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Is teacher absenteeism really a problem?
By Ryan Quinn, Staff writer
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — State school board member Wade Linger recently said that in some counties teachers are missing more days than their students. State education officials acknowledge there may be a problem but couldn’t provide firm numbers to support the allegation.
In 2013, as legislators pushed a bill to address the alleged problem, then-state schools Superintendent Jim...
Two W.Va. teachers, WVEA members talk standardized testing woes
By Shauna Johnson, WV MetroNews
Standardized testing is beginning for students in West Virginia. This year, the online Smarter Balanced Assessment, based on Common Core standards, is being used in subjects of math and English language arts for grades 3-11.
Early on, Sarita Beckett, a 6th grade teacher at Independence Middle School in Raleigh County, said the reviews for the fully computerized...
Student testing opt-outs spark debate
By Samuel Speciale, The Charleston Daily Mail
Pushback from school officials after hundreds of Wayne County parents attempted to opt their children out of their end-of-year assessments last week has sparked a civil liberties debate, causing many to question whether or not ultimate authority over public education lies with the state.
While opting out is not a recent development in West Virginia, attitudes toward...
Manchin will stay in Senate, won’t run for governor
By David Gutman, The Charleston Gazette
Sen. Joe Manchin announced on Sunday that he will remain in the U.S. Senate and will run for re-election in 2018, not run for a third term as governor of West Virginia in 2016.
Manchin’s announcement ends more than a year of self-made speculation on his political future. The Democratic senator told the Gazette...
Statehouse Beat: Legislature has marching orders
By Phil Kabler, The Charleston Gazette
Sitting through three consecutive hours of April interim meetings, in the same chair in the same committee room, provided a fascinating dichotomy.
At one point, we had the legislative leadership giving the new Select Committee on Tax Reform its ALEC marching orders, with Senate President Bill Cole, R-Mercer, blaming the state’s drop in ALEC’s “Rich States, Poor States...