West Virginia’s public schools educate Christian students, Jewish students, Muslim students, Hindu students, students of Indigenous traditions, and students who do not practice any religion. This bill elevates one religious tradition above all others and sends a clear message to many students that their beliefs, or lack thereof, are less welcome in their own classrooms.

I am also concerned about the precedent this bill sets. If the state can mandate the display of one religious text, it opens the door to political and religious pressure on schools that distracts from their core mission: educating children. Public schools should not be battlegrounds for religious or ideological mandates.

Parents already have the right to teach their children religious values at home and through their faith communities. That freedom is not under threat. What is under threat is the principle that public schools remain inclusive spaces governed by constitutional protections, not religious requirements.

West Virginia has many pressing education needs: teacher retention, classroom resources, student mental health, and academic outcomes. This bill does not address those needs.

For these reasons, I urge lawmakers to reject HB 4034.

Thank you for the opportunity to comment.