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Education, West Virginia workforce issues to receive legislative attention

CHARLESTON — With West Virginia students struggling with reading and math and the state attracting major manufacturers in need of a workforce, lawmakers and stakeholders are looking at addressing these concerns during the 60-day legislative session beginning next week.

During the West Virginia Press Association’s annual Legislative Lookahead Friday at the Culture Center in Charleston, Senate President Craig Blair and House Speaker Roger Hanshaw laid out their plans for improving public education and growing the workforce. Blair, R-Berkeley, said both issues are connected.

“Education in the State of West Virginia is an economic development tool,” he said.

Blair appointed Sen. Amy Grady, R-Mason, as the new chair of the Senate Education Committee over the summer. Grady, a school teacher, replaces former Chairwoman Patricia Rucker, R-Jefferson, who was appointed to chair the new Senate Alternate Education Committee formed to oversee the state’s school choice programs.

“We’ve done just about all we can do for alternative education, whether it’s charter schools or home schools,” Blair said. “We’ll keep our eyes on that, and if anything needs to be tuned up to be able to address that, we will. But Amy Grady is the first education chair in over 50 years that is actually in education.”

“I believe that (Grady) is going to be one of the greatest assets on being able to move West Virginia forward and being able to get education correct for the people of West Virginia, for our students in West Virginia,” Blair said.

Grady recently collaborated with State Superintendent of Schools David Roach on a new phonics and literacy program being rolled out this year. Ready, Read, Write West Virginia will focus on the science of reading, phonetic awareness and fluency, vocabulary and reading comprehension. The program will also try to target the schools with the worst English Language Arts scores.

The Balanced Scorecard for the 2021-22 school year — based on summative assessments for grades three, eight and 11 — showed that 53.9% of West Virginia students were proficient in ELA. Only 48.8% of students tested were proficient in math. While scores improved from lows during the COVID-19 pandemic, they remained below pre-pandemic scores, which were already low.

“I am a product of the public schools here in West Virginia. I’m very proud of that,” Hanshaw said. “What I’m not proud of are our reading and mathematics scores among West Virginia students. If the coronavirus taught us anything over the past couple years… I hope it taught us that we cannot leave education on autopilot. We cannot hold teachers accountable when we have hamstrung them and not given them opportunities to actively do what they’re trained to do.”

Hanshaw, R-Clay, said he would once again introduce a bill to provide aides for teachers in grades one and two. A similar bill last year was not taken up.

“What the data tells us is that the early grade levels in elementary school grades, kindergarten through third, are the most critical grade levels for acquisition and development of reading skills,” Hanshaw said.

Hanshaw said the House will also introduce legislation to help improve the state’s college attainment rates which remain some of the lowest in the nation. Working with the Community and Technical College System of West Virginia and the state’s union trades, Hanshaw said the legislation would allow West Virginians who successfully complete union apprenticeship programs to receive an associate degree.

“We often rank among the lowest states in America for college-going attainment rate among our citizens. I think that numbers are artificially low,” Hanshaw said. “At the level of our skilled trades, the (number of) men and women who’ve completed those apprenticeship programs in West Virginia is disproportionately high in comparison to other states.

“In a properly structured program, our citizens ought to be bumped up in that ranking in post-secondary attainment rate because they should be entitled to the same associate’s degrees that citizens in other states are getting,” he said.

Justin Williams, the new director of the Affiliated Construction Trades in West Virginia, said they’ve been in conversations with Hanshaw and the CTCWV on a trades-to-degrees program.

“We’re all about educating people on the opportunity of a career in the trades,” Williams said. “That’s what we’re doing because, again, it’s about a partnership with all these other groups to work together.”

Another pay raise for public employees, teachers and school service personnel also was discussed. Gov. Jim Justice proposed a 5% average pay raise increase. If approved by lawmakers, it would be the fourth such pay increase for public employees and educators. House Minority Leader Doug Skaff, D-Kanawha, said the state should raise salaries while there is excess tax revenue.

“I’m glad to hear both (Blair and Hanshaw) say that public education must and will be a priority,” Skaff said. “We have to invest some of the surplus in public education. Do whatever it takes. Enough is enough.”

“Obviously we need to deal with increased pay and benefits for state workers,” said Senate Workforce Committee Chairman Rollan Roberts, R-Raleigh, during an afternoon panel of the Legislative Lookahead. “It’s a heavy lift, I’ll give you that. But we have to take care of those people that are doing the business of West Virginia.”

Fred Albert, president of the West Virginia chapter of the American Federation of Teachers, said even with the pay raises since 2018, teacher pay remains lower than neighboring states. As a result, there is a shortage of certified teachers in the state, with more than 1,500 uncertified teachers trying to fill the gap.

“Of course, we need pay raises,” Albert said. “They need to be paid a livable wage. They don’t need to be working two and three jobs. We need to do something to support our educators so that we can have a strong workforce.”

Steven Allen Adams can be reached at sadams@newsandsentinel.com.

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