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Martirano to begin public review of Common Core standards
By Erin Timony, The State Journal
West Virginia Superintendent of Schools Michael Martirano will begin a public review of the Next Generation Content Standards in English Language Arts and math, also...
PEIA pushes harder on wellness
Hoppy's Commentary | Hoppy Kercheval, WV MetroNews
The health insurance program for West Virginia’s public employees is a necessary but expensive proposition. The Public Employees Insurance Agency projects expenses of over $1 billion annually for its nearly 220,000 members.
PEIA is continually trying to find ways to hold down costs, and thus keep premiums for the state and local government employees and the employer (...
Additional monitoring recommended for Logan, Wayne County schools
By Samuel Speciale, The Charleston Daily Mail
The state’s education audits department is recommending additional oversight of two school districts after on-site reviews found various policy violations that “impede a thorough and efficient system of schools.”
The agency, a division of the West Virginia Department of Education that conducts on-site reviews of schools in every county, visited...
Amended science standards called ‘progress,’ but criticism remains
By Ryan Quinn, The Charleston Gazette
Some groups that denounced now-rejected changes to West Virginia’s upcoming K-12 science standards regarding global warming are disappointed in new modifications but view them as less harmful than the previous version.
“It still represents progress, as far as we’re concerned,” said Glenn Branch, deputy director of the National Center for Science...
W.Va.’s drop in ALEC report cited in tax reform push
By Phil Kabler, The Charleston Gazette
Launching the inaugural meeting of a new legislative interim committee on tax reform Monday, Senate President Bill Cole, R-Mercer, cited the American Legislative...
Teacher retirements, enrollment drop affect Kanawha schools budget
By Ryan Quinn, The Charleston Gazette
The lowest student enrollment in at least two decades and the continuing retirement of experienced teachers will drop state funding for Kanawha County’s...
Teacher retirements, enrollment drop affect Kanawha schools budget
By Ryan Quinn, Staff writer, Charleston Gazette
Tye Ward, Charleston Gazette
The lowest student enrollment in at least two decades and the continuing retirement of experienced teachers will drop state funding for Kanawha County’s next school year by more than $3.4 million.
Next month, the Kanawha school board is expected to approve a $236.1 million 2015-16 school year general...
Jail for 9 of 10 ex-educators in Atlanta test-cheating case
By KATE BRUMBACK, Associated Press
ATLANTA (AP) - All but one of 10 former Atlanta public school educators convicted in a widespread conspiracy to inflate student scores on standardized tests were sentenced to jail time Tuesday, and the judge called the cheating scandal "the sickest thing that's ever happened in this town."
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Jerry Baxter had delayed sentencing by...
WV Center On Budget and Policy: State Should Make Tax System More Fair
Dan Heyman, Public News Service - WV
CHARLESTON, W.Va. - As West Virginia lawmakers consider reforming the state's tax code, the West Virginia Center On Budget and Policy is arguing that it needs to be made fairer to low- and middle-income families.
Over time, said Ted Boettner, executive director of the center, the state's tax system gradually has come to favor the wealthy.
...
PEIA faces cuts to health insurance
By Phil Kabler, The Charleston Gazette
Short of the governor approving more than $100 million in new state funding for premium increases, the Public Employees Insurance Agency Finance Board will have to steel itself this...
Some counties stick with testing schedule despite missed days
By Jeff Jenkins, WV MetroNews
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Students in some county school systems in West Virginia have started taking the annual standardized tests even though their school years now won’t until at least mid-June.
The year-end dates were moved back to allow for makeup days necessitated by winter weather cancellations. The state Board of Education denied waiver requests made by 27...
Commentary: Common Core woes continue
By Hoppy Kercheval, WV MetroNews
West Virginia is transitioning to the new Common Core standards in public education. These standards are supposed to improve the quality of education in the state and provide a basis for accurately comparing our students with those from other states.
However, the shift in how we deliver public education has been beset by a series of problems.
The state Department of Education...