How low can education go? We're finding out

May 19—West Virginia residents would be forgiven for being either downright despondent about the state of K-12 public education or fighting mad that public officials — in schools, on the state board of education, in the Legislature and sitting in the governor's office — can't seem to course correct. They seem, at best, uninterested or ineffectual or both in making the necessary transformational changes that would boost our students' performance in reading and math, critical curriculum areas that set the odds of success in life later on. Instead, those to whom we have entrusted the governance of our state spend their time improving their own lot, preferring to empty the state's coffers of a once-in-a-generation surplus to the disproportionate benefit of the wealthy.

Them, not us.

We have said it before and we will say it again, the best route out of government dependence, out of walking the poverty line, out of being stuck in menial jobs paying menial wages, out of despair that often leads to drug use and abuse is education — morning, noon and night.

Last October, West Virginia's results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress were well below the national average and amounted to some of the state's lowest performances ever.

Yes, the worst. It was an embarrassment for anyone who cared.

In mathematics, West Virginia's fourth-graders posted the lowest score in more than 20 years with an average mark of 226 — lower than the national average of 235.

In reading, a critical benchmark for learning, state fourth-graders scored an average 205, the lowest ever posted by West Virginia fourth-graders and below the national average of 216.

Scores for eighth-graders, depressingly, looked much the same with reading results lower than all except for The District of Columbia, New Mexico and Puerto Rico and a composite that was 10 points behind the national average and the lowest ever recorded by West Virginia eighth-graders.

And just when the impact of Covid-19 remote learning resulted in these no-good results, a school discipline report last week said punishment was not just detrimental to the cause of educational advancement but also, in part, racially biased.

Simply stated, being Black was one of the biggest risks for facing school suspension in West Virginia.

According to the school discipline report conducted by the state Department of Education, nearly one in five students — 19 percent — during the 2022 school year were referred for a disciplinary incident. Once they were referred for discipline, 56 percent were suspended. Black students made up 4 percent of the student population in 2022, and yet they made up 31 percent of those referred for discipline. The percentage of referred Black students who were then suspended? An astonishing 64 percent.

But it wasn't just Blacks. The poor and foster kids, too, were suspended at rates far higher than their white classmates.

And in a state that should be doing everything it can to keep kids in school and in class, the report said more than 28,000 students were suspended last year, resulting in 67,000 suspensions and a total of more than 177,000 days of instruction lost.

No way, no how can children recover academically from Covid if this is how we handle disruptive behavior.

After reviewing the test performance numbers last fall, Paul Hardesty, president of West Virginia's state school board, said, "I could use big, fancy words, but I'm just going to use this one: They suck. I mean, they're dismal. They're not good. The worst in the history of the state."

And then six months later, digesting the disciplinary report, Hardesty said, "We have a problem of epic proportions. It's no wonder we're in the position we are on proficiency ... We're failing our kids. This has to be a complete overhaul. We've got to do something different."

Well, now that the money is all gone, good luck with that.

But, yes, a revamp is needed — pronto — and that begins with putting more qualified teachers into the classrooms and professionally trained administrators and counselors in charge of handling discipline.

This work — about the kids and not the potentates, politicians and the privileged — cannot wait.