By Esteban Fernandez, Times West Virginian
FAIRMONT — Marion County Schools has joined the chorus of voices calling on the state legislature to stop weakening public education.
“Our district is committed to preparing students to contribute meaningfully to our communities and to the long term economic health of our state,” School Superintendent Donna Heston wrote in an open letter signed by the Board of Education. “However, the policy environment surrounding public education has increasingly made that work more difficult.”
The Board of Education approved the letter at a meeting Monday afternoon.
The Hope Scholarship, a school voucher program which shifts money away from public schools into private and home school options, has been under increasing scrutiny from several quarters, including the state Board of Education. L. Paul Hardesty, president of the state Board of Education, called attention to the fact in October that public school must follow a thick binder’s worth of regulations, while the Hope Scholarship only has a page’s worth of regulations and home school regulations can fit on an index card.
The school system’s letter charged the state legislature with spending considerable time on issues that do not move student achievement. The letter also points out the expansion and funding structure of the HOPE Scholarship program redirects millions of taxpayer dollars away from public schools. That has a material impact on the school system’s ability to provide its students with updated study materials, skilled teachers and support services.
Image courtesy of Times West Virginian