CHARLESTON, W.Va. — State legislators and education leaders gathered in Charleston to confront issues and discuss what is working ahead of the 2020 regular legislative session.
The meetings, roundtables and panels were all part of the 4th annual Legislators’ Forum on Education and the Economy put on by the West Virginia Public Education Collaborative and the Hunt Institute on Wednesday at the Charleston Marriott Town Center.
“The legislators feel the need to show that they are listening to educators. They were kind of questioned about that during the last session and they want to listen to them,” Donna Hoylman Peduto, the Executive Director of WV Public Education Collaborative (WVPEC) told MetroNews.
The forum officially got underway on Tuesday night with university presidents from West Virginia University, East Tennessee State University (ETSU), Marshall University, and Pierpont Community & Technical College, discussing the evolving landscape of higher education.
Peduto said that participants heard about issues that legislators are interested in such as a potential implementation of performance-based school funding in higher education from ETSU President Dr. Brian Noland.
Resource experts that came with bipartisan information highlighted topics such as strategies to increase educational attainment rates; how to ensure graduates can meet workforce demands; local flexibility for superintendents, principals and teachers; teacher preparation to ensure current and future educators infuse innovation and personalized learning in the classroom; and best practices to ensure a culture of entrepreneurship programs in schools.
Gayle Manchin, Chair WV Public Education Collaborative stressed some of those topics and newest trends in education on Wednesday’s MetroNews ‘Talkline.’
“Do we need to start readjusting our teacher preparation program for the classrooms that teachers are confronting today that they didn’t control 10 or 20 years ago,” she asked. “How are we dealing with entrepreneurship and encouraging students to be more creative?”
The forum came to a close with a session called Reflecting with Legislative Leadership and had discussions with Senate President Mitch Carmichael, Speaker of the House Roger Hanshaw, Delegate Joe Ellington, chair of the education committee and Sen. Robert Plymale, who is a member of the education committee.
Peduto said the entire event has continued to be successful and it has shown in some laws put into place.
“I think legislators don’t have the opportunity to hear from some of these resource experts that could inform,” she said. “Last year with the community college bill we were fortunate enough to say we helped a little bit with that by bringing in the state of Tennessee education. They have already been doing this and had lessons learned and tips.”