Broadband Speeds For Schools and Libraries Should Soon Improve

Many schools and libraries now report slower internet speeds than home service, despite having, on average, over 200 times more users.  That should soon change.

The Federal Communication Commission's "E Rate" program provides internet service to the nation's public schools and libraries.  In response to surveys showing lower speeds, acting FCC chair Mignon Clyburn  announced a plan to bring service closer to the levels enjoyed by home customers.

Problems arise from both the increasing numbers of people using the service, as well as the more digitally complicated information accessed for learning.

According to BroadbandBreakfast.com:

Reforms to be implemented to the E-Rate program include the provision of affordable, high-capacity broadband for schools and libraries, the improvement of administrative efficiency and the maximization of cost-effectiveness in purchases. The agency also said it would work to improve its data collection methods in order to be able to more fairly allocate funding and phase out funding for outdated services so that more money can be allotted to investments that will increase bandwidth

Schools in rural and urban areas should expect the same types of upgrades as well.

Since E Rate was established in 1996, internet connections in schools and libraries rose from 14 percent to nearly 100 percent, according to the FCC.

Introducing Your New Superintendent of Schools.....Barack Obama!

Is there any pie that he won't shove his fingers into?

Last week Barack Obama comtinued his ADHD administration by creating for himself a new uproar. He suggested that American students lag behind foreign students in key subjects. Of course Obama cites studies indicating that our schools also require children to attend less than those of other countries.

First of all, I'm tired of hearing about studies that compare the schools of other countries to America. Almost every other country separates children at the age of twelve into different tracks, college bound and vocational bound. Those studies compare all American children to teh select college bound children of other places. When studies compare children as a whole, the United States ranks near the top in everything. The difference between the two systems is that American schools operate on the assumption that all children need encouragement to do the best they can. You never know who will become the next great doctor or playwright.

Why do we continue to cite studies that make us look bad? This is powerful empirical evidence that our schools are not doing the job. Everyone involved claims it means that they need more money. Problem is that America financially supports its schools at a higher rate than any other country on earth.

Obama claims we need to send our children to school for more time. As a parent of two, I believe my children spend too much time there already. I worked in the school system and homeschooled them a couple of years as well and understand that there is a lot of down time. A good homseschooling program can do in a few hours what a school does in seven. The school experience by itself wipes out children physcially and mentally as it is. Their only chance to be kids for any extended period is the shrinking summer break that Obama wants to take away. Character building extracurricular activities will see less participation because it takes a superman to endure a full time job and then football practice.

The problem in our schools is size and structure. Schools are way too big. Everyone knows that as class and school populations rise, educational levels decline. We also need competition that will force administrators and teachers to perform better.

The final problem is the federal government. School control needs to be local. Mandates and curriculum made in the federal and state capitals do not coordinate well with diverse local populations. We need to get back to a time when parents and teachers had more impact on learning than bureaucrats and elected lawyers.

Finally we need to remember that kids need time to be kids. School takes away too much time from that right now. They need time to develop as individuals and find out who they are, not be led here and there down the halls of buildings designed by prison architects. We want children that are educated, not burned out. We certainly do not need another "fix" from the same incompetents that appoint a guy that thinks child molestation is wonderful as the "safe schools czar."

Honestly, isn't everyone just about sick of this guy telling us how he can make our lives better when he has not accomplished one thing in his entire life outside of campaigning?

Secretary of Education Asks Schools to Devote Much of September 8th to Obama

Tuesday September 8th has been designated by the US Secretary of Education apparently as a day to bask in the glow of The Won.

A speech will be broadcast from the White House online. Students will be asked to read about His Husseinness, rate the three best words from the speech, discuss how Obama inspired them, etc.

A national day of protest by Bury the Blue is in the early stages of being organized.

It is not clear at this point if Mineral County or other regional systems will be taking part.

More details to come in tomorrow morning's Potomac Highlands Conservative.

School Calendar Debate

To me the school calendar debate is somewhat overblown. Many have established an arbitrary number of 180 days as the gold standard. The weather and any other issues be darned, if students do not have the opportunity to endure 180 days of school, they have been somehow undeserved.

While debate has raged over the quantity of days spent in school, little discussion centers around the quality. Over consolidation and overcrowded classrooms affect the educational experience far more adversely than whether or not a school system has operated 180 days.

Let's be honest. Many days on the school calendar see both teachers and students less than motivated by the learning experience. Thirteen years of personal attendance, four years as a substitute, and sixteen combined years spent by my children in school tells me that any days spent during Thanksgiving week, any days during a week shortened by Christmas, and every day in June is nearly pointless. These are opportunities to show The Princess Bride or the movie about the Red Rider BB gun shooting a kid's eye out again.

It's not that I am complaining about these diversions for school kids, but we are fooling ourselves if we think that each one of those 180 days will be chock full of instructional time. And should they be? College students pack the same amount of learning into many fewer days.

It's time to debate the sizes of schools and classrooms, not the number of days. Shrink the size of schools and classes overall and you will achieve better results in 150 days of class time than you are now.

Whither Caperton? Also, Another Party of the Common Man Update

Before Mojo there was another highly popular two term gubernatorial juggernaut in Charleston. Caperton exploded onto the scene in 1988. The extremely wealthy insurance man toppled a vulnerable, but still formidable legend in Arch Moore. His business experience combined with a downhome, but politically connected Jackson County wife helped him storm into office. After a few missteps, such as his aborted scheme that would have both consolidated power in his hands and increased the size of government during tough economic times (for West Virginia anyway) Caperton settled in and steered the ship of state for eight years. After that he ventured off into the fog of the outside world outside of politics. Currently he heads the College Board.

Politically the roads closed to Caperton when his second term ended in 1997. Shut out of the Governor's Mansion, seeing the House of Representatives as a demotion, and understanding that Byrd and Rockefeller were not moving on any time soon, Caperton turned to the field of education to pad his resume and do something substantial, but in preparation for what?

A little speculation has centered around Caperton being considered for Secretary of Education. His lack of direct contact with Bill Clinton might work against him, but he would seem to be a reasonable choice. However, his reputation as a relatively conservative Democrat will not help Obama in his current disputes with minorities and Leftists.

I have always wondered if Caperton's eye was not on the US Senate. Certainly before Manchin, he was a strong possibility to succeed Byrd. His speech to the West Virginia Education Alliance might signal that his toe may be reemerging into the pool of state politics.

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Party of the Common Man Update: Bad Medicine

Probably the most stunning allegation involving Illinois governor Rod Mytzlplyk, or whatever his name is, involves the allegation that he was prepared to rescind support for Children's Memorial Hospital because an executive refused to contribute to his campaign. Sorry kids, pony up the f-ing money or no f-ing medicine for you f-ing brats (if you don't get the last line, take a gander at the transcripts of his wiretaps. He is very fond of a certain word and uses it "liberally".)

Is it not fascinating that Obama has rarely even had contact with this man?

ISI Finds That America and Its Elected Officials Fail Civics

The results are in and most of us failed.

The Interscholastic Studies Institute released a report on November 20, entitled
Our Fading Heritage: Americans Fail a Basic Test on Their History and
Institutions. According to the report:

More than 2,500 randomly selected Americans took ISI’s basic 33question
test on civic literacy and more than 1,700 people failed, with the average score 49 percent, or an “F.” Elected officials scored even lower than the general public with an average score of 44 percent and only 0.8 percent (or 21) of all surveyed earned an “A.” Even more startling is the fact that over twice as many people know Paula Abdul was a judge on American Idol than know that the phrase “government of the people, by the people, for the people” comes from Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address.

This is astonishing. Even among those with Bachelor's degrees from colleges, the score is only slightly higher at 57%. That still fails. ISI blames colleges for not adequately teaching the foundations of our political and economic system. According to the study, those who talk frequently about politics have a better grasp of the system regardless of their level of education.

Bachelor's degree holders specifically have a poor understanding of such basic institutions as the presidency and the electoral college. They also do not grasp the essentials of capitalism.

Although colleges certainly are to blame, high schools have to realize they failed as well. I learned more in two economics classes in high school than I did in college. We not only heard about supply and demand, but were obliged to demonstrate a complete understanding of it. My did that teacher love supply and demand curves! They were tedious then, but I am thankful now. Too many teachers abandoned the seemingly tedious to be more entertaining. Another teacher taught civics with the same kind of thoroughness. Both were Republicans although you never heard them say so in class. They believed in teaching ideas, but keeping politics out, something I respect.

Will this study have any impact? Hard to tell since ISI is a free market think tank. It is clear that America is losing its sense of itself and its grounding in the past.

You can take the quiz for yourself at:

http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/resources/quiz.aspx

Students Suffer When Schools Lack Funds

Schools across the state have had to look for ways to tighten their belts due to the higher cost of energy. Prices across the board rose in the past year and schools depend in many ways upon fuel to function properly.

Preston County limited each sport to a single bus trip. Parents must figure out how to get their children to the games themselves. This means car trips to places such as Lewis County and Elkins for families that cannot afford to fill their own gas tanks. In Grant County, athletic costs have risen to the point that Petersburg High School's athletic department can no longer share funds with the band. Away game and competition performances could be in jeopardy.

Right now the costs have hit athletics first. Most consider this a "luxury" item anyway, but few parts of modern schools teach real life lessons about hard work and sacrifice in quite the same way as extracurricular activities. Sports, band, chorus, and other activities teach about the real world and are sometimes a better learning experience than the classroom. Field trips, already limited, could be phased out across the state. Too many children never get the chance to travel and learn first hand about other places except from these trips.

First the school system must halt all consolidation. Bigger schools with bigger fuel bills that require more bus runs to supply them are no longer something our state can afford. Put money into maintaining the small schools where they still exist. Also administrative cuts must be made where possible. Students have taken enough hits. Finally, salary increases ought to be looked at in terms of how they will affect the scarcity of current resources. If they cannot be afforded, then they should be deferred. Any educational retreats ought to be cancelled and money put into student needs and activities.

Students seem to take a backseat in most budgetary decisions. It is time to put them first when making budget decisions.

Shotgun Career Choice

Tenth graders in a local high school were shocked recently when a guidance counselor walked into their classroom and announced that the State of West Virginia determined that they must have a clear idea of who they wanted to marry by their date of graduation.

Okay, this did not really happen, but it is not far from the truth. The counselor stated that the State of West Virginia expected each student to have a career choice by graduation from high school.

Say what? I did not know what I wanted to do until I was almost done with college. Some people do not find their calling until much later in life. How can tenth graders, many of whom experience trouble picking out their socks in the morning, understand what they will want to do when they are thirty, forty, or fifty?

What ever happened to the school encouraging children to use their youth to try out different choices? What ever happened to teachers telling their students that they could do anything they wanted? Sure not everyone can be a brain surgeon, but let the intrepid find out on their own whether it is for them or not.

One student called it "Communist" while some parents advised their children to not inform the counselor even if they did have one in mind. After all at the end of the day, it is not really their business. It actually does encourage a more socialist view of schools manufacturing children like tractors and playing a heavy role in "helping" students make choices that in all honesty they do not need to make at this time.

It is not even desirable for students to be pressured into such choices so early. Most people change almost completely between high school and their mid twenties. You gain perspective on life, your experiences change your dreams. The kid who wants to be an NBA superstar at age 15 figures out he wants to be a dentist by 22 because his life experience helped him to choose all on his own. But who has the right to take away this kid's dream before life has convinced him to give it up (unless he really is that good!) Hard work and determination sometimes turns impossible dreams into wonderful realities unless someone along the way crushes the dream by encouraging the kid to be "more realistic." If Owen Schmitt were realistic when he was 20, we'd never have heard from him and he'd certainly never be in a Seattle Seahawks uniform. We'd also have many fewer doctors, researchers, writers, and poets from the ghettos and hollows who were told "you'll never make it out, don't even try."

Again, like any blog entry I write about the school system, the blame rarely lies with principals, teachers, or counselors. It lies with those at the top who make decisions that sound wonderful on paper and make them look good politically, but actually disrupt the learning process and undermine respect for the entire system.

We need to encourage kids to dream big, to dream about all the possibilities, and to make choices in their own good time, not on the regimented schedule of Uncle Joe and the State of West Virginia.

The Real Villain of Childhood Obesity

The media and many politicians often like to discuss childhood obesity. To them, this issue looms as one of the most horrible social problems of our time. Kids carrying extra weight will certainly cause the decline of Western Civilization as we know it. Most media figures and trial lawyers have a ready villain, the free market system that allows such evil places as McDonalds and such horrible items as video games to be marketed to children.

Video games are in their third decade of use. Ever since Pong and Pac Man, experts have told us that children spend too much time playing these games. Only now have diabetes rates confirmed their fears. Something must have happened between Asteroids and World of Warcraft to account for this. McDonalds served these kids' grandparents so do not blame them either.

The big changes have come in the public school system. Rural children are supposedly at highest risk for obesity, experts love to blame ignorance. So many rural counties consolidated their school systems, closing small community schools in favor of mega facilities at central locations. This means that children in a place like Preston County must ride the bus for well over an hour. Schools in an effort to cram as much knowledge into children's heads as possible whittled recess to a short number of minutes and in many cases do not run year round physical education. Some genius somewhere, probably in California, decided that elementary school children need mountains of homework to reinforce what they learned all day in school.

So the child gets up at the crack of dawn, rides a bus for over an hour, gets to school, sits there almost all day with little activity, rides home, has endless amounts of homework (while he or she does all this work they probably are snacking) and then hopefully has a short period of time to play before sundown. If the child takes the initiative and plays a sport, then there are times the homework simply does not get done and their grades fall. The decreasing numbers of children playing sports in some areas suggests that school has grown overwhelming in its time demands off campus.

I need not remind you of who has held the school system in their stranglehold for decades. Common sense went out the door long ago. Don't blame the students and do not always blame the teachers or administrators. Those up high that make decisions for all have pushed education in some very negative directions.

RCBI Demonstrates Some Inconsistencies

Imagine that you are back in school and your teacher assigns a paper. Which tool would you prefer to use to write it, a typewriter or a word processor? Sure you could use a typewriter, but it is much more difficult and time consuming and you have a higher chance of making time consuming errors. This is the analogy used by some local businessmen to explain the changes taking place at RCBI.

In a recent letter to the editor, the CEO of RCBI explained that the changes were not substantial and should not cause access problems. However in a letter addressed to local businesses, they apologize for the inconvenience caused by removing the machines to Bridgeport. This is a standard courtesy. However they go on to offer a reduced rate for the next twelve months as compensation. This reflects an acknowledgment that removal of the machines will cause problems for the businesses that need them.

In some cases the new machines have reduced size capacity. In others, the difference lies in ease of use. The machines being removed are computerized. This means that different components can change very easily and that it is capable of much more complicated work. What they will now use does not have nearly the same capabilities or ease of use for the small and moderate sized business market.

It is entirely likely that removing these machines from Rocket Center represents a business type decision. Officials have to come periodically from Marshall University to oversee the operation. Gas prices have forced cutbacks to alot of people and organizations. If this, or something like it is the case, RCBI should just state those facts. However they should not privately apologize to local businessmen for imposing a severe inconvenience, but tell the public that all is well.

Will this affect the daily lives of most people in the region? Probably not. However in the long term, access to these kinds of facilities represented a marketing asset for attracting business to the Potomac Highlands. One answer could be to try and interest West Virginia University in taking over the operation of these machines in its own facilities in Keyser. With an emphasis on marketing the services, Potomac State (a branch campus of WVU) might be able to make them profitable where Marshall University's RCBI could not.

Where Have the Heroes Gone?

Real heroes are important. They give us models on how to get to where we want to go, on how to conduct ourselves, on what is important versus what is trivial.

It used to be easy to find heroes. Schools used to place them on the walls of each and every classroom. Framed prints of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln beside the large United States flag once dominated each room. These men defined courage, strength, and fighting against fearful odds for the cause of right. We learned about other heroes as we made our way through history. We got to know Thomas Jefferson, both Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, Dwight Eisenhower, Martin Luther King Jr. and so many others. Great men and women who made a strong impact upon history deserve attention. Students deserve to learn about people such as Jesus Christ, Moses, Queen Elizabeth I, Catherine the Great, Martin Luther and a long list of mentionables.

Open a textbook used in public schools these days. Where can one find a hero? Today the books and many of the new teachers represent the new style of teaching history. Let me be correct, social studies. The word history evokes the powerful narrative of human development from tyranny to the freedom we enjoy today. Social studies does not have quite the same power. It's not meant to. Nowadays you read more about how America has oppressed this group or that group at any given time much more so than you learn about an America that learns from its mistakes and strives to meet its own standards.

The textbooks and many of the teachers create a massive drumbeat of a message. They developed during a time when the academic world rejected the idea that individuals could make a difference. Rightly they sought to study and emphasize peoples heretofore ignored by history. Wrongly they destroyed the idea of "hero." George Washington's status as a slaveowner makes him a villain rather than a hero that stood for the kind of principles that would later insist upon emancipation.

To the new social studies experts, all capitalist and democratic forms of authority differ very little from dictatorships. President Thomas Jefferson does not differ much from Idi Amin. To the new way of thinking, authority exploits unless it is grounded in some "progressive" (read Marxist) line of thinking. Heroes don't exist because the new social studies shows that social movements matter, not individuals. If you did not have a George Washington to lead the Revolution, some other exploitative authority figure would have.

It's not American and it's blatantly wrong. Individuals can make a difference. They do matter. We need heroes now more than ever, men and women that stand larger than life and represent something real. The good side of this is that the heroes are still with us. We've been taught for so long to ignore or dilute heroism and not think of great individuals. The challenge to those that still believe in a heroic America is to find these men and women, lift them up, and give them the attention they deserve. Not for the sake of the heroes themselves. Real heroes usually do not like recognition. Do it for the sake of those looking for inspiration, who still believe an individual can make a difference doing the right thing instead of the wrong thing.

Where Homeschooled Children Can Go From Here

The Mineral County Board of Education passed into legitimate law the action taken last school year to remove from the rolls of homeschoolers those that spend more than 50% of their time in traditional school classes. This action provoked a hostile reaction at the time because it had no basis in the law. Now some homeschooling parents will have to make the adjustment.

Increasing numbers of parents every year opt to remove their children from the traditional school environment. At one time schools reflected the values and standards of each individual community. Now they mirror the goals and dreams of far away bureaucrats and academics. Under their leadership, public schools veer crazily from social experiment to social engineering.

Consolidation has damaged the schools severely. In the past the schools were based in the community and so were the teachers. Teachers were neighbors to the students they taught and had stronger connections to the community. Now the ties that once bound teachers to students and parents have frayed considerably. No one knows each other. This makes it easier for teachers to not hold themselves to high standards. It also makes it easier for parents to mistrust and dislike the school system.

These and other factors drive students out of the traditional school environment. So where can their parents go to get them the best education possible? The answer lies in the free market. Homeschooling parents can band together, pool money, and pay a retiree or a graduate student to teach a subject (such as math) that parents might find difficult to explain. They can establish their own mini schools that reflect the values they want to teach.

The freedom to choose should always remain the basis of a democratic society. When parents create more options for their children, this invigorates their own children's education. Hopefully it will force the public system to respond more effectively to community concerns.

An Idea For Our Schools

Last weekend, the West Virginia Republican Party's convention heard a tremendous speech from the former Minister of Labour for New Zealand. He explained how aggressive reforms geared towards expanding the free market helped to galvanize almost every sector of a formerly depressed economy.

He explained that his office tried common sense solutions. They had twenty-four programs addressing skills and employment. Only four of them actually produced results. To the minister, the solution was clear, eliminate the twenty that did not work and use some of the savings to help the productive ones. The Anglican Church leadership levied intense criticism until it found that many thousands more people gained employment after the reforms.

Common sense also found its way into education. Reforms swept away various bureaucratic boards that governed the school system. Were they replaced by gubernatorial appointees? No. Instead parents of children actually in the school campaigned to serve on a Board of Trustees that had real power to use funds available. Of course teacher unions feared tremendously the idea that parents might actually run the school. However more money made it into the classroom to benefit the children and performance indicators skyrocketed.

Perhaps the best advice this gentleman gave was to take chances, even if one risked losing the next election. A political party must make a difference while in power, or what good does it do to hold power. The next time Republicans gain ascendency nationally, on the state, or the local level, we must remember our values and put them into place. In New Zealand the liberal party eventually regained power, but found that the free market ideas worked too well to remove.

There Must Be Someone to Blame, Right?

For almost a week now many news watchers around the country have been riveted to the story from Gloucester, Massachusetts about seventeen teenage girls executing a pregnancy pact. They range in ages from fourteen to sixteen and all promised that they would have children at the same time and raise them together. One so desperately wanted to conceive that she utilized the services of a twenty-four year old homeless man.

You can predict the response. Some blame the difficult economic times, others blame the school system. On Fox News last night an analyst actually suggested that the sex education they received was not sufficient enough (seems to me that they figured it out just fine.) Of course the parents will all face the righteous indignation of society. The Roman Catholic Church and its stance against contraception has received blame as well. Catholic parents opposed the dispensation of contraception at school without parental consent (horror of horrors!)

This had nothing to do with the Catholic Church and their anti-birth control beliefs. These girls were TRYING to get pregnant. All the contraception in the world could not save them from themselves. Certainly the school sends a certain message when it has nurseries in it to help school age mothers, then again it is important that they do receive an education to have a chance of escaping a life on the welfare rolls.

This had everything to do with bad judgment and immaturity. Like it or not, the human body achieves physical maturity before mental maturity. Did these girls know what they were getting into? Probably not. That being said, they made the choice and now they must do the best they can to raise their children properly. It is not the fault of the school, the community, or the Roman Catholic Church. Their parents may bear some responsibility, but the fact is that they made the choice.

Life is about making choices and facing responsibilities. How can schools be blamed for what students elect to do on their spare time. Those that blame schools must have expectations that the schools should be empowered to know and direct a child's entire existence. That is a road no one wants to tread.

There's no one to blame. And it is not a tragedy unless one of these girls gets convinced to murder the life growing inside of them for the sake of convenience. They have a hard row to hoe, but that is the life they chose. Making them live up to their responsibilities is a better object lesson for other kids than assigning blame or giving the girls an easy way out.

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Congratulations to the West Virginia State Republican Party and its chair Dr. Doug McKinney for a fine convention last Saturday. We also thank those in the West Virginia State Republican Executive Committee and other valuable state party members who worked so hard to make it work so well. The speakers were outstanding and gave our candidates practical intellectual ammunition to use against the Ruling Party and their anti-business ideology.

Joe Manchin and King George III

When the American colonies separated from Britain 232 years ago, we had a lot of grievances against our king. One of the biggest lay in the fact that the king's government and Parliament insisted on taxing the American colonies despite the fact that America had no direct representative in Parliament. Even worse, they attacked the power of the colonial assemblies that we did elect. They assured us that the king and Parliament would represent our important interests and that we needed no direct voice. America believed otherwise.

I had the opportunity to speak with a member of the Taylor County Board of Education on Tuesday night and what he said astounded me. First, the influence of the Board of Education has declined to almost nothing. In this member's reckoning, the elected Board of Educations in West Virginia make 5% of the decisions. Federal guidelines and state mandates eroded some of that authority, but much of it also has been shifted to state appointed bureaucrats. Second, this school board member explained that Governor Manchin proposed to eliminate the school boards altogether.

This was shocking, not just because of the potential to eliminate elected officials, but also due to the fact that these moves are not widely known. Even in the address Governor Manchin mentioned the issue in a fairly off hand way, according to this board member. The West Virginia Constitution fails to guarantee the existence of these institutions. Of course their powers and duties are not strongly defined either. Bureaucrats appointed by the governor run our schools more than the people we vote for.

This represents yet another shifty power grab. Boards of Education are not always popular and do not always do a great job. However they are still the voice of the people when it comes to how our tax money is spent in our school system. It is time to constitutionally guarantee their existence and grant them more authority. This will balance off the power of superintendents and appointed bureaucrats. Sure this will be less efficient, but the people will have a stronger say. The people in turn must remain educated about their school system and make sure to vote in effective and qualified individuals. If the people choose poorly then so be it. That is democracy. Like Winston Churchill said, democracy is the worst form of government, except for all of the other ones. We should never turn over our school system to bureaucrats as long as our property taxes support these schools.

No taxation without representation!

Teachers

I have held this post for a while, but recently read an article about how Preston County teachers are concerned about low wages compared to their counterparts in neighboring states. The solution from the Education department is always pay more, spend more, vote for our $15 million levy. Unfortunately we are a low income state that needs a better solution. Our teachers are not underpaid because they are undervalued, they work in a low income, low cost of living state. If your customers can't afford to pay for your product, it's time to adjust the product. When you lack the money you think you need, it is time to adjust your strategy. Is more money the solution to this problem? I would be tempted to entertain that notion if someone could tell me a) how much is being spent on education today and b) how much more to achieve the goals set forth.

The National Education Association reports that WV teachers have an average salary of $40,531 which is $10,000 less than the national average. What does the statistic leave off? A little math. This isn't meant to be a criticism of what teachers get paid or the status of our schools, just to ask the question, how much more is needed? After all, levies are constantly being proposed and denied, surely there is a solution out there.

The average WV primary earner brings in around $36,000 per year. http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/income/medincearnersandstate.html I like this listing by number of earners in the family because it better reflects what the average family is living with. I have heard numbers as low as $20K for the average WV income. As you become a two and three earner family the statistics get a little skewed by part time workers, kids living at home and working, etc.

Most people are more familiar with what they are paid per hour. I ran these numbers past a friend who teaches and they already knew this to be true. The school year runs 180 days, most people with 2 weeks of vacation work 250 days. The school day runs about 8-3, with a lunch and at least one planning period, let's call that 6 hours per day. That comes to 180days x 6 hours = 1080 hours per year. To be overly fair, let's add in some bonus hours for in service and general planning, what the heck, lets add 120 hours of "extra" work time. That gives a work year of 1200 hours. Now, $40, 531/1200 = $33.63 per hour. That's 7x the current minimum wage. This doesn't include benefits and pension, and assumes no sick days or snow days that don't get made up for. The national average is over $50,000 per year which means the national hourly rate for teachers is $41.66 per hour. Compared to a non-teacher counterpart in 52 week per year work force with the same annual salary we see that they work 9-5 or 7 hours per day, 50 weeks per year (allowing 2 weeks for vacation) and thus make $40.531/1750 hours = $23.16/ hour. The average WV earner making $36K brings in about $20.51 per hour of work. Roughly $13 per hour less than our teachers.

Think a little about these numbers the next time you see a pending strike from teachers or hear complaints about how underpaid our teachers are. Then try to put this math to the salaries of college professors...just for fun. You might discover the major reason that the cost of higher education is skyrocketing.

Compared to the nation our teachers are underpaid. But isn't that true of everyone in WV? Compared to their fellow WVs they are some of the highest earners in the state. Most of us make less than our counterparts in the rest of the country.

Senator Clark Barnes and the Law of Unintended Consequences

The law of unintended consequences is a fact of life in West Virginia. Our Democratic leadership has unleashed this draconian condition time and time again because they rarely think through the effects of the laws that they create. Here is one example from several years ago. Sweeping anti-drug laws remove the prerogatives of school principals to deal with their own students, resulting in children expelled from school for illegally passing a Halls cough drop.

This is how it all starts. The people come to their legislators with a problem, such as poor attendance and dropout rates in West Virginia schools. Now everyone wants to increase school attendance and keep kids in school until they graduate. That point is hard to dispute. The law says that kids can opt out of school after age sixteen, so what leverage do we have to keep these kids on track to graduation? The answer is a state driver's license. Licenses are privileges, not natural, or constitutional rights (although most liberals rate it above the right to use a gun to protect your family.) The state Legislature wants the dropout rate to improve so driver's licenses are revoked on minors that are not attending school.

Terrific! Watch the school attendance rate rise and we feel much better about ourselves. We used the power of government to create positive social change.

But we forgot something. We forgot to think it through. We forgot about the exceptions to our scenario of lazy kids just ducking school to play video games. Some sixteen and seventeen year olds are not in school for a good reason. They have to work to help put food on the table. Some have children of their own. In Clark Barnes' district one minor mother has a child with a severe birth defect. The defect is so severe it requires constant monitoring. The mother made the right decision and put her child first. The law said that she could not have a driver's license, but she sometimes has to rush her child to the hospital from her rural home.

When a concerned citizen brought this to Senator Barnes' attention, he immediately went to work and got the Senate to amend the law. Luckily he acted in time. However what if the child had a severe problem before he acted?

We should all thank the humanitarianism of Senator Barnes because he did work to change a fairly popular law. However the lesson here is that we need to think very carefully before using the power of government to adjust the non criminal behavior of individuals. This usually does too much damage to warrant the assumed good.

Financially Illiterate

Auto loaning just reached a new milestone recently. Some credit outfits now offer nine year loans to purchase new automobiles. While this helps consumers to negotiate much lower payments, it also benefits the credit firms who will bring in much more on interest. Unfortunately the value in a car at a certain point declines so quickly that many will find themselves owing more than the car is worth or paying on a car that died. This comes from a credit industry currently reeling because they greedily encouraged marginal buyers to make poor decisions on home loans.

The answer does not lie in more regulation. People got what they paid for and reaped the rewards of their judgment. To help consumers make good decisions, education is needed.

West Virginia currently requires four years of math to obtain a high school diploma. This contains an element of absurdity currently because most students never need higher math, not to mention the fact that advanced math subjects must have lower standards to ensure a decent rate of passage. What West Virginia and every state needs to do is to offer an alternative real life mathematics course for seniors. Few students ever need trigonometry or calculus in their chosen fields (although you should never stop offering these subjects.) Every student needs to know how to balance a checkbook, create a household budget, figure up a tip, do their income taxes, negotiate loans on a limited budget, and other real world skills.

Is it not amazing that schools have thoroughly embraced the idea that fifth graders need to know every last detail about sex, but they have not given the same attention to finances? Poor decisions about sex can ruin a life, so can uninformed financial decisions. Our economy is experiencing problems because entire generations have gone uninformed about how serious credit decisions can affect their lives. It is time that every high school in our state offer a math course on how to deal with the real world.

Public Education

We hear it every legislative session: More money for teachers salaries and more spending on education for our students.

Should our teachers in West Virginia receive higher salaries, of course. Should we increase classroom spending - well, lets look into that for a second.

You can see here how much each state spends per student. As you can tell, WV weighs in around $7,700 per student and ranked 19th nationally. Sidebar: That's about twice as much as what parents pay to private schools here in the state on top of the taxes they pay that goes to public education. But, that's an argument for another day.

Meanwhile, District of Columbia ranks #1 and spends about #13,000 per student.So, if spending per student is direct proportionate of how students will do in school, then DC's scores should be WAY above ours.

West Virginia's average ACT test score in 2007 was 20.6 while DC's average score was 18.7.

I have no problems giving teachers in West Virginia higher pay. We rank near the bottom and it makes recruitment tough for our public school system. But pumping more money into the system on the basis of an argument that it will increase our scores is just not plausible. Just ask the parents who send their kids to school in DC.

Our school system should be finding better ways to spend the money they already receive and making our school system more efficient and finding ways to keep kids attention.

Economics 101

When we talk about being in the Global Economy, the illustration as the right is a great visual aid. It shows what the US economy would look like broken down and states put side by side with their comparable country in regards to economic output. Click here for source. You can also click on the map to enlarge.