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By Justin Raber
For The State Journal
Anyone who has a Facebook page has seen the various “Common Core Math” horror stories that try to make us believe that parents with highly technical degrees cannot do this “new math” being taught to our students. We turn on the television and hear some outrageous claim that “Common Core” is forcing kids to do too much. We see stories that state how this “new fuzzy math” should be abandoned and that we should just get back to the basics; how...
By Phil Kabler
The Charleston Gazette
Reflections on a historic Election Day:
Naturally, the victories could turn out to be a blessing or a curse for Republicans, who for decades have said how they would improve the business climate, cut taxes, reform education and upgrade infrastructure, if only they were in power.
Now that they’re in control, they’re under pressure to deliver on their promises, and they may discover that talk is easy, but governing is hard. If...
By Jared Hunt
Charleston Daily Mail
The Republican Party is set to control both houses of the state Legislature for the first time since the Great Depression after Democratic state Sen. Daniel Hall switched his party affiliation Wednesday.
A source close to Hall confirmed he switched to the Republican Party at the Secretary of State’s Office about 5 p.m. Wednesday. A formal announcement is expected today.
The state GOP saw unprecedented gains in Tuesday’s midterm...
By Phil Kabler
The Charleston Gazette
Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin said he’s confident he’ll be able to work with a predominately Republican Legislature — just as he was able to build consensus between Republicans and Democrats during nearly 17 years as Senate president.
“Ninety percent of the time, or even a greater portion of the time, we’d have 34-0 votes,” Tomblin said. “That didn’t happen by coincidence. We worked both sides of the political aisle, with Democrats and...
By Kimberly Hefling
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) - The new president of the nation's largest teachers union is a guitar-playing, Spanish-speaking author who takes over as once-sacred tenure protections are challenged and new Common Core standards roll out in much of the country.
The National Education Association's Lily Eskelsen Garcia, a former Utah teacher of the year, does not shy from criticizing what she describes as "toxic" testing. For the union's 3...