A Tale of Two …… Winners and Losers

Gov. Joe Manchin proposed a $4.066 billion budget plan for 2008-09 on Wednesday — a budget that includes $81 million for 3 percent raises for teachers, school service personnel and state employees.

………. and $30 million for what is expected to be two advanced job-training specialty centers to attract new business investment to the state.

Among proposed pay increases, the budget includes $32.7 million for 3 percent raises for professional educators, as well as $10.8 million for an additional $400 across-the-board raise for classroom teachers.

Also, the budget proposes using $20 million for “sizeable” signing bonuses for math, science and other “critical need” teaching positions, according to deputy chief of staff Joe Martin.

The budget includes $10.7 million for 3 percent pay raises for school service personnel, and $20.36 million for 3 percent raises for state employees.

http://www.wvgazette.com/section/News/2008010937

West Virginia scored a B-minus in a new national report card that graded student achievement, school finance, high standards, chance for success and other aspects of a child’s education.

Education Week ranked the state sixth best in the country after considering six areas of education performance and policy in its Quality Counts 2008 report.

Education Week found that the state showed strong marks in school finance, prepared students to continue their education and maintained high standards and accountability measures.

Still, students lagged far behind most of their peers nationwide in achievement on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) exam, which earned West Virginia an “F.”

The report considered fourth- and eighth-grade students tested in math and reading. From 2003 to 2007, only fourth-grade students showed gains in math scores on the NAEP exam.

Eighth-grade students did slightly worse in math and several points worse in reading over that four-year span, as did fourth-grade reading students.

“They were low, they were too low,” State Superintendent Steve Paine said of the NAEP scores. “We’ve made the correction. We just didn’t make it fast enough.”

By that Paine means that state officials agreed to increase standards in the classroom and introduce more rigorous coursework for students, a plan which will expand statewide this fall. That step should improve NAEP scores over time, he said.

West Virginia also earned a C-minus grade in student chance for success — among the five worst states. For the most part, officials measured a family’s income, a parent’s education or employment, kindergarten and pre-school enrollment, high school graduation rates, a young adult’s education opportunities and math and reading proficiency.

http://www.wvgazette.com/section/News/2008010921