By David Beard, The Dominion Post
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Debate on a House bill to recruit STEM teachers to the state by offering them student debt relief revealed an underlying problem: It doesn’t address retention and could be perceived as unfair by teachers already working in the field.
HB 3068 passed out of House Education on Wednesday and head to Finance.
It creates the West Virginia STEM Scholarship Program to “provide West Virginia educators with increased opportunities to pursue a lifelong career in helping educate students in STE fields.” STEM stands for science, technology, engineering and math.
A teacher employed for five years in a STEM field would be eligible for $5,000 in debt relief. Teaching in the STEM field for 10 years would entitle the teacher to another $5,000 – $10,000 total…