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BY Amelia Ferrell Knisely, Charleston Gazette-Mail
Kids show up to West Virginia schools in worn-out shoes with holes, the used soles separating from the shoes. There are kids who show up in a sibling’s hand-me-down footwear, their smaller feet clunking around in the ill-fitting shoes.
It can be uncomfortable, impractical and embarrassing.
Teachers, school counselors and bus drivers are often the first to look down and notice when a child is desperately in need of a new...
By Mitch carmichael
Words are powerful, and they have a particular power when it comes to public policy. As we talk about problems we face in our communities and propose solutions, we have a responsibility to use words precisely and responsibly to describe our world as it is.
We’ve recently heard about the problem of homelessness among school-aged children in West Virginia. It has been said that over 10,000 of our kids are homeless, more than five times the enrollment of our...
By WV MetroNews
DANIELS, W.Va. — Educators around the state that work in juvenile centers got the chance to hear from the 2019 National Teacher of the Year, a teacher at a center in Virginia.
Rodney Robinson, the Richmond, Virginia native, teaches at the Virgie Binford Education Center, a school inside the Richmond Juvenile Detention Center. He provided the keynote address at the West Virginia Department of Education Juvenile Conference at the Glade Springs...
By Ryan Quinn, Charleston gazette-Mail
PARKERSBURG — West Virginia Department of Education officials, a state Board of Education member and the schools superintendents of counties including Monongalia and Cabell met behind closed doors Wednesday.
Charter schools were the discussion topic, several attendees said.
Jim Wilson, the attending state school board member, said it was “just a preliminary discussion of setting up a policy for charter schools —...
WV MetroNews
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A Marshall County science teacher was recognized...
The WVDE has released the WV Balanced Scorecard 2018-2019 data. While there is always room for improvement, 32 districts improved in English, 34 districts improved in Math and 22 districts improved on 5 or more indicators. You can view your county's scorecard at the link below.
The question of whether West Virginia should join the majority of states in allowing charter schools consumed much of the Legislature’s time in its regular and special sessions this year. After long debate, the Legislature allowed public charter schools on a limited basis.
That could have settled the question, but the debate continues now that it has moved from the Legislature to the state Board of Education and to...
By Steven Greenhouse, NY Times
Successful strikes beget more strikes. When nearly 50,000 General Motors workers walked out at 11:59 p.m. Sunday, it was just the latest in the largest burst of strikes in decades. Last year’s victorious teachers’ strike in West Virginia was the initial spark, helping inspire statewide walkouts in Oklahoma and Arizona...
By Phil Kabler, Charleston Gazette-Mail
With the help of a $105 million cash infusion from the West Virginia Legislature, the PEIA Finance Board on Thursday approved preliminary 2020-21 benefit plans with no premium increases or benefits cuts for active employees and retirees.
“We’re proposing to go out [to public hearings] without any rate increases at all,” PEIA Executive Director Ted Cheatham told the board.
For employees of cities, counties and governmental agencies...
Sen. Joe Manchin said he took the plight of West Virginia’s 10,000 homeless students to the country’s top education official this week, asking for federal attention on the state’s issue.
Manchin, D-W.Va., called the number of homeless students, nearly 1 in every 25, “absolutely unacceptable.”
He said he spoke with Education Secretary Betsy DeVos on Sept. 17 for 30 minutes via phone in...
By Abby Haglage, Yahoo Lifestyle
The word teacher, for many, has long been synonymous with hero.
On social media, political stages and news sites, teachers are hailed as indefatigable...
As of Sept. 12, there were 72 children missing from West Virginia’s foster care system, now classified as runaways by the state.
The state has recorded 651 runaway foster care children — mostly teen boys who flee from less-secure group care settings or schools — since the end of last year through earlier this month.
The number is likely to eclipse the previous year’s number of runaways,...