(Editorial - Graphic Illustration - MetroCreativeConnection)

We can argue about funding and vouchers, transportation and transparency, but West Virginia Board of Education President Paul Hardesty is right. There is no going backward from school choice in the Mountain State.

His message last week to public school systems in the state was blunt.

“You might not like what I have to say, but I don’t really care. School choice is here to stay,” Hardesty said. “Our 55 county superintendents and boards need to understand that. We are one of the school choice options. We need to make our options more accommodating to parents and children.”

If families have a choice, public schools should be working to be the best option for the most students possible.

Certainly many teachers and administrators would respond to that with, “What do you think we’ve been trying to do?” But it’s time to return focus to what they can control — what they do very well, rather than giving in to the distraction provided by private schools, Christian schools, homeschooling, learning pods and microschools.

To aid in that effort, Hardesty has asked the Department of Education to review all policies approved by the state board to eliminate outdated policies that are doing more harm than good. If there are non-harmful changes — changes that should have occurred long ago, anyway — that will make public schools a more appealing option, officials should start to tackle them.

School systems and communities are going to have to get more realistic and practical about closings and consolidations, too.

“We’ve got to change our image,” Hardesty said. “I don’t want any superintendent to ever say in a public meeting again, ‘Well, that’s the way we’ve always done things.’ That’s got to stop. We are competing for enrollment, whether we want to believe it or not. And the only way we’re going to get more enrollment is to be more accommodating, more receptive and more accessible to parents and students.”

To be clear, that must NOT mean yielding on important policies that protect student health, for example, or adjusting educational standards to suit archaic and dangerous socio-cultural agendas. And the changes must be made in a way that supports teachers, rather than adding to their burden.

If it’s done right, however, Hardesty’s plan is a good one. Now it’s up to the counties to remember “Yes, we ARE the best option for kids,” and show it.