Education Goals Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Debate Over Public Vs. Non-Traditional Education Gets Politically Heated

There are two schools of thought dominating the politics of improving West Virginia’s education systems. Some promote non-traditional education, while others say public schools must be prioritized.

State Treasurer Riley Moore oversees the legally revitalized Hope Scholarship program, offering state funding to families seeking educational avenues outside the public school system. Recently, while announcing his run for the U.S. Congress, Moore said he would push to create national educational savings accounts offering more school options across America. In doing so, he made a backhanded swipe at the public school system.

“This should be a federal program, we must have school choice for all of our children. You see the national test scores, they are abysmal,” Moore said. “Fourth grade and eighth grade reading and math has never been lower. We have to put our children first. There’s a war going on with the family in this country, and we have to be able to give them choice over indoctrination.”

Dale Lee is a long time educator and president of the West Virginia Education Association. He said implying that public schools indoctrinate students is a false, politically charged claim.

“We’re teaching them hopefully to become critical thinkers, and to look at all sides of issues,” Lee said. “As a middle school teacher told me, if I could indoctrinate my middle school kids, all of them would wear deodorant and stay off their phones during class. It’s not as simple as the far right wants to make us believe. We’re not indoctrinating anyone.”

Gov. Jim Justice said it was improper to speak so strongly against public schools.

“I do not think that it is constructive in any way for us to throw rocks,” Justice said. “Probably every last one of us that’s casting a rock went through the public school system, and I’m a believer in our public school system.”

Justice said supporting public and non-traditional schooling not only offers needed choice for West Virginia families, but sets up competition that makes the entire state education system better.

“Should we give our kids and our parents choice? Absolutely,” Justice said. “Without question, the competition level, whether it be charter or private or public, the competition level will make us better.“

Dale Lee countered that competition between public and private educational entities can not help improve things because they’re not on a level playing field.

“You’re not comparing apples to apples. I looked at a charter school back in the early 2010’s in Pittsburgh,” Lee said. “That school was successful, but it had a 15 to one student teacher ratio. I just left the classroom in Princeton High School, teaching a class of 38 kids and 12 on special needs. Anyone will tell you, in education, I can do far more at 15 to 1 students than 38 to 1.”

This debate will continue into the 2023 legislative session, where opinions on educating West Virginia children will become state policy proposals.

Capito Brings ‘Girls Rise Up’ Initiative To Morgantown

U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito visited with Morgantown students Monday morning as part of her ‘Girls Rise Up’ initiative.

Since 2015, Capito has brought ‘Girls Rise Up’ to schools across West Virginia to inspire the next generation of female leaders.

Capito, who is the first woman elected to the United States Senate from the state of West Virginia, said she hopes the group of girls she spoke to at Suncrest Elementary walk away empowered.

“To be confident, to share that everybody has their weak spots and things to work on, and that you can make a mistake and recover from it,” she said. “I just want them to have a very positive look about themselves and their futures.”

Beyond the ‘Girls Rise Up’ initiative, Capito discussed her efforts in the Senate to promote science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) among young women.

“Women and people of color are way under-represented in the state in the STEM fields, whether it’s engineering or technology,” she said. “These are jobs of the future. I work with Jacky Rosen from Nevada to promote STEM, so that [it doesn’t just] start in the high school years, it’s got to start at these early years, because that’s where the interest really grows.”

Capito was joined by Fox News host and former White House press secretary Dana Perino.

“There’s a saying in mentoring circles: ‘You have to see her to be her,’” Perino said. “It basically is figuring out a way for all these young girls to be exposed to all sorts of different women in the different professions that they’ve chosen.”

From Third Grade To Fourth Grade? Bill Highlights Proficiency Goals, Possible Hold Back

House Bill 4510 sets a goal of ensuring that third grade students are proficient in reading and math before moving on to the fourth grade.

The bill passed the House of Delegates 84-11. Del. Jim Barach, D-Kanawha, voted against it. He thinks student assessment needs to begin earlier and worries about the personal challenges in being held back.

“I’m very concerned about social promotion that if all your friends are in the fourth grade, and you’re in the third grade, you know, you’re looked down on,” Barach said.

The bill says that students who don’t show grade level proficiency in reading and math by the end of the third grade become increasingly prone to not succeed in successive grades, and also prone to drop out before graduation.

House Bill 4510 calls for interventions regarding reading and math skills – then relies, with some exceptions, on teacher assessments of 3rd graders under consideration of being held back.

Del. Sean Hornbuckle, D-Cabell, voted for the bill, with some concerns regarding the resources to see the process through. However, he is pleased with the process itself.

“Even if a parent says, you know, I want to pass on my child, which I understand,” Hornbuckle said. “It provides for that whole extra year that they’re going to be receiving support in these areas where they didn’t do so well.”

Del. Cody Thompson, D-Randolph, is a public school teacher who said the bill would not guarentee student proficiency.

“This bill does not do anything to actually address that,” Thompson said. “And it really is just adding on extra over-bureaucratic, in my opinion, policy on our elementary school teachers”

Senate Education Committee Vice Chair Rollan Roberts, R-Raleigh, also worried about funding the resources needed to implement this assessment initiative.

“You have the lower education classes that say they can’t get helpers in there as teacher assistants,” Roberts said. “And now we’re going to put a bill in there that’s going to add more on them.”

House Bill 4510 was referred to the Senate Finance Committee on its second reading.

Higher Education Leaders Set Goal to Increase Number of College-Educated West Virginians

Higher education leaders in West Virginia announced Wednesday a goal to see more of the state’s workforce with a formal education credential beyond high school by 2030.

Leaders in higher education hope to see at least 60 percent of the state’s workforce holding some kind of higher education credential in just a little more than ten years. The West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission made the announcement Wednesday in a press release.

This means nearly doubling the percentage of working-age West Virginians who have either a traditional four-year degree or qualification, such as an associate’s degree from a community college, or some other kind of certification.

This new campaign is called “West Virginia’s Climb.” It was launched at the annual Student Success Summit this week, which attracts nearly 500 West Virginia educators and is sponsored by the West Virginia HEPC and the state Department of Education.

Staff from the HEPC and the West Virginia Community and Technical College System acknowledge the campaign is “a lofty goal,” but one they say is attainable through awareness, college access and dedication.

According to the HEPC, the highest percentage by county of working-aged certificate- and degree-holders is Monongalia at 45 percent, while the lowest is McDowell at eight percent.