House Speaker Rick ThompsonHouse Speaker Rick Thompson was rolling along in his traditional opening day speech of the 2013 legislative session with the usual boilerplate material: work together, a better future, look what we have accomplished together, etc.
But then this line: “The education system in West Virginia is on the brink of an overhaul.”
In the media we don’t actually “stop the presses” anymore, we tweet breaking news, and several State Capitol reporters latched on to the Speaker’s line, rushing it out to their followers.
Thompson continued to his fellow House members: “It is important that all members of the House of Delegates are up to date and knowledgeable of what the audit recommends and what is needed to improve upon our education environment.”
The language is significant.
Thompson could have ignored the controversial audit, or thrown out some banality about “improving our schools.” No one would have taken much notice.
But instead he used the word “overhaul.”
The audit found, and the reform-minded state Board of Education agreed, that our public school system is bureaucratically top heavy, badly in need of innovative ways to develop, reward and retain great educators and inadequate in preparing all students for workforce needs and careers.
The status quo isn’t working.
Our students are below the national average in 21 of 24 categories measured by the National Assessment of Education Progress. One in four high schools students doesn’t graduate on time.
Teachers are hemmed in by an across-the-board pay and benefit schedule that fails to reward excellence. Local school boards are hamstrung by a litany of rules and regulations that come out of Charleston and Washington.
Local boards are desperate for more control, according to Mercer County School Board President Greg Prudich.
Speaking to lawmakers this week on behalf of the West Virginia School Board Association, Prudich said, “Our association contends the ultimate goal is to vest more power and authority for education decision making at the county level over the next five years, creating precisely the environment called for in the audit.”
Governor Tomblin is expected to propose substantial education reform this legislative session, shifting more control to county school systems and breaking up the antiquated and absurdly restrictive hiring and firing rules.
But the success or failure of any reforms will depend largely on whether legislative leaders are on board.
Senate President Jeff Kessler indicated to me this week on Metronews Talkline that he is. “You’re going to see some real efforts (to pass legislation) that do make some positive changes,” Kessler said.
And now we see a green light from Thompson, leader of the House, where the stiffest opposition to tangible education reform is likely to appear.
A meaningful overhaul will be difficult, but it’s encouraging that Thompson has his members on the brink.
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Comments
Medman
The overhaul will occur when the teacher's union approves the changes. Or, said another way, the overhaul of our educational system will happen when "pigs fly". Thompson like most of the House Ds is in the hip pocket of unions and anyone believing that he is serious about an overhaul is a out of touch with reality.
January 10, 2013 at 6:46 am | Report comment
wirerowe
In the most recent past the Manchin and tomblin administrations and the legislature have dealt with many difficult problems.that everybody said couldn't be done: privatization of worker's comp, fiscal stability, improvement in unfunded liability of state pension plans, post retirement benefits, franchise tax. Because of the concerns of the wvea and aft about any lossening of their absolute control of our state's school system this will be difficult. but it can and must be done. The unions are running the schools and the schools are failing. we must let the local school boards and the principals of the individual schools run their schools.
January 10, 2013 at 7:16 am | Report comment
ShinnstonGuy
This is great news! I hope some real reform does come down the pike, from the State Board to the Dept to the legislature to the average citizen.
I am sorry for not proofreading yesterday's remarks. I just re-read them and they sounded a bit dumb. I meant to say that I would consider voting for a Republican or third-party candidate if they were for real reform, but I haven't so far in life. In all fairness, I doubt there are too many West Virginians that have voted outside the "D" box because we were taught to only vote that way.
January 10, 2013 at 7:59 am | Report comment
bulldog95
I saw your response yesterday Shin. I think you cleared it up well, so don't lose any sleep over it. ;)
What I tend to see at work and at in my personal life is people not really taking the time see what the canidate it all about. I have a friend that told me his number one reason he didnt vote for Romney was because he was a mormon, and that they believed in aliens and space ships. I had to inform him that the mormon sterotype is having a lot of wives and Joseph Smith re-writing the bible from gold plates. I told him that his idea is wrong and that he was confused with scientology. I then asked him if he refused to watch movies with Cruise, Travolta... He told me no, that he watches some of their movies. Sadly I have found that more voters do indeed vote along party lines and if they dont like their partys canidates they either skip it or dont come to the polls at all. I encourage you to look a little deeper though, I dont know any republicans personally that hate women, hates gays, and shove a bible in you face 24/7. I am against gay marriage myself but would be all for civil unions allowing them to have all the same rights. Let straight people be miserably married, they are not missing anything.
January 10, 2013 at 10:26 am | Report comment
Medman
I like a man who admits his errors. Good show.
January 10, 2013 at 3:40 pm | Report comment
Dave Jackson
I can tell you that the Union movement isn't as strong as the anti-Union fringe wants everyone to believe.....Unions and teachers are just a loud and uninformed minority's whipping boy, a minority who by nature prefers to point the finger of blame rather than be part of the solution.
If the Union is so fangled strong, then why are salaries and working conditions so poor when compared to other states? If we're all "Friends of Coal" as we loudly proclaim (soon to be "Friends of Fracking"), shouldn't we be blessed with an adequately supported educational system as "Friends of Education"?
Soundbites and rhetoric are inexpensive things, but if you want educational achievement let's allow teachers to teach, let's have children who want to learn, and let's have parents who support the process. Anything less is an exercise in futility and stupidity, not necessarily in that order.
Let's end social promotion and establish a system of true competency testing for students, require attendance, enforce expectations, adequately train and test teachers and provide support for them, feed and clothe children, take the drugs out of the home, require parent attendance at conferences, track students into programs, throw out the dadgum computer bells-and-whistles, take politics and politicians out of the flow, honestly evaluate teachers for effectiveness, eliminate the muffinesque WVDE and make county BOEs the clearinghouse for innovation.
But none of this will happen. Once again we place the future generation in our politicians' hands as they gather at the yearly spasm called The Legislature.
Thank you Father in Heaven for retirement.
By the way, do Kansans consider themselves "Friends of Wheat"?
January 10, 2013 at 8:14 am | Report comment
Shadow
Or DC, NOVA, and MD, "Friends of Government?"
January 10, 2013 at 10:33 am | Report comment
Medman
Dave, Did you happen to read the story covering the Legislative meeting wherein the teachers were asked to respond to the audit and its recommendations? They had nothing good to say about any of the proposed major changes and were not reluctant to say they will actively oppose those changes. They, of course, blame everyone else in the system and that is a why we will stay where we are in the national rankings.
January 10, 2013 at 3:58 pm | Report comment
Tom Stark
I recently attended one of the forums held by the WVEA to discuss the audit. I truly thought the meetings were intended for the public but it was actually intended to get teacher input for the union bosses. It was interesting and I was not asked to leave. However, the one common thread that ran through most of the teachers' remarks were enlightening. Their biggest concerns were the extraneous matter they were required to deal with every day that took away time from teaching. Training other teachers, dealing with paperwork, administrative duties, etc. The other major repetitive comment made in my presence (not on the record) was that they would be far more vocal if they did not have to worry about retaliation for speaking the truth to administration AND the unions. When teachers are so intimidated by their own union and the principals of the schools what hope do we have that those they are proposing to place more power with will do the right thing for our kids when they are too busy protecting their turf and retaliating against those who disagree with anything they implement regardless of how inappropriate the plan might be.
We prepared kids in the past successfully by providing the general and well-rounded basics of arithmetic, history, geography, english composition, spelling, handwriting, literature, and practical problem solving. It is not the job if secondary schools to teach the job-specific skills. That is up to the employer and if they lay that off in the schools, they should be put in their place. If young people are well versed in the above, they have the foundation to demonstrate the ability to learn which is really what employers are seeking. Teachable students. Not all are teachable beyond a certain point. That is the reality many refuse to face. Those are the students who would have opportunities in the service industries currently populated by those ill-educated by the progressive school systems of our country.
Teachers have no business teaching ideology, social skills, sex ed, or any of the other things that are for parents to deal with. If they won't, that is not the school-system's concern. Theirs is to document the education received, the grades achieved and if they are inadequate to "flunk" the kid and get his/her attention. If and when they wake up, they learn, they pass, and they graduate to life. If that takes a few extra years, so be it. Might not be politically correct, but it is what worked in the past and will work again if those in charge have the will to say "NO" to political correctness and "YES" to practical reality.
January 12, 2013 at 7:26 pm | Report comment
TD
Off topic but the irony of this is incredible. Keith Ratliff was murdered a few days ago, shot in the head outside his business. Ratliff is producer of a youtube channel that displays fire arms and their awesome destructive power. For example, demonstrating how you can cut down a big tree using assault weapons. Ratliff was a very vocal supporter of guns and had written on the site, "I went to the movies with a gun in my pocket, praying the whole time someone would try to pull a Batman".
He learned the hard way, if someone wants to come into a school or any other place and open fire on you, doesn't matter whether you're carrying a gun or not, they'll have the advantage and more than likely you'll be dead.
January 10, 2013 at 9:57 am | Report comment
bulldog95
I agree, if "someone" wants to kill you, the "person" does have the advantage. They will kill you with a gun, a knife, a garrot wire, a car, or whatever else they want. I never met a gun that pulled its own trigger.
January 10, 2013 at 10:15 am | Report comment
Shadow
Your point is well made. With Obama, Biden, and Coumo trying to register guns and confiscate them, the folks that will be required to do those jobs are a vulnerable as Ratliff and I think they understand this. Therefore, those laws may get on the books but will never be implemented and enforced.
January 10, 2013 at 10:28 am | Report comment
CaptainQ
Hoppy, when it comes to 'education reforms' in the Mountain State, I'll believe it when I actually SEE it, PERIOD.
End of story, next question please?
January 10, 2013 at 10:08 am | Report comment
bulldog95
There will always continue to be issues with the education system until unions allow merit raises for individual performance, or the unions are gone. If anyone will truely give the following argument consideration, I am sure they will agree with me. I will give due consideration to any other counter arguement.
Pick any amount of teachers, lets say 100. Of those 100, lets say 75 of them truely love their job and bust their tail off to make sure the children learn. The other 25 are so so and basically show up for a paycheck. At some point, usually within a couple of years those 75 are getting annoyed with the other 25 and soon figure out that no mater how hard they try they will never be compensated in a fair manner so why try. The 75 then turn into 50, and then 25, and then 10. I will venture to say that the 10 will stay that way and continue to do their best because they love the job. A majority of people will at some point so forget this, why should work myself to death to earn all of us a raise when X amount of people are just skatting by. That is what the teachers union is doing to public education. Allow individual merit raises and 1 of 2 thinks will happen. Those 25 will work harder or quit and hopefully be replaced with someone that will do the job, not just skate by.
January 10, 2013 at 10:37 am | Report comment
mntnman
Quit picking on teachers so much (and by extension, their associations). Here's the deal. I own a restaurant, and hire the best chef in the world. But then I buy the equipment, and the pots and pans. I select the menu and buy the groceries. I tell the chef what temperature to cook at, and what techniques to use. I then tell the chef how to plate the food. If the food comes back from the table with complaints, can I logically blame the chef?
That is what is happening in education. There are so many statutes, rules and regulations governing the classroom that to solely blame teachers for the outcome is misinformed and wrong. Those who made the statutes and rules -- the legislature, the governor and the state board of education have destroyed the art of education and replaced it with classroom managers. But then, why does that even matter at this point. How we got here matters less than where we are going. What we do matters more than what we've done.
If we free teachers, then I think we will see improvement. They are the KEY to our success. Whether you agree with the pay model or not, teachers are generally underpaid and overworked. They are the solution; we simply need to empower them and free them from the strangulation of regulation. Merit pay, differential pay, etc; that's all messing around the edges -- it is not the types of change that will result in improved outcomes. Freedom to teach, fewer mandates and regulations and local control are what matter.
So, the most important key to all this is return of control to the local level. We need to have control of our schools at the county level where innovation and change can take place as needed, when needed. We, county boards, need to take on the task of improving our children's opportunity for education. We can do it, if given the opportunity. We do it now, albeit with much more difficulty and at a much slower pace.
Our conversation needs to focus on children and outcomes. Our conversation needs to revolve around what we can do to improve each child's opportunity to learn and grow. Anything else is window dressing and nonsense. We can do this if we work together with that one goal in mind. This is our chance to do something big and important -- lets not blow it by fighting over the unimportant and needlessly debating things that do not impact outcomes.
I will close with this -- reform is coming. Fact! I hope it will be reasoned, thoughtful and careful. I hope it will not be based on agendas, and gotchas. I hope that it will be based on consensus. I hope the legislature will listen to those actually involved in education. I think we have a chance here to do this right and make things better. I hope so, anyway.
That's my take on the matter. BTW, although I will remain forever mntnman, I am Greg Prudich, president of the Mercer County Board of Education.
January 10, 2013 at 11:32 am | Report comment
wirerowe
Mnntnman I hear you on Hoppy this morning and wanted to compliment you on your positive and constructive comments on the issue of school reform. I think you are an experienced , thoughtful and positive voice that will serve the students teachers and parents well as the state undergoes this process. I agree 100% on more local control and while we won't agree on the amount of power that principals should have regarding personnel issues I think you would like to see more flexibility on these issues. Thank you for your service and leadership in your county and being part of the reform effort to improve our public schools.
January 10, 2013 at 11:57 am | Report comment
mntnman
Thanks for the kind remarks. We don't all need to agree to make great changes to our education system. We simply need to tackle the problems with careful planning. Then we can help our children learn and grow.
January 10, 2013 at 12:18 pm | Report comment
Medman
Mntnman, lots of good theory, unless you are a parent living in Logan or Preston counties. There must be thresholds that counties must meet in order to be given more freedom from the State bureaucracy . Otherwise, I believe there are some BOEs in our state which are totally incapable of managing anything. Then, we have a larger issue related to the fact that we have 55 systems to manage in a state that can only afford 10 or 12. Many of our problems will never end until we regionalize county governments. Yes, I know that is like moving a graveyard and will not happen in our lifetieme, but it will eventually have to happen, maybe?
January 10, 2013 at 4:13 pm | Report comment
mntnman
Of course we have to have goals, aspirations and rules that have to be met before counties get set free. It will only work if there is accountability. We don't fear that. What we are concerned about is more control. Anyway, we have to reform RESAs and OEPA to maintain accountability. That way, counties can gain freedom, and be responsible for their outcomes. My county is chomping at the bit to be set free. We are ready and have the ability to do so. Other counties are less ready. Some may never be ready.
Nonetheless, the current troubles stem from much too much state control. Don't believe me, read the audit. That's what it says. BTW, the state has run Logan county for a long time -- it is NOT doing a better job. We all know that. The time has come to end state control of education. We'll just have to disagree on this one.
January 10, 2013 at 4:41 pm | Report comment
Tom Stark
I agree with your overall premise...see my earlier response to Dave Jackson...If teachers are loaded down with other tasks, they cannot focus on the subjects they are supposed to be teaching. I was told by some teachers that local control may not solve the problems, though, because of the internal school politics controlled by the principals. They hold axes over the teachers that successfully keep teachers afraid to speak out about problems. One of their biggest of problems is they really have no way to discipline unruly students. How can we expect teachers to get results when it is impossible to maintain discipline in the classroom. No, the teachers are nearly as much victims as the students. The problem is that the schools, through the influence of the federal government and the unions, have become bastions of liberal/progressive programming/indoctrination and those who believe that theirs is the duty to teach the facts are threatened by their superiors. Lots of blaim to go around.
January 12, 2013 at 7:37 pm | Report comment
Chalkdust
mntnman:
Great post. Delivered with passion and good-old West Virginian self-assuance. I love the "let us reason together" approach. something the old bastard, Jimmy Carter, never cared a wit about when he created the Department of Education and by extension two huge public service unions which to this very day is a drag on our beloved America.
Good luck, the nay-sayers will lose this one.
January 11, 2013 at 3:37 am | Report comment
Uncle Fester
When you get the liberal progressives out of the federal and state Dept.'s of Education, THEN AND ONLY THEN, will real reform occurr.
January 11, 2013 at 9:42 am | Report comment
mntnman
Why is that? Only conservatives are smart? Please rethink the idea that one side is the solution. We're all the solution.
January 11, 2013 at 10:30 am | Report comment
Dave Jackson
Thanks for your thoughts, mntnman. You, unlike many, have a clearer understanding as to why veteran teachers welcome retirement and leave our classrooms in the hands of less-than-prepared teachers.
January 11, 2013 at 3:17 pm | Report comment