CHARLESTON — Gov. Jim Justice on Tuesday made it clear he would veto any education reform package from the West Virginia Senate that included charter schools, paycheck protection, and other controversial items.

Justice held a press conference Tuesday afternoon to make it clear he wanted to see a clean bill that includes the 5 percent pay raise for teachers and school service personnel he proposed in October of last year. He also wanted to make clear that Senate Bill 451, the education omnibus bill, was not his idea.

“It’s not the governor’s bill,” Justice said. “My bill was just as clean as clean could possibly be … my bill did not have all the bells and whistles we have today.”

SB 451 is a comprehensive education package that includes the Justice pay raise, as well as gives teachers a $250 tax credit and the ability to bank sick leave. It includes additional pay for math teachers, gives counties to ability to do differential pay for high-need subjects, and allows counties to raise levy rates. Justice said he was open to looking at these proposals

Controversial provisions include creating a public charter school program, allowing parents to use education savings accounts for private or home school, provisions to dock teacher pay during a work stoppage, eliminating seniority as the sole criteria for deciding reductions in force, and requiring annual approval before unions can deduct dues from employee paychecks. A provision to increase class sizes from 25 students to as much as 31 students was removed from the bill.

Justice said he was adamantly against paycheck protection, charter schools, and a provision of the bill — called nonseverability — which would render the entire bill invalid if any part of it is successfully challenged in court. He said if the bill ever got out of the legislature and to his desk, he would veto it, but he expects the bill won’t make it that far.

“I don’t think it will ever come through in the condition it is in,” Justice said.

Justice said the 5 percent teacher and school service personnel pay raise should be considered by itself, and the other provisions of SB 451 should be considered individually and evaluate them that way.”

“My bill should be considered, and then if we want to debate all the other issues along the way, debate them,” Justice said. “I just wish we would look at those issues individually

Justice was reluctant to directly criticize Senate leadership for the bill, though he said he has only had limited conversations about the bill with the senate. He encouraged both lawmakers and union officials to keep an open mind on education reform.

“Be respectful and be fair,” Justice said. “If we have good ideas that will make education better, that’s what we ought to be doing.”

“We don’t need uncertainty today and we don’t need to create a food fight for next to nothing,” Justice added. “I’m here before you today because I don’t want to be misunderstood.”

Justice’s comments were well received by union leaders, who were in the audience. West Virginia Education Association President Dale Lee, a member of group of six unions and school employee associations, said he was “thrilled” with the governor’s remarks.

“It’s important to know he respects the process and that he is going to stand up for educators. Most importantly, he is going to stand up for the kids of West Virginia,” Lee said. “We all agree we can improve an already good education system but lumping it all together is not the way to go. If we’re going to have these debates, have them individually. That’s what he said. We’re willing to have the individual debates.”