To improve reading and math, candidates for governor would trim bureaucracy, boost school choice
August 31, 2023
West Virginia’s scores on a national education bellwether amounted to the state’s lowest performance ever.
That was for the 2022 results — the most recent — from the National Assessment of Educational Progress assessing math and reading performance for fourth and eighth graders.
West Virginia ranked 50th in fourth grade reading, 49th in eighth grade reading, 50th in fourth grade math and 50th in eighth grade math.
The candidates for West Virginia’s governor spitballed ways to improve educational performance as they gathered on one stage for the first time during a forum at the annual business summit sponsored by the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce. The forum was hosted by WSAZ TV.
Participating in the forum were Republican competitors for governor: House Judiciary Chairman Moore Capito, who is the son of Senator Shelley Moore Capito; auto dealer Chris Miller, who is the son of Congresswoman Carol Miller; Attorney General Patrick Morrisey; and Secretary of State Mac Warner.
The most direct influence on public education in West Virginia is through locally-elected county school boards. The governor does appoint members of the state Board of Education. And the governor appoints members of the separate board that approves and oversees charter schools.
Miller said the education system has too many bureaucratic barriers. As he did with several issues, Miller urged assessing the education system through a business perspective.
“Right now you have this big, bloated layer of bureaucracy that soaks up all of the resources before the money flows into the classroom to benefit the teacher and the customer — being the student and the parent,” Miller said.
“And one of the most important things we can do is give our teachers more flexibility to actually teach, to also help them in establishing the appropriate culture to interact with the students. But we need to get rid of this big bloated layer of bureaucracy that soaks up all the resources before the money flows down into the classroom.”
Morrisey focused his answer on school choice initiatives — which can range from charter schools to the availability of the Hope Scholarship for students leaving the public school system for alternatives like homeschooling to micropods, which are learning collaboratives.
“I want to make sure the money follows the child much more aggressively, and West Virginia will always have the broadest school choice law in the country,” Morrisey said.
“Number two, we’re going to have to build on the success of charter schools. We need to do things differently so we’re not 50th in all the categories that matter. I think charter schools can make a big difference. But the changes aren’t going to happen overnight. They’re going to take four, eight years.”
Continuing to address the question about attainment in reading and math, Morrisey described states “where the craziness of the far left focuses more on whether a biological male can play sports, you know, with women. That’s not the right focus. We need to focus on reading, writing arithmetic. That’s how it was when I grew up. We need to get back to that focus, not be distracted by all these culture wars.”
Capito said his 5- and 8-year old children demonstrate the importance of the education issue.
“We have to let our teachers get back to inspiring our students,” Capito said. “They are not able to do it because they’re so overwhelmed with so many things that they weren’t trained to do. And I’m proud that in the Legislature we really have taken affirmative steps to grow educational opportunities in the state of West Virginia.
“That starts with providing school choice for parents. I’m a parent; I think I know what’s best for my kids, and I think you all know what’s best for your kids. So we implemented school choice.”
He also advocated for a bill passed by the Legislature this past session, the Third Grade Success Act, which is meant to provide greater support in early grades.
“We know that kids learn to read from the time they’re born to the third grade, and then they read to learn from them on. If they’re not reading to learn after the third grade, they’re falling behind.”
Warner described himself as a former teacher who knows the importance of every minute in front of a young student. He also said he understands the importance of accountability from his time at West Point.
“The things that get done are the things that get inspected,” Warner said. “So whether we like it or not, whether our schools are going to be rated efficiently through some format or another, that doesn’t matter.”
He said West Virginia should embrace assessments of its performance: “Benchmark it and then see whether we improve or not. I guarantee you under my administration, we will move West Virginia forward in the education arena.”
Story by Brad McElhinny, WV Metro News