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AUTHOR Spence, Beth TITLE Whatever Happened to Pauley vs. Bailey? The Story of the Politics of Education in West Virginia! INSTITUTION Covenant House, Charleston, WV. PUB DATE 1998-00-00 NOTE 106p.; Photographs may not reproduce clearly. AVAILABLE FROM Covenant House, 1109 Quarrier St., Charleston, WV 25301 ($20). PUB TYPE Historical Materials (060) Reports Evaluative (142) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC05 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Activism; Centralization; Consolidated Schools; Court Litigation; Disadvantaged; *Disadvantaged Schools; Educational Change; Educational Discrimination; Educational Equity (Finance); Educational Finance; Educational History; Elementary Secondary Education; *Equal Education; *Politics of Education; Poverty; Property Taxes; *Rural Schools IDENTIFIERS *Pauley v Bailey; *West Virginia

ABSTRACT This report looks at recent educational history in West Virginia, particularly in Lincoln County, where school conditions stemming from poverty and politics resulted in the historic 1982 decision by Judge Arthur Recht. The Recht Decision found that the state's public schools failed to meet the "thorough and efficient" standard demanded by the West Virginia Constitution. It ordered that school financing be restructured to provide the same educational opportunities to all children, regardless of property values in their counties. The task of formulating and implementing a Master Plan to satisfy the Recht Decision was given to the State Department of Education, an action deplored by reform activists. While the Master Plan resulted in increased supplies and equipment in poor schools and equalization of teachers' salaries across counties, it also led to massive school consolidation, the burden of which fell disproportionately on children in poor rural counties. This report draws on interviews with teachers, students, administrators, government officials, and parents to explore the Recht Decision and its impact on state education policy and state tax policy. Sections examine the conditions leading to Pauley v Bailey; the Recht Decision and its immediate aftermath; the history of tax inequities in West Virginia, where coal companies and other corporations have paid minimal taxes; formulas and other mechanisms used to allocate school funds; social, economic, and educational inequities and the politics that sustain them; opposition to and impacts of consolidation; recent court decisions revisiting the Recht Decision and its unfinished business; and recommendations. (SV)

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U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION ffice of Educational Research and Improvement EDU ATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) This document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization originating it. O Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality.

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by Beth Spence

En FB-EST COPYAVAILABLE This study takes a look at recent education history in West Virginia, particularly in Lincoln County, where conditions in public schools resulted in the historic 1982 decision by Judge Arthur Recht. In his decision, Judge Recht found the state's public schools failed to measure up to the "thorough and efficient" standard demanded by the West Virginia Constitution. He ordered that school financing be restructuredso children from counties with low property values could receive the same educational opportunities as children from counties with higher property values. Through a series of interviews with teachers, students, administrators, government officials and parents, this study explores the Recht Decision and its impacton state education policy and state tax policy. At thesame time, it raises questions about where West Virginia is headed aftermore than fifteen years of education reform. "The Story of the Politics of Education in West Virginia" is dedicated to those who have been part of the long battle for educational equity and who have shared withus both their frustrations and their hopes and dreams fora better future for West Virginia's children.

Black & white cover photos: Beth Spence & Jim Balow 3 Whatever Happened to Pau ley vs. Bailey?

II e uei ean B fe et-1140 AY:4S aull n 1971, six months after her familyshe emphatically voiced her concern about theopen moved back to Lincoln County from Chicago,one ofsewer that was running across the playground at Janet Pau ley's boys asked her to come to a PTA meetingher children's school. After Mrs. Pau ley lodged her at McCorkle Elementary, a rural, four-room school forcomplaint, she said officials tried to bar her from students in grades one through eight in what was thenthe school ground, telling her what shewas doing a remote area of the county. was against Board of Education rules. "So I went down to the The tactic might have meeting, and I happened to worked against someone more look and the seats were easily intimidated. But Janet broken in the school. You Pau ley went to the State couldn't even sit down. I bet Department of Education, there were 21 windows where then State Schools broken out in that school. Superintendent Dan Taylor told And, most of all, the smell, her she had every right to be oh, you couldn't stand it," concerned about conditions at Mrs. Pau ley recalled more McCorkle Elementary. than 25 years later. "I had four boys in school at Although she had been the time," she said. "And I didn't raised in neighboring Boone want my children to just go County and her husband was without some kind of push. So I a native of Lincoln County, 7 did all the pushing I possibly Mrs. Pau ley felt like an out- could do at that time." sider at the PTA meeting. All Janet Pauley's push started a eyes were on her when she mighty rumble. Pauley v. Bailey, asked about the foul odor that photo: Charleston Gazette the lawsuit carrying her name permeated the school. "It's the and the names of her sons, sewer out there," the pincipal Janet Pauley would set in motion a series of responded, nodding to the rear events that continue to be felt in of the school where a river of waste ran through theWest Virginia schools, including the historic decision children's play area. by Circuit Judge Arthur Recht in 1982 which ordered 'Well, I threw a fit because I had four children atthe complete overhaul of the education system. the time in the school," Janet Pau ley said. "I said, Tm More than twenty-five years after Janet Pauley not sending my kids to school like this. I don't raisecommitted herself to doing something about the them in sewer. I don't approve of this." waste running across the McCorkle playground, the The principal said, "There's not anythingwePauley case and the Recht Decision are still being can do." Janet Pau ley said there was plenty shedebated in West Virginia. What, if anything, has the could do. But at the time she uttered that vow, Mrs.landmark court case meant to the school children of Pau ley never dreamed that before she was finished,West Virginia, particularly those in Lincoln County her name would be linked forever with the battlewhere the case was born? Is the education system for better schools in West Virginia. better for it? Is the future for Lincoln County children Initially Mrs. Pau ley went to the Board ofany brighter than it was when Janet Pauley's four Education in the county seat of Hamlin, taking withboys trudged up the road to McCorkle Elementary her some of the broken desks. While she was there,in 1971?

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Dan Hedges never forgot NMI or he students or teachers he metitbire. Some who knew him later said he obsessed. Willerville touched him d the children who had never seen an -nge or a toothbrush, who didn' have- -or adequate clothingicy .

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t the time Janet Pau ley was beginning her Hedges maintained a relationship with push in Lincoln County, a legal services lawyerMillerville by repeated visits to both the school and from Charleston was searching for a way to bringto the homes of some of the students. When most about school reform through the court system. Aof the county's one-room schools were a part of native of Roane County, Dan Hedges was anhistory, Millerville remained open for a handful of attorney for the Appalachian Research and Defensestudents. They could have taken the bus on into Fund, a non-profit organization which providedthe county seat of Spencer to the large consolidated legal services to needy West Virginians. But Hedgescounty high school, but they instead chose to wasn't content merely to file diVorce papers andremain at the tiny rural school. property deeds for the poor. He wanted to make a "The kids that got off there were the kids that difference, to change didn't have anything the circumstances that to eat and didn't have made them poor. And any clothes so they he thought education were embarrassed and was the key. they were hungry," Years before he be- Hedgessaid.The came a lawyer, in fact, teacher who succeeded when he was not long Hedges' classmate at out of high school, Millerville was a young Hedges had an exper- woman who would ience which was seared bring food from home into his consciousness. for the students. Thirty years later, he -photo;:tharleston 0-azette "She was paid next to still can evoke the feel, Dan Hedges nothing, and she didn't smell and texture of a have but a high school one-room school in northern Roane County callededucation either," Hedges said. "She would feed Millerville, a school where his grandfather hadthem, so they had an incentive to go to that school. taught in the years between 1900 and 1904. They had 17 kids in the classroom, grades first to On his initial visit to Millerville, Hedges carriedeighth, and the only books they had were books a well-worn picture which had belonged to histhat had been discarded by other people. It was grandfather. To his surprise, "the school room waspretty deplorable. The only food they got was what just about the same except by that time it hadshe fed them. Nearly half the time they didn't have electric lights in it," he recalled. "In myfood at home. I got to know some of those kids grandfather's picture, it had a coal stove, a woodpretty well. They were very poor." stove, but it wasn't that much different when I Dan Hedges never forgot Millerville or the went to look at it in 1965." students or teachers he met there. Some who knew The teacher was a 1962 graduate of Hedges'him later said he was obsessed. Millerville touched high school. "The year he graduated he went tohim deeplythe children who had never seen an that school and started teaching because people inorange or a toothbrush, who didn't have food or Roane County taught on certificates when theyadequate clothing, who were taught by teachers graduated from high school. I think he made $2,700not much older than they, who lacked books, that year," Hedges said. equipment and supplies, who .were a throwback to a different era and a different set of values.

Challenge West Virginia 8 When Hedges became an attorney, he repeatedly The parents described school conditions to brought lawsuits that would require school districtsHedges. From the first meeting, Mrs. Pau ley to provide free textbooks for students. was ready to make her "push" as she called it, "I brought three lawsuits about school booksbut her primary concern still was with her own before we finally got one that got something," heboys and the school they attended. Dan said. "We had one out in Lincoln County that IHedges was concerned about Mrs. Pau ley's worked on with another lawyer, and we got thissons, but he wanted to file a suit that would court order that the Department of Education wasaffect all West Virginia school children, complicit in, saying you had to provide free booksespecially those in the poorest of schools. to kids according to the free school lunch Hedges surveyed the law as it existed. At guidelines. And that order is still there, that orderthe tithe there were a number of cases being is still in effect." litigated around the country which argued that But it wasn't enough. Free textbooks bycertain students did not receive "equal themselves did nothing to equalize the educationprotection" under the federal constitution. offered to children at schools like Millerville and "We were aware these were going on, and McCorkle as compared with other schools in thewe were aware one was going to the United same districts. So Dan Hedges kept his eyes andStates Supreme Court, so we waited. I can't ears open, searching for a way to take action onremember all the time lines, but I know there behalf of children like those he had encountered atwas a period of time in there, about a year, in Millerville. Then he met Janet Pau ley. which .1-ive waited for the Supreme Court Hedges can't recall the circumstances of thatbecause there wasn't any sense getting started initial meeting, but Janet Pau ley says she first metdown the road in one direction when we the young lawyer when she went to his office forweren't sure how it was going to result," help with a tax matter. "Our taxes were all goofedHedges said. up here, and I had to have help to get them back on One of the cases the lawyer kept an eye on track. So that's how I really got acquainted withhad come out of Texas. Attorneys there argued Dan," she said. that poor children were not receiving the same Hedges doesn't remember that. But he doesquality of education as more affluent children. remember Janet Pau ley coming into his office toThey maintained that the education system discuss problems with the school facilities. was in violation of the equal protection clause of the United States Constitution. "I believe she came with some other women," he said. "(Janet) had lived out there (Chicago), and But the United States Supreme Court struck she saw what kind of schools her kids went to. Thendown that argument, ruling that the equal when she came home, she was horrified by whatprotection clause did not apply to school she saw. She was from here, but she really justdistricts. "The court said it doesn't make any hadn't remembered or something because whendifference. Basically, there is no right under the she came back, that school made her really upset.federal constitution to any equality when it comes to education," Hedges said. "She'd been up to the Department of Education, right in the superintendent's office. Back then we Dan Hedges turned his attention to the had a lot more dynamic state superintendent whoconstitution of the State of West Virginia. "I cared a lot about these issues. That's not to sayremember meeting with some folks that did somebody else doesn't, but Dan Taylor always hadnothing but school finance and thinking of a perspective that you've got to be working at thingsapproaches to try to bring about a remedy on and doing things to try to make change come about.a state level," he said. "It took us a period of And he really did care about those kinds of things.time to research the background in this state He really wanted to cause things to happen to bringand put together a complaint that was filed about educational change." in court in 1975."

5 9 Hedges found his key in a provision of the West Justice Sam Harshbarger, often the forgotten man Virginia constitution that says the Legislature willin the education reform movement in West Virginia, provide for a "thorough and efficient" system ofwrote the majority opinion, in which he defined a public education. The provision has been law in"thorough and efficient" system of education as "the West Virginia since 1872. best that the state of education expertise allows." The In 1975 he filed suit in Kanawha Circuit Courtjustices ordered that a trial be held to determine the on behalf of Janet Pau ley, her sons Duane Berkmanqualities that made up the best the state of education Pau ley and Delbert Thurman Pau ley, Jr., "and onexpertise allows, to see if West Virginia schools met behalf of all other similarly situated" plaintiffs.those standards and if not, why not. Defendants in the suit were then State Ric Mac Dowell remembers well the kind of school Treasurer Larrie Bailey, Auditor conditions that so Glen B. Gainer, Jr., members of disturbedJanet the West Virginia State Board Pau ley, and they of Education, State Superinten- were far from the dent of Schools Roy Truby, Tax best the state of Commissioner David C. Hardesty, education expertise the Board of Education of Lincoln allowed, even by County, Lincoln County Super- 1972 standards. intendent Charles S. McCann, the That was the County Commission of Lincoln year Mac Dowell County and Lincoln County started his teaching Assessor Dennis Browning. career in Lincoln Bailey's name became attached to County in a com- the case only by the luck of the bined seventh and draw he was the official whose eighth grade class at name came first alphabetically. Martin School, one Although Pau ley v. Bailey was filed in Kanawhaof a number of four-room facilities sprinkled Circuit Court in 1975, it wasn't unti11977 that Judgethroughout rural areas of the coimty. Martin, on the Robert Smith finally heard arguments in the case.Mud River, was even more remote than McCorkle, Months passed without a decision. and the community surrounding the school was an "The judge had it for a year," Hedges said. "Thenarea of acute, almost indescribable poverty. he dismissed the whole thing, basically saying, "Because I was the only male at the school, I also which he said in the courtroom that day, that thewas the basketball coach," said Mac Dowell. "Of state Supreme Court was going to have to decide itcourse, the school at that point had no multi-purpose anyway so why not let them decide it now. Heroom. So in order to have basketball practice, we had dismissed the whole case, saying there was no causeto go to the high school at Duval, which was a long of action." way off. Hedges went to the West Virginia Supreme Court "Because I couldn't get any parents to drive, I to argue the case. In 1979 he won a major victoryhad to drive all the kids, and I had to take them when the high court held that children did haveall home again, so I was able to drive up their rights under the state constitution not only underhollows and go to the houses where they lived. I the "thorough and efficient" clause but also underdidn't usually go into people's houses. I stood the protection clause. on the front porches and sometimes talked to the parents, but it was obvious from the houses that "A lot of the teachers didn't seem like they were doing anything at all in the classroom. 0nnean9they weren't doing a thing." 6 Challenge West Virginia 10 many of the people were very poor no running water, there were outhouses at many." MacDowell can remember children coming to school without coats in the winter, children who came from homes where there were no books, no pencils, no paper, no , encouragement. Their school surroundings were as bleak as their homes. The commodes in the girls' photo: Beth Spence bathroom at Martin School were always overflowing, a situation that also became MacDowell's responsibility by "I said, 'That's what I want to do, he recalled. virtue of his being a male. The school had noSo MacDowell applied to VISTA, Volunteers in cafeteria so students and faculty ate theirService to America. He was assigned to Putnam lunches at their desks. Unsafe swings dangledCounty, WV, where he failed to find any activity from broken chains on the playground, wherenearly as exciting as that he had read about. But maybe two of six teeter-totters could be used.he was placed with a family on the Lincoln The others were cracked and broken. County border in a house where he still lives. It MacDowell remembers going to a store inwas from there that he entered the education Hamlin to buy chains and hooks for the swingssystem in a county that desperately needed out of his own pocket. The store owner knewteachers and discovered his own arena for the supplies were for the school, so he sold themsocial change. to the teacher at a greatly reduced cost. "This was my first real teaching experience," But worse even than the physical facility washe said. "I wasn't exactly sure where the students the fact that there were never enough books forwere supposed to be educationally. There were the children. "Not only weren't there books forno real standards. I had left the state and gotten all the kids, but there were never any supplies,"a Masters Degree in Education, so I came back MacDowell said. "I don't know whether it waswith some reading assessment tools. I gave some because there was no money or whether it wasof these diagnostic tests to the kids. And very being funneled in other ways. In those years kidsfew of them were at the level they were supposed had to buy their own workbooks. They had toto be. go all the way to Griffithsville to buy these "They were seventh and eighth graders, but workbooks, and a lot of kids never did get anythey were at the fourth grade or fifth grade so we ended up not using them." levels. Even the kids who seemed bright were Nothing he had seen in his life prepared Ricnot where they were supposed to be. I think MacDowell for the families he met in Lincolnpart of it was the teachers they had had." County. His childhood years were spent in Martin School was considered by many Pennsylvania and Illinois before he went toteachers the end of the line. "There was a lot of Grinnell College in Iowa. He was drawn to Westturnover because nobody wanted to be at Virginia after reading an article in the Des MoinesMartin," McDowell said. "Martin was the place (Iowa) Register which told of VISTA volunteerswhere they sent you if you were really a bad and Appalachian Volunteers uncovering voteboy. When there were openings, people were fraud in Mingo County not bidding to go there.

1 1 "There were some teachers who were "We had a meeting and the parents were real excellent," MacDowell said. "Lillian Clay was ancritical, especially of the politics in the system," he outstanding woman, very bright, a caring ladysaid. "They said, 'Well, we never get anything in who was a good teacher. But she probably onlyMartin School because people are always stealing had the kids two of their eight years at that school.stuff and they're not going to listen to us. The Board A lot of the teachers didn't seem like they wereof Education, nobody ever comes." doing anything at all in the classroom. I mean, MacDowell knew a little of what parents were they weren't doing a thing." talking about when they complained about politics The other thing that still haunts MacDowellin the school system. He himself had been pressured about Martin are the children who were tauntedto support certain politicians in elections, and he because their families were poor. "Some of thehad witnessed other school employees being things, some of the derisive kind of names thesepressured as well. kids had been called had stuck with them, and "At Martin School, we had aides to help the labels had been given by the teachers," heremediate. I can remember when elections came said. "I remember one of the boys was calledup, those folks were really getting political "Sherm the Worm," and that was a name thatpressure more than I was. I mean, people were had been given by a teacher. The teachers wouldpressuring me a little, but it wasn't going to do a refer to the kidshe's just one of those Millerswhole lot of good," he said. "But people would or one of those Adkinses. People would bereally pressure those people'if you want to keep looked down upon for those kind of reasons,your job, you need to make sure these people get because of their families." elected because they'll make sure you keep your MacDowell spent two years at Martin. At the endjob,' that kind of thing because a lot of jobs were of his second year, the county sent teams around totied into structures where you could hire or fire conduct evaluations of the schools. MacDowell hadfairly easily. Or at least people thought you could started to keep extensive records about his students.get fired fairly easily." "Now it might be questioned as not a good kind So MacDowell listened to the community's of thing to do," he said. "But I kept observationscomplaints and suggested that they invite about both their abilities in the classroomthismembers of the Board of Education to a meeting person can do fractions, this person doesn't knowto answer questions and hear concerns. times tables, those kinds of thingsbut also kind "As soon as this kind of conversation started, of anecdotal things, questions like is thereall the talk about me being a principal stopped," something happening in this child's home life or ishe said. "And not only was I out of the principal this child being mistreated? Is that one of thething, I wasn't even rehired at Martin School. I reasons he's not performing well? Or, this child hasended up leaving the county to teach in Putnam a lot of leadership potential." and then Jackson County. At that point, if you The team conducting the evaluation was madedidn't have tenure, you couldn't be hired. I didn't up of Lincoln County school personnel, and theyhave tenure. You went into a pool and maybe if were impressed with what MacDowell was doing.there was a job when school started, you got in "Toward the middle of that last semester, I gotthere. So I went from talk about being a principal asked if I would be interested in being a principalinto a pool of people who really didn't have a job. in the Lincoln County school system, and I thoughtIt was the pits." that would be neat." Politics is the lifeblood of Lincoln County, a But at the same time MacDowell was beingsmall, rural, sparsely-populated area of rugged courted by administrators, he also was meetingfarmland and high unemployment sandwiched with parents to discuss the needs of the school andbetween the industrialized Kanawha Valley to the moving in other directions that were not welcomednorth and the dying coalfields of Logan County by his higher-ups. to the south.

Challenge West Virginia 1° Today almost 60 percent of Lincoln County'scontrolled those funds and the jobs they provided children under age six live below the poverty level.would have ultimate political control. So, using the The average per capita income is $9,800, placingcounty school system like Lloyd Jackson had used the county 53rd out of West Virginia's 55 counties.the state road system, Stowers controlled people Holding a diploma from a Lincoln County Highthrough jobs. School does not necessarily mean a student has It was this systemoppressive, arrogant and learned to read and do basic math. Many haveincompetentthat Linda Martin found in 1975 found themselves woefully unprepared forafter she married high school science teacher Julian anything other than to join the long line ofMartin and transferred her two older children unemployed that from Kanawha snakesitsway County into Lincoln through the county County schools. The largest em- "Itblew my ployer in the county mind to see the was and is the Board difference between of Education, and Kanawha County political control of the schools and the ones school system was so here," she said. "I blatant by the time couldn't believe the Janet Pau ley filed conditions: 47 kids her suit that one in a classroom, ten- group of Demo- year-old textbooks, crats was known no written curri- simply as "the School cula, unqualified Board Faction." teachers, blatant The leader of the discrimination School Board Faction was Wylie Stowers, an oilagainst poor kids, better meals in town school. and gas driller who came up through the ranksThe county ranked 54th out of 55 in the state in of a powerful political machine headed by formerbasic skills test scores'. My husband found that State Senate President "Big Lloyd" Jackson, fatherhalf his ninth graders couldn't read." of today's State Senator Lloyd Jackson, known Conditions were much worse than those Mrs. back home as "Little Lloyd." Martin had experienced growing up in the 1950s The senior Jackson had enough savvy to makein Logan County "The School Board was putting deals with politicians in other counties in hisallof itsresources into buildings and district, enabling him to do the seeminglyadministrators instead of putting most of them into impossibledevelop a seat of power in a tinythe classroom," she said. "Parents were selling hot county with no employment base. His strengthdogs to purchase desks, water fountains and was an iron-clad grip over hiring in theplayground equipment." Department of Highways and Department of Mrs. Martin began to attend school board Welfare at a time when federal money was pouringmeetings and raise questions about budgeting and into both agencies. spending practices. "We always heard the same Stowers, who succeeded "Big Lloyd" Jacksonthing," she said, 'They didn't have any money. Well, as the premier political boss of Lincoln County,we knew there was natural wealth here because started to build his own organization after a falloutColumbia Gas and Pennzoil have big holdings, but with Jackson. He shrewdly recognized that withwe found out that Columbia was paying only 14 most of the federal dollars coming into the countycents an acre in taxes. And yet no one in the school earmarked for education, the person whosystem was pushing for that to change."

13 9 Although there are few jobs in Lincoln County, "We watched as school board members some of the largest oil and gas reserves in the statetransferred hundreds of thousands of dollars lie within its borders. However, of 270,704 acres offrom one line item to another in the school budget mineral land in the county, 78 percentor 218,794within seconds with no discussion," said Mrs. acresis owned by one corporation, Columbia Gas.Martin. "Yet, they would spend twenty minutes In Lincoln County, as well as in many counties indiscussing who would get a job as half time cook West Virginia, land ownership patterns haveat one of the local schools." changed little in the more than one hundred years The organization documented the use and since outside corporate interests gained control ofmisuse of federal dollars. They found that the state's natural resources. money sent into the county to feed school A handful of corporations control thousands ofchildren was being used to pay truck drivers acres of coal, oil and natural gas as well as 50 percentand school secretaries. They monitored a of Lincoln. County's surface land. And theschool building program and foundthe companies that drill, dig and transport this mineralcompanies that received bids to do the work wealth out of Lincoln County have historically paidsubcontracted the jobs to the man who headed pennies in property taxes, leaving an economicallythe democratic political machine. They found crippled and underfunded school systemthat federal money intended to be used to hire challenged to provide even a rudimentary educationvocational counselors was shifted into the for its children. school buildings account. Mrs. Martin and her husband banded together They uncovered misuse of funds in the Title with other concerned citizens to help forge whatI program, designed to help children who are became a statewide tax reform movement. As abehind grade level in reading and math. In all, result, Columbia Gas's taxes were increased to 86Parents for Better Schools was responsible for cents an acre. While still not fair and equitablefour federal audits, one showing that Lincoln taxation in the eyes of the reformers, the increaseCounty had misspent $721,000 of the $800,000 put an additional half milliondollars into the Lincolnreceived for one year's Title I program. County Schools coffers. The group even launched an effort to impeach "I was ecstatic," recalled Mrs. Martin. "We wentand remove the Board of Education, alleging that back to the Board and suggested that these new fundsthe body mismanaged a $7.1 million school be put into improving classroom instruction, but theybuilding bond, improperly used school lunch just ignored us. I asked for a copy of the school budgetproceeds and misused special education money

.and they refused to give it to me." The action, although unsuccessful, sent shock Linda Martin wasn't the only parent outraged bywaves through the political establishment. the state of the schools in Lincoln County. But she As Parents for Better Schools learned more was the first to mount a public challenge to the wayabout the way the school system .operated, the system was run. "I was just an angry parent," shethey realized that the schools were the way said, "and I did what I did because of that. I wasthey were because of politics and children surprised that other people were just waiting forin the remote rural schools like Martin and someone to step forward." McCorkle were particular victims. The group that became known as Parents for Better "Rural schools were treated like poor Schools was a righteous army. Members learned tocountry cousins," said Mrs. Martin. "For the read school budgets and attended all board meetings,most part, they were under-financed refusing to be shunted.aside by Superintendent Charlesdumping grounds for political hacks and their McCann, who told one parent to go to hell when hefriends, operated with the idea that the least was questioned closely about school business. Parentsof everything is good enough for 'holler' kids. for Better Schools members constantly challenged "What many people didn't realize was board of education spending practices. that the economic system here made control 10 Challenge West Virginia "If you work for a chemicaO company or an automobioemanufacturer and you don't do your job,you9re removed0 of the school system really impor- tant for the politicians," Mrs. Martin said. "Forty-one percent of the people were living on some form of government assistance. There simply weren't and aren't any jobs in Lincoln County. "If you work for a chemical company or an automobile manu- facturer and you don't do your job, you're removed. That doesn't happen in the school system because school board employees especially bus drivers, cooks, janitors and other auxiliarynecessary to farm their children out to personnelare the folks who work therelatives to ensure their safety. Eventually precincts for the political powers on electionJulian and Linda Martin's marriage was a day. The more incompetent the employee, thecasualty of the long hard fight. greater the pressure politicians can place on The transportation director was, of course, them to do what they want them to do onfound innocent in the assault of Julian Martin. election day." He admitted that he hit Martin, but he justified The stakes were high for both sides as thehis action by saying he did it "for the honor battle raged on for the better part of a decade,of Lincoln County." sometimes deteriorating into threats of "Imagine that," said Mrs. Martin. "This was violence. Mrs. Martin recalls telephone calls ina place where there was honor in trying to the middle of the night, hate-filled voicessilence reform." promising that she and her family would pay Between the time Janet Pauley went to her first for their actions. She and her husband were PTA meeting at McCorkle Elementary School and followed as they drove into remote areas of theJustice Harshbarger wrote his opinion on what was county and harassed in broad daylight inthen commonly referred to as "the school case," county businesses. Lincoln Coi.mty had become a hotbed of activity The anger came to a head after onearound public schools. particularly heated board meeting in 1980 The Board of Education and the local when Julian Martin was slugged from the blindpolitical bosses were already reeling from the side by the superintendent's brother-in-law,punches landed by Parents for Better Schools who also was the county transportationwhen the board approved a recommendation director. It took six stitches to close the cuts onby Superintendent McCann to remove Betty Martin's bloody face. The image was captured Jones from her position as principal of Hamlin by a photographer for the local Lincoln Journal Elementary School. and ran on the paper's front page that week. The then 39-year-old Mrs. Jones, considered "It was painful for our children to goby many to be an educator of remarkable through that," said Mrs. Martin. "And it wasability, intelligence and sensitivity, stood a frightening time for the whole family." charged with a variety of offenses. The most The Martins did not give up their struggleserious were that she had not implemented a to reform the education system, but the pricecounty-approved reading program, that she had was high. At various times, the couple felt itmisspent school funds and that Hamlin 15 11 Elementary School had a higher than normalWhat had been done to Mrs. Jones in the teacher turnover rate. But also included in the listmonths leading up to the hearing was of charges was an allegation that the educator useddescribed by teachers as "a witch hunt" and supplemental reading materials by non-involved observers as to help children learn to read. "a case of political overkill." Other issues bubbled beneath Every trivial grievance that the surface. Mrs. Jones knew she anyone had ever held against had offended the county power Betty Jones was brought out, structure by openly opposing put under the microscope and strip mining and by attending received with utmost meetings organized by people seriousness by members of the the Lincoln County establish- Board of Education. ment viewed as "hippie out- When the dust had settled, siders." She also had joined with no one had offered evidence a group of reformers that out- that the reading program had hustled the old-time pols and not been implemented; an audit packed a county democratic revealed that only $29.97 could convention called to nominate a -. not be accounted for out of a new United States representative .' ot $13,000 school budget; and Julian Martin when Rep. John Slack died in the Hamlin's teacher turnover rate middle of his term. The democraticpower was found to be about average for the county, establishment was outnumbered by the reformers,according to state statistics. Nonetheless, the Board who nominated crusading State Sen. Si Galperin. of Education made the decision to remove Mrs. "I can remember that day so well," said LindaJones as principal of Hamlin Elementary without Martin, who also attended the convention.further discussion of the charges. "Wylie Stowers was just fuming, and people Most unbiased observers felt the principal was were taking notes about who was there and whofired because she was an outsider and because she was doing what." wouldn't play ball with the political establishment. So, with a firm belief that the issues involving Betty Jones had been named principal of Hamlin her job were political rather than educational,Elementary twelve years earlier precisely because Betty Jones took the unprecedented step ofshe was an outsider. A native of North Carolina, she insisting that her hearing be held in public. had come to Lincoln County through the National "I knew they were going to say a lot ofTeacher Corps, a program modeled after the Peace things about me," Mrs. Jones said later. "ButCorps. Young teachers were able to obtain their I felt like they should have to say them outmasters' degrees in exchange for teaching in some in the open. If I went behind closed doorsof the poorest schools in the nation. with them, they could say whatever they At the time Lincoln County's schools were filled wanted to, and it would be their word againstwith the "permit teachers" described by Dan mine as to what I had said and what they hadHedges people who had not completed the said. This way, everyone could hear it andeducation required by the state, but who were judge for themselves." "permitted" in classrooms because of a severe The hearing, begun on a chilly Saturdayshortage of teachers. The Teacher Corps members morning in February 1981 and stretching overwho attended Marshall University in Huntington three days, was less about Betty Jones than it waswere placed in a number of rural counties. Mrs. about the Lincoln County School system.Jones was assigned to Lincoln County. "It was painful for our children to go through that," saidMrs. Martin. "And it was a frightening time for the whoOe famiDy."

Challenge West Virginia 16 Betty Jones was no stranger to poverty. She Mrs. Jones was haunted by the face of that spent her childhood picking cotton and diggingyoung boy. "For years I wondered what peanuts in one of North Carolina's pooresthappened to him, and I believe I decided at that counties. But it was a different kind of povertymoment that I was going to stay in Lincoln than that which she saw etched into the facesCounty and try to make a difference." of the children from the hollows and ridgetops When she was asked to take over as of southern West Virginia. She saw in them aprincipal of Hamlin Elementary in 1970, Betty poverty of the spirit, a deeply ingrained sense of worthlessness. Worse, that feeling of limited self- "And this teacher said, 'Look at him. Now worthwasacceptedand intensified by the one institution he won't have a pencii or paper ail year. He that might have been the won't have any books, and it's ail because his children's redemption the daddy drinks up the weifare check.' That school system. "We were poor, but so was chEld ,L..ost stood there wPTh tears everyone else," Mrs. Jones said of runnkng down Hs face." her own early years. "But we grew up with hope and expectations. My daddy always told me to get an educationJones saw an opportunity to make changes in so I wouldn't have to work hard like he did.at least one school. But as she tried to make And in school all of us were made to believeHamlin Elementary a better place, especially for that we could be whatever we wanted to be ifthe children of the poor and uneducated, we worked hard enough. she received an education We weren't given the in politics. impressionthatwe "Ifoundthatthe didn't matter." schools in Lincoln County She still gets a catch were the way they were in her voice when she in large part because of describes her first day of politics," she said. "Teach- school in Lincoln County. ers were hired not for their "It was a first grade class- ability or commitment, but room, and there were because of family con- more than 40 children Betty Jones nections. Students were crammed into it. I was rewarded not for effort helping this older teacher, and she started to tellor achievement, but because of who their me about some of the students. parents were." "She said, 'See that little boy back there?' and Hamlin Elementary was the jewel of the she pointed to a child in the back of the roomcounty's school system. Members of Lincoln and told him to stand up. He was just a little boy,County's most influential families made up the and he was obviously very poor. His clothes werefaculty and staff. Parents in other parts of the ragged. He looked like he was scared to deathcounty complained that the school got an and he'd been crying. overabundance of resources at the expense of "And this teacher said, 'Look at him. Now heother neighborhood schools. won't have a pencil or paper all year. He won't Betty Jones found that even with the extra have any books, and it's all because his daddyresources, not much was going on in the way drinks up the welfare check.' That child just stoodof education. Children were going to junior there with tears running down his face." high school without knowing how to read, 17 13 an the [long run, the real] aosersin theBetty Jones case were the Linco n County politicians. especially the poor children. "Some of theand more possible for their children to get an teachers stood around the halls and drank coffeeequal education, a seething resentment grew and planned bridge games," she said of her initialamong a small but influential group of parents days at Hamlin. "They'd leave the school to gorelated by blood and marriage to those who shopping or get their hair done. They would getcontrolled the county's political system. Several together in groups to decide what gradestimes, each coinciding with an election, they tried children should receive." to have Mrs. Jones ousted from Hamlin Elemen- She appealed to the superintendent of schoolstary. But they were unsuccessful until 1981. to transfer some of those teachers, but he said he The board's action that year to remove her couldn't even though he wanted to see the schoolcame as no surprise to the educator. "There were straightened up. "They've got more political cloutfourteen parents who were opposed to me, than I do," he told her. compared with 350 who signed petitions There wasn't much Mrs. Jones could do tosupporting me. They were a small group of change those teachers. But she put an end to theparents who were upset because their children loafing in the hallways and trips to the hairdresser.weren't winning every spelling bee or social Because so many children could not read, shestudies fair. I could have let them run the school called in specialists from the educationand that would have solved the problem for me. department of Marshall University to helpBut it would have been devastating for the develop a plan for children to catch up in readingchildren I was trying to help," she said. and basic skills. Slowly, she built a supportive, When Betty Jones lost her job at Hamlin enthusiastic staff of young teachers as the olderElementary School, she was given an assignment teachers retired or asked to be transferred. viewed by many as the worst the county had to "Betty Jones was an outstanding administrator,"offer. She would teach a combined first and second said one of those teachers, now a twenty-yeargrade class at McCorkle Elementary, the school that veteran of the system. "I told her once she's myhad given birth to Janet Pauley's lawsuit. The first mentor and that I am the teacher I am today becauseyear she was there, only one second grader in her of her. She didn't just teach me how to be a teacher,class was able to read. The class had had three but how to stand up against injustice, to knowteachers the year before, and parents, though upset what's right and what's wrong and speak up,about the situation, were less than pleased to have regardless of the consequences. someone Hamlin had discarded. "At Betty Jones' school, all children were Mrs. Jones dug in her heels and won over the equal," the teacher said. "(Her credo was) allcommunity as she taught the children at McCorkle. children can learn, all children will learn, youThe next time the county tested children, McCorkle's will teach all children equally and you will treatthird graders scored highest in the county in reading. them equally. (The political powers) couldn'tBetty Jones remained in the first and second grade have that because sometimes the poor kids wereclassroom until the school was closed. She also the achievers." brought a lawsuit in federal court against the Lincoln No longer were spelling bees and mathCounty Board of Education, a suit which alleged that she had been fired for political reasons. The competitions automatically won by an elite group of board settled the suit before it came to trial. students. Children who lived outside the county seat began to win awards at Hamlin Elementary School, In the long run, the real losers in the Betty Jones and their parents were made to feel welcome whencase were the Lincoln County politicians. Across they visited the school. the state, the school system was branded as a political entity rather than an education system, But while the parents from the outlying areas and it was against this backdrop that the Pauley learned to appreciate the changes that made it more comfortable for them to visit the schoolversus Bailey suit played out. 14 Challenge West Virginia 18 IS

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_ 4.° t was a Friday in 1981, divorce day in theidea what he was he was getting into. Yet he must first Jt"Cdicial Circuit. Circuit Judge Arthur Recht,have had some sense of what was to come who only recently had been appointed to fill anbecause when he went home he told his wife, unexpired term on the bench, had spent that dayKaren, "What we're going to do here is going to in Hancock County hearing the tragic stories ofchange life as we know it in West Virginia." men and women whose marriages were damaged "I could see the shape that the case was going beyond repair. Divorce day was never easy forto take. It was going to affect, or could affect, the judge. This one had been particularly long and much of the future of West Virginia," he said later. hard, and he was getting ready to go home when the phone rang. Recht picked it up, thinking his At the time the Pauley case was filed, wife would be on the line. education cases were extremely rare, Recht said, and there was not a great deal of precedent to Instead, it was Justice Harshbarger. "Hefollow in terms of the constitutional provisions basically wanted to know how filled my casewhich apply to the delivery of an education docket was," Recht recalled. "Well, it really wasn't.system. All that really existed was the phrase The person that I had replaced didn't have manyHedges had found calling for a "thorough and cases assigned to him because he knew he wasefficient" system of education. going to retire. I just didn't have a lot of cases. I told him that." After being named a special judge of the Circuit Court of Kanawha County, Recht brought "Good," Harshbarger told Recht. "You've gottogether the attorneys for both sides, saying they the school case." Recht said he had absolutely noneeded to have some structure in the case. He

16 Challenge West Virginia 2 0 Recht was funbus0 just said9 6h1cD9 no9 you're makIng a mockery of thls case.This case is not an orphan. it's going to roe tried. I want a courtroom.' told Hedges to put on the e-vidence as,to the 'size and student- elements of a thorough and efficient-system Oi"-,te'acher ratio, as well education and then to demonstrate the elements---..as that existed in West Virginia. " you take all Initially, few people were aware that the casethogeelements and, was going on. In the first place, because Recht not-hantto define was from another jurisdiction, he didn't even havewhat goes into the a courtroom. The only courtrooms at the timedelivery of the best were in the old county courthouse, and that'sthe state of education where the case began. expertise allows," "We started the case the first two weeks in theRecht said. "It wasn't difficult to define courtroom," Recht recalled. "And then, without Arthur Recht any announcement, we came back the beginningwhat we had. And of week three and there was a sign on the doorwhat we had was not the best. that the Pauley versus Bailey case would be heard "You know, it wasn't very difficult to know in the City Council chambers of St. Albans." that there shouldn't be raw sewage going Recht was furious. "I just said, 'No, no, you'rethrough the playground in one of the schools making a mockery of this case. This case is not anin Lincoln County," he said. "I mean, it didn't orphan. It's going to be tried. I want a courtroom.'take a genius to figure that one out. So it wasn't Well, they couldn't find a courtroom so we endeddifficult. Where the difficulty was is why not. up trying it in the federal court building." Why don't we have the best the state of education expertise allows?" For the next six weeks and with little fanfare, Hedges presented his case. Only one reporter, One obvious answer was financing. So the from The Charleston Gazette, attended courtsecond phase of the court case examined sessions with any regularity. Nevertheless, theproperty taxes. pressure was on the young lawyer. Although he "What we had to do was take testimony as to worked with attorneys from the Lawyerswhether or not all species of real and personal Committee for Civil Rights, Hedges was theproperty were being assessed at their true and individual whose name and reputation wereactual value," the judge said. "By that, I mean most closely connected with the case. "It wasall speciesstanding timber, coal, active coal, pretty hard when we were putting out 980coal reserves, livestocknot just residential exhibits in the courtroom. We were working anproperty. I mean, there are so many other kinds awful lot of long hours to try to get the evidenceof property that were not being taxed at all. Or, together," Hedges said. if they were being taxed, they certainly weren't Following the process laid out by Recht, thebeing taxed at their true and actual value, and lawyers brought in outside experts from acrossreal estatepeople's homes were carrying the the country to paint a picture of what the bestbrunt of it." system would look like. They also presented Evidence demonstrated that there were evidence as to the systems that existed in Lincoln,inequities within inequities in the state's tax Mingo, Clay, Tucker, Pleasants, Marshall andsystem. "You had people in Lincoln County, for Ohio counties at that time. The experts offeredexample, that had their property appraised in their opinions on the factors that control1980 and were paying increased amounts of taxes educational outcomes and the best the state ofbased upon current appraisals, and you had people education expertise allows. The court heardin Marshall County or Ohio County, where there testimony about materials and equipment, classhadn't been a reappraisal since 1960," Recht said. 21 66 must cornpDeteDy reconstruct the en-Urre system of educaton iiWest Mpg 4rga0"

- a speech or communications course. The only remedial reading courses were provided to grades one through three through the federally-funded Title 1 program. By contrast, Ohio County made available remedial help to all students, and a tutoring program provided one-to-one assistance for those students who needed it. All elementary schools had well- equipped media centers. Wheeling Park High School had 20 language arts teachers on staff, including specialists in speech and drama, After a relatively quiet six weeks of trial, the Rechtjournalism and remedial reading. Decision hit West Virginia like a bombshell when "I found there definitely is a correlation details were made public on May 11,1982. between funding (and the quality of the In the sweeping 244-page opinion, Recht rulededucational system)," said Recht, who still seemed that the Legislature "must completely reconstructa little defensive more than a dozen years later. the entire system of education in West Virginia.""That's what I found based on the evidence, not The judge found the state's schools "woefullypulled out of the air." inadequate" when compared against high quality The findings seem obvious. Recht found that educational standards. standards for education are necessary even But Recht didn't stop there. He said vastthough West Virginia had none. Those standards, differences existed in educational opportunitieshe said, must address four areascurriculum, within the state. Lincoln County schools werepersonnel, facilities, and materials and equipment found to be inadequate in all areas. "The state has and "the resources necessary to implement the a duty to eliminate the effects of unequal costsstandards must be provided." among counties of providing educational services The judge also ruled that counties must have due to factors such as county isolation, sparsity,the ability to attract, employ and retain a high terrain and road conditions," he wrote. quality staff of sufficient size; provide high- In his opinion, Recht made vast comparisonsquality, well-maintained facilities; and provide between the curriculum and services offered intextbooks, supplies and equipment for students schools in Lincoln County and those offered inin each subject area. more well-to-do counties. For instance, in language Thedecision listed "elements for the arts he found that Lincoln County lackeddevelopment in every child to his or her supplementary reading materials as well as specialcapacity," including literacy; ability to add, materials for students reading above or belowsubtract, multiply and divide numbers; grade level. Lincoln County had no media centersknowledge of government so the child will be (or libraries) in elementary schools. In Lincolnequipped to make informed choices; self- County high schools, students didn't receiveknowledge and knowledge of his or her total individual texts, relying on one set of texts for a environment so the child can intelligently choose classroom. No advanced literature or writinglife work; work-training and advanced academic courses were offered, and only one high school hadtraining; recreational pursuits; interests in all

S. 0 Challenge West Virginia creative arts, such as music, theater, literature and individual arts; social ethics, both behavioral and abstract,tofacilitate compatibility with others in this society. Recht said programs must be offered to children of all kc)Vflc abilities, and counties must be abletoprovide support services, such as guidance, health,food andtrans- Recht even detailed requirements within specific portation. He said class sizes subject areas that would provide for a thorough and should not exceed 20 in efficient education. For example: grades kindergarten through every elementary student should receive 100 second and 25 in grades three minutes each of art and music instruction per week from through twelve. certified teachers. Recht said teachers should the maximum ratio of 20 children to one teacher for have a daily planning period. He ordered counties to offer early childhood education should be lower when children continuing education pro- come from isolated areas and have had few life experiences. grams that went far beyond the in-service trainings that were all students should have access to foreign language standard at the time. He said instruction, beginning in third grade. Junior high and counties must have curriculum high school students should have access to at least two supervisors and principals languages. should spend at least 50 percent the language arts program must go beyond teaching of their time on curriculum skills tested on standardized tests. It must offer students an development and oversight. opportunity to develop the entire range of communication Thedecisiondetailed skills, including the ability to read, write, speak, hear and facilities, saying they should observe. include 100 to 120 square feet a minimum annual allotment of not less than $8 per per pupil for elementary student in 1981 dollars must be provided for maintenance of schools and 130 to 160 square the collection of books, periodicals, audio-visual equipment, feet per pupil for secondary supplies and library and learning resources. schools. All should be safe, high schools must offer at least four units of general contain fire safety measures, math and five units of academic math (such as algebra, have safe water and sewage geometry, trigonometry, statistics and computer science). disposal and adequate storage. They should maintain com- physical education must be taught by certified physical education teachers in grades K-12. fortable room temperatures, be in good repair and attractively sufficient laboratories must be provided for science painted. Recognizing that the instruction in junior high and high schools. state did not provide funding no segregated"out-buildings"are to be used for special for such facilities, Recht ordered education students. a state supported program for the construction of facilities.

23 19 His ruling did not stop with the education For all the outcries, however, the Recht Decision system. Recht found that disparities andstood, based on the "thorough and efficient" inadequacies in West Virginia schools were thestandard which had been part of West Virginia's result of the school financing system, and he foundconstitution since 1872. property appraisals "at a fraction of actual But the story of education reform didn't end market value throughout the state." Because the school aid with the Recht Decision. In many ways, it was just beginning on formula at that May 11, 1982. time provided no BothHedges funds for facilities and Recht have or materials and equipment, commented on the pressures of a countieswere case that was forced to finance breaking new themthrough legal ground, a excess levies and bond issues. A case in which there were pre- county's capacity cious few prece- to raise money for education was dents. Undoubt- edly both men directly related to were exhausted its property value, after the trial. leaving counties with little property wealth at aBesieged by the media and by powerful interests severe disadvantage. Recht found that the state as well, perhaps both let down their guard a little school aid formula did nothing to equalize thetoo soon. History will show that the decisions they disparities among counties. made about the implementation of the Recht Recht said the State Tax Commissioner had failedDecision would invariably undo much of what had to effectively discharge his duties because he had notbeen accomplished by the years of effort. adequately administered the work of county tax The most difficult part of the opinion, Recht assessors and he had not instituted a procedure for said later, was what to do with it. "How do you updating tax appraisals. He ordered the Taxreally put something down that can be Commissioner to guarantee uniform and updated implemented?" he asked. "That was a very very property taxation throughout the state. tough thing, and this is what (Justice Richard) Politicians howled that the decision would costNeely said in his dissenting opinion in Pauley West Virginians billions and there would be no wayversus Baileythat it doesn't belong in the courts to finance the reforths ordered by the court. Theybecause the courts can't enforce it. Courts do not vilified Recht and Hedges, and vowed that thehave the power of the purse, nor do they have Legislature would never implement the decision.power of the sword. They don't have anything. Senate Education Committee chairman RalphAll you have is the power of the word." Williams called the Recht decision "a crock" that So Recht conceived the idea of appointing a would never be implemented. special master who would take the opinion and Major industries in the state lined up against theconstruct a blueprint for public education which decision. The president of the West Virginia Coalcould be handed to the Legislature. Association said the decision would be a death knell "When the opinion was published, an absolute for business in the state. And the conservativefire storm hit with most of the people in the Charleston Daily Mail called the decision "loony" and Legislaturethe leadership in the Legislature declared that the state was too poor to implement it.just being highly critical," the judge said. "The

20 Challenge West Virginia 2 4 "I couldn't believe he had turned this case over to the very people who had allowed the schooling ofWest Viirgirga's ohiHdren to be h.1 the mess it was h.t. attorney general, who at that time was Chauncey A second wave of criticism accompanied the Browning, came down here (to the Supremedecision to hand the case over to the State Court) to require the court to prohibit me fromDepartment of Education. This time it came from appointing what he called an education czar, andmany people who had supported the Recht he accused me that I'd gone power hungry" Decision. Linda Martin was one of them. Her Undeterred, Recht went on with his plan toheart sank when she learned that the defendant name a special master. One Friday, when he wasin the suit had been put in charge of back in New Cumberland, the county seat ofimplementation, the very part of the decision Hancock County, presiding over a trial, heRecht had said would be the most tricky. received an urgent phone call from State Schools "I had been so excited about the Recht Superintendent Roy Truby. "All he (Truby) saiddecision," Mrs. Martin said. "It set high was, 'We're having a meeting here right now.standards for the state's schools, and I thought We have decided not to appeal your decision,its potential for genuine reform of the public and would you be willing to appoint the Stateeducation system seemed almost limitless. At Department of Education as the special master,the very least, I thought it would mean parents, Recht recalled. teachers and service personnel would at last Recht was concerned about the propriety ofhave some say in how standards would be set. talking with one side in a case, so he would only "I couldn't believe he had turned this case say that he would meet with all the attorneysover to the very people who had allowed the the following Monday. As he recalls thatschooling of West Virginia's children to be in the meeting, a representative of the Statemess it was in. At that point I knew those of us Department of Education was present, as werewho sought real educational reform were in Hedges and members of a Washington, D.C., lawserious trouble. The fox was once again in charge firm that had assisted in the Pau ley case,of the hen house." representatives of the State Tax Commissioner's One of the first things the State Department Office and the Attorney General's office. of Education did was name a Committee of 95 Recht repeated the conversation of the pastto come up with a Master Plan through which Friday and asked if anyone present had anythe Recht decision would be implemented. To objection to the State Department of Educationher surprise, Linda Martin was asked to serve being the special master for the court suit. Evenon the committee. She was one of only 20 Hedges voiced no objection. The group askedordinary citizens on a committee that was Recht if he would be willing to go to then Gov.heavily-weightedwith county school Jay Rockefeller and tell him what they were doing.superintendents and State Department of The meeting with the governor is one the judgeEducation officials. came to regret. "I did go down and meet with the She will never forget the first meeting. "It governor. It was a nice meeting. He was verywas the most organized, tightly controlled pleasant," Recht said. "But it just was not thecommittee I had ever seen or hope to see. The right thing for the judicial branch of govern-day's activities consisted of a pep talk and a ment to do. I shouldn't have gone into thedistribution of organizational charts, time executive branch. If it was done, it shouldguidelines and committee assignments. It was have been done in the open. It just was not right,clear from the beginning that there was a pre- and I've regretted that. And it was my totally packaged plan, and we were to be its rubber my decision, and my error. Nothing wasstamp so the State Department of Education improper. It was just the perception of some-could put out its press calling us people who thing improper." were working in this democratic process." 25 21 Mrs. Martin was placed on the community "He reminded \us all in a poorly veiled threat relations subcommittee. Although a majority ofthat our vote was a matter of public record," she those on the subcommittee were employees ofsaid. "Remember, most of the committee either the State Board of Education or local boardsmembers were employees of either the state of education, the group plowed ahead with itsboard or local boards of education. The vote was assignmentto develop a grievance procedurethen taken on the document. People who had for citizens and to design a vehicle to improveworked hard on this document, who had the relationship between school and community.discussed and written and hammered out "I was very impressed with the shareddifferences and rewritten, now voted 19 to 2 understanding the members I-6d of how difficultagainst their own proposals." it is for people to involve themselves in their Linda Martin was one of the two who stood communities' schools," Mrs. Martin said.with the recommendations. But she was "Everybody agreed on the seriousness of thedisheartened by the experience, seeing the problem and the need to deal with it creatively ifgrievance procedure totally scrapped and the Judge Recht's decision was to be effectivelyproposal for community involvement turned implemented." into what she later referred to as "public rela- The subcommittee came up with two proposals.tions gimmickry." One was a grievance procedure citizens could use At this point she came to believe that real when they disagreed with actions of a local schoolchange would occur outside the Committee of 95 board or school system. The other was aand that her role would be to try to make sense of recommendation toset up local Schoolwhat was going on and share that information Improvement Councils to be made up of principals,with parents across the state. Parents for Better teachers, students, Schools evolved into parents and service the statewide West personnel. Every Virginia Education school in the state Project. would have a council. In the meantime, The council would while the committee determine if the school meetings were met state standards, continuing,Mrs. and if not, would Martin began to devise a plan to bring suspect that there the school up to par. must be at least one After completing committee which their work, the group would have over- came together to put the finishing touches on theirsight responsibility for the Master Plan. She recommendations. The easy camaraderie of pastlocated it in the eight-member Committee of sessions was shattered by the arrival of a countyStandards, which would have access to all the superintendent who was a committee member butdocuments produced by the various committees. had not attended any previous meeting. "An old college friend of mine was the parent "He said he had not appeared earlier becauserepresentative, but she told me she really didn't he had not considered the committee to be of anyhave time to serve on that committee. I explained consequence," Mrs. Martin recalled. "But afterwhy it was important to me. She resigned in a receiving drafts of our recommendations, he felt itpublic session, and I immediately offered to take necessary to attend that day. He said he representedher place," Mrs. Martin said. all the superintendents in the state and that they When Linda Martin read over the documents would not have our recommendation. produced by the committees, she was horrified

22 Challenge West Virginia 26 "What was scary about the state plan was that it centralized state controlin ways that would make it even more difficultfor parents to have a say in their ohildren9s education9" Linda Martin by the direction the recommendations took. "What was scary about the state plan was that it centralized state control in ways that would make it even more difficult for parents to have a say in their children's education," she said. On the surface, the Master Plan appeared to set a timetable for the reforms ordered in Recht's opinion. The first phase set learning outcomes, revised the state aid formula to correct inequities, provided instructional materials, equipment andPlan, there was a 17-year implementation supplies, upgraded school facilities, increasedschedule. That was in 1983, so it would be at staff at the state level, implemented a statewidethe new millennium." management information system and proposed The judge was afraid with such a long a statewide excess levy. implementation period, nothing would get done The second phase called for implementationuntil the beginning of the sixteenth year. of a statewide testing program, a staff "I didn't know what to do," he said. "The evaluation procedure, amending the school aiddifficulty in this, and I'm not crying on formula to provide equity among counties,anybody's shoulder, (the difficulty) is that you improving and expanding facilities, andreally didn't have anybody to talk to. You didn't equalizing program offerings and services. have anybody to share it with. You just had to It was when she looked at the third andsit there and try to get it almost through divine fourth phases that Mrs. Martin saw a clearlyguidance as to what to do." defined plan for the massive consolidation He considered using the phrase "with all of West Virginia's public schools. Thosedeliberate speed," but recalled the years of delay phases called for expanded curricular areasthat occurred following the ruling in the Brown and services, together with facilities thatversus Board of Education decision which ordered would meet approved "thorough anddesegregation of public schools. "So I used the efficient" standards. term, 'It shall be done as soon as is practicable,' "It wasn't just that they said certain classeswhich (says), 'Ok, it has to be done and it has to had to be offered to every student," she said.be done within the ability of resources.' "The facilities portion actually talked about the Linda Martin and the West Virginia design of buildings, what size they had to be,Education Project tried to block implementation what had to be included in them. They hadby becoming a party to Pauley v. Bailey. In an taken what Judge Recht said about the buildingappearance before the State Supreme Court of size per student and turned it into a plan thatAppeals, Mrs. Martin warned that with the State required large, consolidated schools." Department of Education in control of the court On December 14, 1982, the Master Plandecision, the very children the Pauley case was was presented to Judge Recht. Recht wentmeant to helpthe poorest children from the through the document line by line to makemost remote areas would lose their sure it reflected what had been said in thecommunity schools and would be bused to court opinion. large, impersonal schools miles from their homes "The one thing as I recall that was differentwhere they would be ridiculed for their speech, was the time period," he said. "In the Masterdress or family background. The group was

27 23 unsuccessful. "Judge Recht and the Supreme Courtof inequality in our education system," Mrs. said we were too late, that we should have tried toMartin said in 1985. "It seems like everybody become a party before the Master Plan washas been trying to find shortcuts to educational completed," Mrs. Martin said. "The Master Planexcellence, but there aren't any shortcuts. Big would stand." schools are not necessarily quality schools. Later, Recht said he could understand whyThey're not even necessarily good schools." Mrs. Martin felt allowing the State Department Without doubt by the 1980s Lincoln County's to design and implement the Master Plan forschools were dramatically better than those in education reform was like letting the fox guard which Betty Jones began teaching in the late 1960s the hen house. At the time, he said, he didn't fullyand Ric MacDowell entered in the early 1970s. grasp the political relationship between the stateIsolated one-room schools, multi-grade classes department and the local boards. But even if hepacked with more than forty students and permit had understood the political undercurrents, heteachers were relics of the past. maintains it would have been almost impossible Well-educated teachers were certified in their for him to have done anything other than whatfields almost without exception and rarely were he did without creating a constitutional crisis inthere more than 30 students in a class. But the state. classrooms still lacked supplies and equipment "The reason I did it," he said, "was that thewhich were standard in other school systems. Constitution really vests in the State Department An elementary teacher described her pre- of Education the responsibility for doing it. So IRecht teaching experience. "When I started really didn't think that (I) was deviating fromteaching, I taught in a condemned building, and something that should have been done anyhow.I had nothing. I didn't have any supplies, not even Had the State Department decided to appeal, Iart paper. Our sole source of money was $125 a definitely would not have done it. But thinkingyear the PTA gave us," she said. back on it, that's probably why they decided not to appeal." Another elementary teacher considered herself lucky compared to others in her building All things considered, the judge still believeswhen she walked into her room for the first time the document ended up being a "relatively decentin 1975 and found an overhead projector, a record blueprint," which, if implemented, could achieveplayer and some construction paper. some good things. "That really," he said, "is what the goal was." "That was considered a lot," she said. "Everyone else had nothing. I came in when the At the time the Master Plan went into effect,paper and pencil decision was made, so the Mrs. Martin felt like Cassandra of Greekchildren did get provided paper and pencil that mythology who had the gift to foresee the future,year. They had nothing else. They had no but whose prophecies about a Trojan horse wereworkbooks, and in some classrooms, they didn't ignored. Mrs. Martin could envision the futureeven have textbooks. I had outdated textbooks. I of education in West Virginia, but, like Cassandra,think the copyright on the health book was she realized she was absolutely helpless to change something like 1957." what was to come. In the first few years after the Recht Decision "It's a lot easier to build new buildings andwas implemented, Lincoln County educators saw close small schools than it is to get at the roots an immediate change in the availability of supplies and equipment. "fit's a Oot easier to builld new buiOdings and cOose "Right after the Recht Decision, we got Step 7 sma00 schooOs than t to get at the roots money," a teacher said. of knequaHty our eduos.Uon system9" "We got a lot of nice sup- plies. We also got $2.50 per 24 Challenge West Virginia 28 "Right after theRecht Decision, we got Step 7 money," student fromthe Board's office to order a teacher said. "We got a llot of rgoe supplies paint, supplies. paper, pencils, con- struction paper, that kind of thing. Last year I had22children so itchecked it, but they claim everyone's within90 adds up. In the past few years, we've gotten li-percent of the highest. Lincoln County's pay is brary money, which helps us buy a lot of books,not that much different from Kanawha County." and they're so horribly expensive. And then Aside from better pay and more equip- there's the faculty senate money. We get$200ament, however, educators haven't been able year to buy things for special art projects thatto find many benefits.In fact, some argue are expensive." that the county is poorer in some ways than Increased pay was the second major benefitit was in1982. Lincoln County educators received as a result "Nothing positive that I can see ever came of the Recht Decision. An official with thefrom anybody to improve Lincoln County," West Virginia Education Association said insaid a principal. "We don't have anything more the late1980sand through the1990sthere hasnow than when the Recht Decision was made. been a "fair amount of equalization in termsThat's probably a little strong. I'm sure we have of equity for teachers' salaries and servicea little more funding, but, generally speaking, personnel salaries." it was not the major wide-sweeping reform that "You see in the neighborhood of $45 millionit was intended to be. It was ignored. I think annually going into equalizing those salaries,"the State Department of Education is more he said. "Although they're not equal, they're ainterested in putting on a dog and pony show lot closer now than they were in the past." than they are really improving education." More than one teacher cited the pay Julian Martin says he can't see that any positive equalization as something positive that hadcurriculum changes have come out of the Master resulted from the historic decision. Said one,Plan. "I'll tell you something, I'm in the dark about "They equalized pay to some extent. I've neverthe Master Plan. The changes that have been made, I don't think they had anything to do with the Recht Decision. Seems to me like anything we've ever gotten for curriculum has been just a bunch of gobbledy- gook that gave jobs to the people who work forthe State Department of Education. I mean, just something for them to write up." "The Recht Decision came about, and everyone got excited," said an elementary teacher. 'We thought, 'Oh, wow, they're going to clean it up, they're going to fix it at last, with the Master Plan. But the thing about the Recht Decision that really bothers me, (is that before) we had nothing as far as 25 29 materials and supplies and audio-visualwe spent the extra money. We spent the extra money equipment, we had very little to nothing, but weon the bureaucracy, the overhead. The School had physical education teachers, we had aBuilding Authority is a huge expenditure in planning period. I had a one-hour planning periodthis state." five days a week. We had PE teachers, we had an In Kentucky, the official said, the Kentucky art teacher in the school with a traveling musicEducation Reform Act (KERA) not only took control teacher. We had all these specialists." away from the State Department of Education, The teacher now has maps and globes (whichwhich became a policing body, it stripped power already are outdated), overhead projectors andfrom the local school boards by creating a state computers, but the art and music and physicalcurriculum with minimum and maximum education specialists are gone. She no longer has astandards for student achievement. Broad powers planning period. And she never had a voice in whatfor implementation were given to local schools. was given and what was taken away. "As I understand it, a team was set up at each Another indication that true equality was still aschool to administer the programs at that school," distant dream came in the su=er of 1997 whenhe said. "The principal was the chairperson. There student scores on standardized tests given duringwere a couple of service personnel, there were a the 1996-97 school year were released. Lincolncouple of teachers and there were a couple of County's children scored next to last among theparents. Other than transportation to get the kids to state's 55 counties, the same position they were inschool, that team ran the school. They hired, they when Linda Martin's Parents for Better Schoolsfired. They had minimum results they had to began their work. accomplish. If they didn't meet the minimum "I think some people thought it would be anstandards, they all lost tenure. Every one of them, easy process to equalize," said an official with theright down to the janitor, lost their jobs. The school West Virginia Education Association. "And it's notboard would come in and rebuild the school, and been at all. I think they look for instant solutionsput a new team in place." and those aren't there." If the school reached the level of overall A former Lincoln County school official isexcellence, all employees received bonuses. "For a extremely upset about what he has seen comeclassroom teacher back in 1992, it was a $5,000 flat out of the Recht Decision, and he points therate," he said. "If one teacher in that school got it, finger of blame directly at the State Departmentthey all got it. It made them a team. You didn't have of Education. the bickering you have here, you didn't have the competition we have. They all worked together as "I think the major result of the Recht Decision a team to accomplish one thing is that the State Department of Education has to get those kids educated, to get them to do as well as they could." garnered more control over local boards, teachers and local schools. Education has become more KERA also established a funding mechanism systematic. There's been more standardization ofwhich operated through two tiers, according to teaching techniques and programs, standard-reports in The Charleston Gazette. In Tier One, a base ization even of purchasing equipment." amount of money was appropriated per child, and counties were encouraged to raise their levy rates The official shakes his head when he talks about to 55 cents per $100 of assessed property value. school reform in West Virginia as opposed to This money was then matched by the state. neighboring Kentucky, where he believes positive change has actually taken place at the school level. School districts were allowed to levy additional local taxes up to 30 percent more than "Do you know the difference?" he asked. "TheTier One, at which point the state stopped difference is that their legislature had the wisdom matching the dollars. The plan was paid for with to know that they weren't all that smart and that a three percent levy on utility bills and a one-cent they shouldn't try to run the system themselves or increase in the state sales tax. let a dictator in the state capital run it. That's where

Challenge West Virginia 3 0 The Kentucky court decision came in theapproved by voters in the fall and became part summer of 1989, seven years after the Rechtof the West Virginia constitution. The message Decision, but the sweeping Kentuckyto citizens was clearlow taxes were more Education Reform Act was developed by theimportant than education. state'slegislative body in1990 and In contrast, Kentucky Gov. Wallace 0 El implementation began at once. ObserversWilkerson hailed the Kentucky Education5 believe the difference in carrying out the reformReform Act as a milestone in education. has a great deal to do with the initial reaction While West Virginia-based coal companies in each of the states. railed about the price %el .41 When the court gave tag attached to the a the Kentucky General Recht Decision, Ken- Assembly 90 days to tucky's Ashland Oil devise a plan to over- 4 \ Chairman John R. Hall turn the entire school offered his company's system, most politi- support for the mea- cians, residents and sure. "We're a strong even big business im- believer that education mediately got behind and economic develop- the court decision even mentarelinked," though the reform he said. measures would cost Dan Hedges thinks taxpayers an additional the difference is that $1.2 billion. there was broad politi- In West Virginia, cal support behind Gov. Jay Rockefeller's change in education in first reaction was to Kentucky. "I think it's point out potential remarkable that they problems in the Recht photo: Beth Spence brought about tremen- decision and warn dous systemic change state residents about in three or four years. enormous tax increases. WhileIthinkthe Then, he called a special session of thepeople believe in education here, I think a lot Legislature to consider a "Tax Limitationof the powers have been able to diffuse the Amendment," calling for a reappraisal ofneed and keep people pecking at one another property which would require all property toover the years to avoid that coming about be assessed at 60 percent of market value ratherhere," he said. than 100 percent as had been ordered in a court Because the reaction from the West Virginia case coming out of Logan County. This case,political and business establishment was so which has sometimes been confused with thenegative, attempts to fund the Recht decision Recht decision, was not part of the school case.were doomed. And without funding, counties In addition to lowering the assessment rate,like Lincoln were subject to state mandates the amendment included a clause that set awithout the finances to pay for them. percentage limit on how much any company's Standards were set, but State Department or individual's property taxes could beofficials realized that enforcement was increased in a year's time, thus insuring thatimpossible without adequate financing. So they the process would be very, very gradual. Theset up a system whereby school systems were Tax Limitation Amendment, supported bygraded not as to how well they were meeting powerful coal and agricultural interests, was 27 3 1 standards set forth in the Recht decision, but how "Our tax base is very low," said one Lincoln well they were meeting much lower standardsCounty school official. "We just can't stretch state officials thought they should be able to meetthat dollar as far as it needs to be stretched. given the money they had. We're just not able to provide for the kids what Explained one State Department official inthey need because we have to spend it in so 1985, "It would be too disheartening (for localmany places." officials to be graded on Recht's standards)," he "We've cut to the bone, and they tell us to cut said. "We have to set up standards based on whatmore," another official said. "We don't have it is reasonable to expect them to do, not what theenough morierItO'buildj:Toad:foundations with. decision says they must." And that"Sjhe problepl.

o That, said Linda Martin, was the problem in,a- 4 nutshell. "The very fact that it was all right'for a county's program to be dependent,on avai resources effectively destroyed any expectation-of developing high quality standards." At the sametime,,) edUcatorsfOund themselves caught in the squeeze. An el6mentary teacher was blunt id her assessment. "I would say they have tried ,to improve education-without funding it. I kno,W what theReclit-Decision'wanted to dowas to, Make all schools equalf,-make the funding equal that all ---children could be exposed to the same educati-onal opportunities. What they (the itegicsiature) didwas, they said they were going ,to.,do something about this, but they didn't take care of the funding. What they ended up doing was taking these poor counties like Lincoln and just putting more and more pressure for them to have programs the richer counties like Kanawha had without providing the funds." Today Linda Martin still believes that the twin legacies of the Recht Decision are consolidated schools and the consolidation of power by the state. Rather than enjoying the sweeping improvements ordered by the Recht Decision, poor counties find themselves squeezed by the state to cut more and more services and close more and more schools.

Challenge West Virginia 3 2 BEST COPY AVAILABLE .4i

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29 "111j,,to: Ric ácDvett

30SrLOPY AVAIL 0 .they have done so On the backs of our ohHdren."

inda Martin believes school reform in West Virginia has been stymied by three things the failure of the Legislature to reform the tax system, a school aid formula that discriminates against rural counties and the School Building Authority an agency created to modernize facilities, but which she and others view as a vehicle used to force consolidation and school closings. "The formula the state uses to fund county systems gives them only so many teachers and administrators and serviCe persons per number of children," Mrs. Martin said. "It doesn't matter if those kids live close together or are spread photo: Tom Burger out over miles and miles of mountain back roads. The formula squeezes school systems sothe value of real estate within the county. The bulk that the only option they have is to consolidateof school financing comes from direct taxes on schools and eliminate some teachers, principalsproperty. The tax funds go to the state and a and service people. percentage is funneled back into the county "Then, if that's not enough of an incentive tothrough the Public School Support Program, consolidate, the School Building Authority won'tcommonly known as the school aid formula. even consider proposals that would upgrade small Levies provide a secondary source of rural schools," she said. "If you aren't willing toincome. Levies are imposed through special close schools, you won't get any of their moneyelections and are based on a percentage of and most counties, especially small, rural counties,property value. Income gained from levies aren't able to finance the construction of schoolsremains in the county and does not become part without state help - especially since the propertyof the school aid formula. taxes go to the state and come back through the The third source of income is derived from state aid formula." special bonds, which also must be approved by But the biggest deterrent to school reform, thevoters. Local or county bonds have been the one that overshadows all others, according totraditional source of financing the construction of Mrs. Martin, is the failure of government tonew schools. That changed in 1989 when the address tax inequities. School Building Authority was created by the "If we don't change the tax system so theLegislature on the recommendation of Governor corporations that own the minerals and profit fromGston Caperton. The SBA was charged with their extraction pay their fair share of taxes, thenselling bonds and distributing the money from West Virginia children will never have the schoolsthose bond sales to county boards of education for they deserve, and poor children from poorschool building and maintenance. Counties counties will continue to pay the highest price forcompeteforthefunds by developing this failure of leadership," she said. "Thecomprehensive education facilities plans, and governors and the people who have controlled thegenerally the state funds are piggy-backed with Legislature have protected those corporationsfunds raised locally through bond elections. through the years and they have done so on the What Arthur Recht explained in his decision backs of our children." was that poor counties are at a severe Traditionally, schools in West Virginia havedisadvantage when it comes to financing schools been funded in three ways, two of them based onbecause property-poor counties such as Lincoln 30 Challenge West Virginia 34 are not able to generate the income of heavily-other kids get to take. I just don't see the same industrialized counties like Kanawha orofferings. I'm not in the classrooms that much, Ohio. That's why he ordered that taxes bebut I just don't see it. I think it all comes down, equalized and recommended that statewideeven with politics, it all comes down to money." levies be imposed. Charles Damron, a former legislator who "The conclusion is inescapable that the absenceserved as attorney for the Lincoln County Board of a thorough and efficient system of educationof Education while covering education issues for in West Virginia is directly related to property The Lincoln Journal,agrees. wealth and the failure of the Legislature to "Lincoln County has the poorest property provide a sufficient financial base," Recht wrote.values in West Virginia," he wrote. "This county And that, according to Julian Martin, is thebrings in only about$360per pupil from local problem with enforcing the Recht decision, theproperty taxes while all other state counties reason the promise of reform remains unfulfilledbring in much more. Mason, for instance, the the tax system still does not provide thesame size, brings in over$900per pupil, three necessary financial base. times as much. All other school monies come "A key point of the Recht Decision was thatfrom the state and those funds, about$3,600 property taxes shouldn't be the basis of financingeach, are equal for each county" the school system," he said. "That hasn't changed. The WVEA's positionisthat, when I think legislators and governors have all just ignoredimplementing the Recht Decision, the state got the it. The Recht Decision wasn't enforced. We still havecart before the horse by puffing state dollars into all these poor counties running operations offcounties without first equalizing taxes and levies. property taxes, and, in counties like Lincoln, there's "I think if you looked at taking a three-step not much income from property taxes." process, at least in terms of funding, it would Dan Hedges agrees. "I would say thathave made a whole lot more sense," a WVEA resources are an element of inadequacy. Theyofficial said. "In the first place we had don't have facilities, they don't have otherenormous deviations in terms of assessment of resources that they need," he said of Lincolnproperty, and I think the first criteria that has County. "In no place is funding all of the answerto be met is that every piece of property in West to the problems of education. On the other hand,Virginia needs to be appraised at market value you can guarantee an inadequate education ifand assessed at a uniform60percent. you don't provide the resources." "Then we need to establish a uniform levy A West Virginia Education Association officialrate for public education, and we don't have who has represented teachers in grievances inthat. We have Lincoln County with a 100 Lincoln County explained the inadequacy inpercent levy rate, everybody in the south has concrete terms. "They really don't have thea 100 percent levy rate. A number of counties money they need for the school system," she Nicholas, Braxton, Upshur and a number of said. "If you look at Lincoln County versusothers don't have an excess levy for Cabell County, kids don't have the sameeducation," he said. opportunity. Anything I deal with comes down But even with a 100 percent levy rate to a money issue. It comes down to funding.which means taxpayers are paying as much They don't have the money to do things. Theyas they can be assessed for education Lincoln don't have money for supplies. County schools do not realize much benefit. "Cabell County has resources. Of course,The county's 100 percent excess levy produces they've been cutting, but they have PE (physicalapproximately $1.5 million a year. By contrast, education), music and art specialists in everyKanawha County's levy, while only93 elementary school. Kids in Lincoln County don'tpercent, produces$36million a year. get that. They don't get to take bus trips that

35 31 "Then the third step to that equalizationsome people have said they want their kids to process is to use state dollars to equalize thebe every bit as stupid as they are. I think that's differences between property-rich and property-unkind, but they don't value education. I don't poor," the WVEA official said. "Lincoln Countythink they understand the link between a high is a classic examplea 100 percent levy, but 100quality public education system and the future percent of nothing is nothing. And Pleasantsof this state." County has a roughly 90 percent levy, but it has Hedges firmly believes that the excess these plants all along the river. So 90 percent of theirlevy system as it currently exists is "a primary valuesa very small root of evil in the county, a very small whole system." school population makes their per-pupil "It wouldn't be if expenditures much they (levies) could higher (because of the fund extras over and levy funds, which they above a quality ed- ucation, but essen- get to keep). tials have to be "We ought to first funded out of ex- equalize assessments cess levies. It's the and appraisals and root of the problem market value, and because most coun- then equalizetax ties can't raise any- burdens and then use SERI! thing through an tax dollars," he said. excess levy to meet "We got the cart in needs, but they front of the horse. We started putting all thosehave to have one to exist," he said. state tax dollars in there and equalizing before we equalized the tax burden and that really has "That is taxpayer inequity," he said. "It's also led to a situation where it's better to defeatstudent, kid, inequity. Of course, a child's education county levies because the state for mostshouldn't have anything to do with property taxes purposes is going to come in and take over andat all. There should be two separate discussions, two shift the funding of education from local levelseparate whole things." to the state level." The issue of taxation has been debated in West The official noted that two attempts toVirginia almost from the time the state was created. equalize levy rates by instituting a statewideState statutes call for fair and equitable taxes on all levy were rejected by voters, the first time inproperty, but through the years reformers have argued that it just isn't so and never has been. Back 1984 and again in 1988. "We need somehow to equalize that levy rate so that everybody's taxesas far as 1884, The West Virginia Tax Commission are equalized," he said. "What kept you fromstated in a report, "The question is whether the vast getting the excess levy? Significant politicalwealth shall belong to the persons who live here or whether it shall pass into the hands of the persons opposition by people who are unwilling to fund public education, the Farm Bureau and peoplewho do not live here and care nothing for our state like that." except to pocket the treasures which lie buried in our hills." But, he said, while the strong anti-levy effort In 1900, Gov. Albert White, a reform-minded by powerful interests swayed many voters, other Republican, established a commission to study factors were involved as well, and the bottom line was that parents of school age children wereproperty taxation. The commission submitted a among those who brought down the statewidereport to the Legislature in 1902, but the issues raised levy. "It may be an unkind characterization, butweren't addressed until White called the Legislature 32 Challenge West Virginia 3 6 "I think the coal industry for decades or for generations systematically went about under-appraising coal for two reasons," he said. "One, they didn't want to pay property taxes.Two, they didn't want a wen-educated work force . gt was in their best interest not to have highgy educated workers." into special session in 1904. In an historic 18-dayCommerce, which lined up behind the industry. session, legislation was enacted which created theThe governor's recommendation was rebuffed by office of state tax commissioner and gave itthe Legislature, and his political career was over. authority over county assessors who were requiredWhen he died in 1965, Mar land was driving a cab to appraise all real and personal property at truein Chicago. He is best remembered in West and actual market value. Virginia not for his daring actions as a reforming White's tax reform movement was continuedtax crusader, but as a drunk an image affixed to by his successor, William Dawson, who told thehim by the business leaders he had so incensed. Legislature, "It is a burning disgrace that we enact The Appalachian Land Ownership Study, laws which put on the tax books the full value ofundertaken as a citizen research project and the property of widows and orphans and let goissued in 1981, documented that corporations untaxed these resources which are the property ofowned 51 percent of the surface land of the state, largely the rich." 73 percent of the minerals and yet paid only 16 As a result of the reforms of 1904 and 1905,percent of the state's property taxes. the total assessed value of property statewide That study was used in the Pau ley case to increased from $278 million to more than $1illustrate the tax inequities in the state and was billion during the next decade, according toa source used by Arthur Recht when he Sutton attorney Michael C. Farber, a long-time taxordered the State Tax Commissioner to reform advocate. institute fair taxation practices. But the Tax But the state's taxation system still was far fromLimitation Amendment, supported by Gov. fair and equitable. A West Virginia EducationRockefeller and approved by voters after the Association official who is knowledgeable aboutRecht Decision was issued, did little to alter tax matters describes a history of sinister efforts bythe existing inequities in the system. It, in fact, industry, and particularly by coal companies, toguaranteed that inequities would not be not only avoid paying taxes, but also to make surecorrected when it placed a cap on the amount the state never had a decent education system. taxes could be increased in a given year on any corporation or landowner. "I think the coal industry for decades or for generations systematically went about under- In the 1980s the state also adopted a tax credit appraising coal for two reasons," he said. "One,programostensiblyasaneconomic they didn't want to pay property taxes. Two,developmentstimulanttoencourage they didn't want a well-educated work force.corporations to locate and provide jobs in the It was in their best interest not to have highlystate. But a great deal of that money went to educated workers." coal companies which already were in business in West Virginia and likely to stay in the state In 1953, Democratic Governor William C. where the natural resources were. Mar land proposed a severance tax on extractive industries in the state. His reasoning was that the "Socialism is an awful word, but what we tax was necessary in order for West Virginians todid was in a sense have corporate socialism," said receive some permanent benefits from industry,the West Virginia Education Association official such as an improved education system. who has studied state tax policy. "We took tax dollars to upgrade mining equipment so they Mar land came under vicious attack from the could invest in mining equipment and lay off coal industry which stood to be most affected bypeople and reduce employment, rather than the legislation, and the state Chamber of increasing employment. 33 37 "Any time you give tax breaks, there are fewerwe would have the worst depression that West tax dollars to be spent. And, clearly, we've madeVirginia had ever had, and that it would raise some horrendous mistakes in terms of tax policy.taxes by over 2500 percent, and it would drive (With) the Super Tax Credits, we were losing overall these people out of business." $100 million a year, and it could have been a Hechler went through the sales cited by the significant impact in funding public education andTax Department and found that more than other services, too. It was a disaster all the wayhalf took place before 1985, nine years before, around other than for a select few." and 40 percent occurred between a coal West Virginia Sec- company and a sub- retary of State Ken sidiary or between a Hechler picked up man and his wife or the standard of tax between relatives. reformin1994, Charleston Gazette charging that the investigative reporter State Tax Department Paul Nyden went ignores land sales even further he took andisguiltyof a trip to the Logan under-appraising County Courthouse, and under-taxing in the heart of the huge acreages, parti- southern coalfields, to cularly of reserve coal photo: Beth Spence check coal sales for which companies himself. He found buy for speculative purposes. that while Tax Department researchers had As a member of the Board of Public Worksincluded in their list a $2,000 sale of 40 acres (along with the governor, commissioner of(worth $50 an acre) in 1987, they had missed agriculture, attorney general, auditor, treasureranother deed which recorded a $331 million sale and superintendent of schools), Hechler, in Marchof 39,023 acres in 1981, perhaps the largest sale 1994, introduced a resolution to require the Taxin state history. That property, sold by U.S. Steel Department to start appraising and valuing coalCorp. to Royal Land Co., a subsidiary of Old Ben lands at sale prices. Coal, Sohio and BP-America, was worth $8,484 "The Board of Public Works is authorized toan acre. Five years later, Sohio sold the tract to make final assessments on all public utilities,Pocahontas Land Corporation, a subsidiary of including railroads, airlines, bus lines, carNorfolk Southern Railway for $69.1 million, companies and telephone companies," he said.according to Nyden. The Tax Department missed "Therefore, in order to do that, we have to makethat sale, too. sure that our assessment of public utilities is in Attempts by county assessors to obtain fair line with the proper appraisal and assessment oftaxes from coal companies based on property natural resources. I suggested we start with coal."sales have failed as well. The Charleston Gazette Although the Board of Public Works approvedcited a case in Webster County in which a Hechler's proposal, the Tax Department did notMassey Coal Company subsidiary paid $30 act, but merely responded with a 100-page reportmillion for a tract. When the Webster County which, in essence, said everything they wereassessor assumed the land was worth $30 doing was "hunky-dory," Hechler said. million and taxed it accordingly, the coal company appealed the assessment to the United "They listed a huge number, over 900 sales, States Supreme Court, which ruled in 1989 "that to try to prove that their figures were correct. Massey couldn't be charged honest taxes while They also made a 'sky is falling' prediction that other firms are taxed much less under the state if what I was trying to do ever went into effect, formula," according to the Gazette.

Challenge West Virginia 38 In 1995 Hechler joined the West Virginia Added Hechler, "For over a century, the citizens Education Association, the United Mineof West Virginia have suffered a clearly Workers, the AFL-CIO and a coalition of citizensunconstitutional tax system which places the from Clay and Raleigh counties in a suit whichburden on car and home owners, while allowing argued that the state Department of Tax andprimarily out-of-state holders of natural resources Revenue has long undervalued and undertaxedto escape taxation. Through big campaign the state's best coal reserves. The groups citedcontributions, those favored special interests have one coal tract bought for $26 million but taxedbeen able to perpetuate this skewed tax system." as if it were worth $6.2 million and another that In Lincoln County and other rural school sold for $13 million but taxed at $1.5 million. districts, residents argue that even if the state's The Charleston Gazette responded editoriallytax system were fair and equitable, the school in 1996, "For any system of property taxationaid formula would make it impossible to to be fair, the assessed value of property mustadequately run a school system, especially in a have a consistent relation to actual marketrural area. value. The State Tax Department continues, Judge Recht said in his decision, resources unfortunately, to demonstrate its inability tomust be allocated to county school systems devise a system for assessing mineral reserveaccording to needs and costs. The judge lands meeting that goal. Sadly for the childrenrecognized that factors such as isolation, terrain, of this state, whose education is paid for mostlypopulation sparsity, road conditions and small by property tax revenue, the Tax Departmentschool size created differences in needs and costs consistently undervalues some of the richestthat he said "must be incorporated into the coal reserves in the state." financing structure." Added a WVEA official, "I think we need a The school aid formula, which dictates how tax department that is genuinely concernedmuch state tax money will be returned to a county about going after and equalizing propertyis under fire by a number of school officials in rural values. I don't think there's an ethic there thatcounties because the amount counties receive from holds equalizing property values at a highthe state is based on student population, not need. enough standard. It's a low priority for them." "State aid is very unfair to rural schools," Clay KanawhaCircuitJudge AndrewCounty Superintendent Jerry Linkinogger said. Mac Queen, hesitant to declare the current tax"The state needs (a statewide levy) desperately" system unconstitutional, ruled against the The first step of the formula provides each groups bringing the suit. In July 1998, the State Supreme Court of Appeals followed suit bycounty school board the amount of funds refusing to hear the case. Justice Larry Starcherrequired "to pay the state minimum required blasted the court's majority, in a dissentingsalaries for professional educators" as provided opinion, stating that the unconstitutionality ofby state law. This allowance is limited to 53.5 the tax inequality is "entirely supported andprofessional educators per 1,000 students in net indeed compelled by the evidence." enrollment. County boards must maintain a minimum ratio of 50 professional instructional Starcher said the Supreme Court majoritypersonnel per 1,000 in adjusted enrollment or shows "little inclination to protect theface a reduction in the allowance. Similar constitutional rights of school teachers, unionregulations are in effect for service personnel, coal miners, environmentally concerned citizens,with the allowance limited to 34 service small property owners and taxpayers generally."personnel per 1,000 students.

"For over a century, the citizens of West Virginia have suffered a 00eargy unconstitutiona0 tax system

35 3 9 Another part of the formula gives each countyconsequence, such counties are pressured to close

board a share of contributions to social security,and consolidate community schools..." unemployment compensation, and workers' Small, poor, rural counties which have tried to compensation and funding for retirement systems.operate within the formula and maintain community It also provides 80 percent of transportation costsschools have found themselves facing budget deficits within a county and gives school systems $150and threats of state takeovers. multiplied by the number of professional educators for Those deficits were predicted by rural school administrative costs. administrators in a 1989 Each county board's local report, "Schools in Crisis: shareiscalculated by Students at Risk." The multiplying the assessed report maintained that the value of all property in the state funding formula dis- county by 98 percent of the criminated against sparsely regular levy rates set by the populated counties. Legislature and then de- ducting five percent for School officials who discounts, exonerations, served on the task force that delinquencies and the like created "Schools in Crisis" noted that rural counties pay and two percent to be paid to 40 percent more than the state average in transportation the Assessor's Valuation Fund. The total local share costs. The Webster County school superintendent said calculated for each county is used to reduce the transportation was such a major problem in his county state's share distributed to each county board. that school officials were forced to use all their allotted So, a county's share of the state aid formula isservice personnel positions to hire bus drivers, leaving based on student enrollment with allowances forthe county to pay cooks and secretaries from scarce so many professional and so many servicelocal revenues. personnel per student. And, as Linda Martin noted, Webster County, with one high school and four it doesn't take into account the condition of county elementary schools for its 1,800 students, has a roads or the distance between students and schools. population density of only 3.38 students per square Bob Bastress and Jim Lees, attorneys repre-mile and some of the longest bus runs in the state. senting Pendleton County residents fightingNearly every student in the county is transported to consolidation, say the school funding formulaschool on a bus, and the buses travel 357,279 miles discriminates against rural counties with lowper year. teacher-student ratio. The cap on funding Transportation director Harry Given told the professional educators forces counties to consolidate Associated Press that the county's transportation costs schools and discriminates against children attending are about $618 per pupil per year. By comparison, school in sparsely-populated areas, they say. Kanawha County's transportation costs are $341 per "When counties exceed the caps, they must paystudent. In the 1996-97 school year, Webster County the excess teachers from local funds," Lees andspent $1.1 millionor 10.5 percent of its budget on Bastress wrote in an argument to the State Supremetransportation costs. Court of Appeals. "The sparsely populated counties In a 1996 report on county schools systems running are the poorest in the state, generally lack the ability deficits, "Fragile: Education in the Balance," Arnold to pass an excess levy, and are therefore especially Margolin listed three factors that appeared to be dependent upon state support. But because of their directly related to the deficitsthe absence of an excess relatively low student enrollments, the rural counties cannot maintain community schools, meetlevy, sparsity of student population and overall management of education resources. curricular needs and stay within the caps. As a

36 4 0 Challenge West Virginia The three words that have guided not only new school construction, but school operation in the last decade, "econonMes of scaDe." "The county school boards are operating in a "It's a financial squeeze that's put on counties fiscal and economic environment which isto begin with," said a Lincoln County principal. extremely challenging," Margolin wrote. "On"Lincoln County's a good example. The school aid balance, they are surviving budgetarily, but theformula is set up against rural counties. It's set up reporting of 78 deficits during the time period ofand designed to force rural counties to consolidate. this study underscores and highlights how 'fragile'Lincoln holds out, with the different factors and the overall financing system for education can bewars we've had, we've held out and we've from one year to the next." continued to have our financing problems. The In her five-part study of education in the state,Legislature could change that real quick if they Beckley Register-Herald reporter Nerissa Youngwanted to (by amending the school aid formula)." suggested that "a data sheet from the state If the school aid formula by itself isn't Department of Education for the past nine fiscalstrong enough to force consolidation, the years looks like a casualty list. Thirty-six of theSchool Building Authority is a sledgehammer state's 55 counties posted at least one deficit duringdesigned to completely smash any existing the period." hope for small schools. In February 1997 sixteen counties were Lincoln Countians reserve a special enmity running deficits. Topping the list was Mingofor the SBA and for state Schools Superintendent County, carrying a $9 million deficit and cited asHank Marockie, who also serves as president of "dysfimctional" by a member of the state Boardthe Authority. In addition to Marockie, nine other of Education. The state finance departmentpersons appointed by the governor serve on the ordered Mingo to address the deficit with a specificAuthority's board. checklist ordering cuts'inj5e-Nonnel, tcansportation The,uses eight criteria established by the and nutrition programs, anchthe state is leaningLegislature when deciding whether or not to fund on the county to consolidate 'projects. The criteria include health and safety, Lincoln County's deficit at that time waseconondies-._ olscale, reasonable travel time, multi- $900,000, which the state also held as a hammercountyplanning, curricular improvements, over the heads of county officials. Like Mingo,educational innovatiOn, adequate space for Lincoln County received a checklist from the state,projected enrollment, and a-history of the county's ordering the consolidation of schools and cuts inefforts to radsQ--- local money for capital personnel and administrative spending. improvements. While some teachers said they were told the The three words that have' gniaed not only state was afraid to step into Mingo because thenew school construction, but school operation county was in such a financial mess, the Statein the last decade, is"economies of scale."Those Board of Education in early 1998 did takewords, say Lincoln Countians who have fought control of the troubled school system, which byfor local schools, sound the death knell for small, that time still had a $2.3 million deficit. As theyrural, local schools. Economies of scale has had when they took over Logan County schoolsbecome synonymous with consolidation. in 1992, the state hired a new superintendent of "Economies of scale is a beautiful piece of schools from outside the county. The newefficiency based on industry," said an superintendent earned $23,000 annually moreelementary school principal. "It says that the than his predecessor, the difference being paidlarger numbers of children you can serve in a by the state. certain area, the better spent your money is. In Mingo's problems have for years been morea sense, that's a wonderful theory if you were severe than Lincoln's, but it was the Lincolnproducing nuts and bolts or car steering wheels County school system that lived under the threatthat didn't have feelings or didn't have to ride of a takeover in the years following the state'son a bus to get there." takeover of the Logan County system. 37 41 BEST COPY AVAILABLE In their long-running battle against con- The special task force on Rural School Districts solidation, Lincoln County parents havereported in 1989 that a child in a sparsely continually butted heads with the School Buildingpopulated county will begin the day with a long Authority, and many believe the SBA is the majorbus ride, is likely to be from a poor family, is more vehicle through which the state is forcinglikely to have parents who are unemployed, is consolidation. They maintain the formula used bymore likely to receive special education services, the SBA to grade grant applications makes itis less likely to be classified as gifted, is more impossible for counties to even consider renovatinglikely to have parents who did not graduate from and maintaining small schools. high school and has a greater chance of becoming "The SBA makes the rules by which the moneya high school dropout. is given out, so the school boards have to meet the It is no surprise that those sparsely-populated requirements to get the funding," said Deirdrecounties have a harder time supporting their Purdy, a former Calhoun County school boardschools. Between 1990 and 1995, eighty-one member who has since completed law school atpercent of counties ending the school year with West Virginia University and continues to bebudget deficits were rural counties. involved in school reform efforts. "The SBA is forcing counties to build larger Ms. Purdy says the SBA doesn't give equalschools that are unnecessary, wasting money and weight to all eight of the criteria it has establishedhurting poor arid rural children," Ms. Purdy said. to make decisions regarding funding school"(Those schools are) inappropriately sized for construction. In fact, it routinely gives a highertheir population sparsity, terrain and road rating to economy of scale than to travel time, thusconditions. Additionally, the poverty of the rural ensuring that only proposals for large consolidatedcounties creates special educational needs which schools will be funded. are best met in smaller schools." "The criteria requires bigger schools," said Ms. In an amicus brief filed with the State Supreme Purdy, in an article for the West Virginia Law ReviewCourt of Appeals on behalf of the Annenberg in which she argues that by forcing schoolRural Challenge in support of Pendleton County consolidation, the SBA is ignoring its legislativeparents trying to save their community school, mandate and in the process is hurting low-income,attorney Franklin D. Cleckley said that because rural children. of the economy of scale regulation, "the West Ms. Purdy pointed out that Judge Recht wasVirginia school building program has gone badly "clear that the state's legal duty to provide equalwrong for many students in rural areas." educational opportunities does not mean Attorneys Bob Bastress and Jim Lees say of the providing identical resources or one-size-fits-allmore than $400 million awarded by the SBA since plans. In particular (he) recognized that there areits inception, more than 80 percent has gone to unequal costs and greater need due to isolation,schools meeting the economies of scale and 91.4 population sparsity, terrain, road conditions andpercent has gone to schools that either met the resulting small school size." economies of scale or were the only schools in the She noted that West Virginia is the secondcounty. They noted that 62 percent of the state's most sparsely populated state in the east.schools, serving more than 127,000 students, do Seventy percent of the state's children attendnot meet the economies of scale. rural or small-town schools. Of the state's 55 "The SBA's formula really drives the last nail counties, 27 have less than ten students perin the coffin because rural schools are poorer, have square mile. Those counties, she maintains, area harder time passing levies and the SBA won't poorer 60 percent of their students are eligiblegive them money unless they consolidate," said for free and reduced school meals as opposedone consolidation opponent. to 45 percent of students in more densely Across the state, parents in rural areas have populated counties. argued without great success that their children 38 Challenge West Virginia 1t2 suffer when they have to ride school buses anthe economy of scale criteria and the enrollment hour and a half each way every day to schoolsguidelines, they will not receive funding. outside their communities. The message from Bastress and Lees addressed the squeeze put the SBA is clear those bus rides are muchon local boards of education. "If a county board less significant than the economy of scaleexceeds the statutory caps for professional edu- numbers elementary schools with at least 350cators, then it must locate local revenues to pay students, junior highs those teachers... with at least 800 and such revenues are high schools with at least severely limited 1,200 students. in sparsely popu- A number of rural lated counties. At educators, however, agree the same time, the with the parents. "There's ruralcounties absolutely no question \ with community about it, they want to schools tend to buildthe minimum have smaller and pack the kids in," classes and thus Pocahontas County need more teach- School Board member ers. Too often, the

Gibbs Kinderman told . i+-7"*4 only way, beside The Charleston Gazette. '415-1*464 cutting into the "Educational advantages core curriculum, is something they've for a board to stay t(.! made up. There's no within the caps is evidence showing that toconsolidate anywhere, at least not that photo: Beth Spence schools. That is they've shown me." especially true Nor can the movement to consolidate thewhen the cap is combined with the SBA's fund- state's rural schools be justified on economicing process. Together, the cap and the SBA oper- grounds. Using data provided by the Stateate like a carrot and a stick towards closure of Department of Education, Deirdre Purdycommunity schools. The carrot is the lure of large compared ratios of students to professionalchunks of SBA money money which could not educators and service personnel in 1990, beforebe raised locallyand the stick is the cap on the SBA began awarding grants, and in 1995,professional educators, which requires boards to after the state had closed 258 schools. She foundpay for the excess teachers." almost no difference in the ratios. In 1990, the When the School Building Authority was state had a ratio of 13.45 students for eachcreated, Governor Caperton hailed it as the first professional educator and 22.04 students forstep in a ten-year school building plan that he said each service worker. In 1995, those figures werewould result in the closing of 245 schools by the 13.54 and 22.02. Because transportation costsyear 2000. were bound to increase as community schools Responded Ms. Purdy, "That the governor's were closed, it is reasonable to conclude thatschool building plan involved closing 245 schools "economies of scale" policy hasn't saved Westwas a clue to the policy direction the SBA would Virginians any money. take. When the economy of scale numbers were While Authority members insist thatissued in 1989 only 34 percent of existing schools consolidation issues must be resolved at the localin West Virginia were eligible for SBA funding level, local school board members know if theybased on these size requirements. For counties to don't propose construction of schools which meetbuild schools that would be large enough to be 39 4 3 A county school superintendent said simply, "We're foroscd to consaidate to survive,"

eligible for SBA funds, other schools, smaller schools,decided the only way you could have equalized would have to close. There was no need, therefore,education is to consolidate into big schools. for the governor or any policy makers to urgeThey'd rather give tax credits of $100 million a 'consolidation' because the only way to reach theyear to coal companies and Wal-Mart rather economy of scale required enrollment numbersthan tax those companies and pay for education. would be for some schools to close and merge. So in order to have cheap education, you have "In fact, predominately smaller and largely ruralto consolidate." schools closed and their students merged into existing A Charleston lawyer who has represented student bodies. Through application of the one-pageparents who have fought to save their community economy of scale regulation, a school building programschools argues that the state needs to reassess its automatically became a school closing andfunding criteria. "I think we need to explore the consolidation program." funding of rural schools and how schools react to A county school superintendent said simply,declining enrollment," he said. "We need to "We're forced to consolidate to survive," he said.determine where (the push to consolidate) stops and how we can deal with the problems where A Lincoln County official says the entire process by which the SBA awards grants is tainted byschool boards say we're forced to consolidate because we can't afford those schools." politics. "They haven't really replaced the oldest and worst structures where there's the greatest Attorney Franklin Cleckley, in his brief to the need," he said. "That's not the way they go aboutState Supreme Court of Appeals, maintains that it. A lot of it's politics, "arbitraryschool obviously. Look at size requirements Kanawha County. invidiously discrimi- They have a half dozen nate against rural buildings that are in children, preventing worse shape than any their equal access to we've got in Lincoln school facilities and County. We've closed thus to educational schools in much better opportunity. The structural shape than majority of West anything they've got Virginia's rural in their bottom children are also ten buildings. poor, increasing their "I'm not sure what educational need and their criteria are," he making the denial of access to schools said. "They've got photo: Beth Spence some criteria in writ- doubly destructive." ing, but any time they Concludes Ms. want to go around it, they do. The governorPurdy, "The SBA, by forcing larger schools on controls the SBA, 100 percent. It's an auto-West Virginia counties whether they want them cratic process." or not, adds to the educational distress of poor Julian Martin assessed the situation bluntly,and rural children, depresses academic achievement and fails to thoroughly develop bringing the blame back full circle to the state tax students' minds. These effects could be undone policy. "The state has used the Recht Decision as an excuse to consolidate. The Recht Decisionin one stroke: by keeping and improving small schools which are already in place." didn't say you had to consolidate. The state people 40 Challenge West Virginia 4 4 13

CD col.11oy 3 kAIN S T a(D onsolidcation

(

"One of the things (the founding fathers of West Virginia) were most insistent upon wasV. assuring that all children would receive a quality fr" education ,regardless of their social- /economic status," Recht said.

BEST COPYAVAILABLE

4 5 hen Arthur Recht began his research into The government of Virginia had long wrestled education, he was particularly moved by concernswith the dilemma of how to provide education of the men who fought to create the State of Westfor the masses. In 1779, Gov. Thomas Jefferson Virginia and how they came to place therecommended the state provide three years of "thorough and efficient" clause in the state'sschooling for all children and that those who constitution in the first place back in 1872. showed promise receive more education. The "One of the things (the founding fathers ofproposal died under the pressure of wealthy West Virginia) were most insistent upon waslandowners who were opposed to paying taxes assuring that all children would receive a qualityto educate the children of the poor. Education was education regardless of their social-economicavailable only to those children whose parents status," Recht said. could afford the tuition.

'We have to insist that we provide a, and they used the term 'thorough and efficient system of putdic education' for every student M WestVilrOMa.9

In West Virginia Yesterday and Today, Phil Conley No one can say for sure when the first school and Boyd B. Statler noted that one of the firstwas opened in West Virginia. It is, however, features of the new state's constitution was asafe to say that it came soon after the arrival of provision for a free-school system. It provided thatthe first settlers. Conley and Statler recounted schools were to be organized and maintained bythe story of the young George Washington, the public for the education of all the children of allwho on his first trip into what is now West the people. Virginia in 1748, noted that he had seen the "schoolhouse old field" in the South Branch Valley of what is probably present day Hardy County. Those early schools, styled after the common schools of Virginia, were located in abandoned houses or in old fields, hence the name "old field schools." School terms lasted only a few weeks each year, during .which time the schoolmaster was provided room and board by parents, who also paid a small sum for the tuition of each child. Most of the early teachers were men who had little education themselves and who taught only reading, writing, spelling and arithmetic. Conley and Statler describe the early buildings constructed to serve as schoolhouses:

.. . the first schoolhouses for that purpose were of logs and consisted of one room. The floors were made of logs split in half, with the half side turned up. The seats 42 Challenge West Virginia 4 6 were benches made of similar half logs with fourApproximately 95 percent of total school costs big pegs for legs. These benches had no backscame from local property taxes, so that, almost and there were no desks. The pupils wrote theirfrom the beginning, West Virginia's public spelling words and arithmetic and any otherschools faced the funding inequities that lessons on slates. The pencils used on slates werecontinue to this day. of soapstone. Usually one writing desk was Those men and women who crossed the made by fastening a board to the wall andmountains to settle the rugged western portions bracing it to form a flat surface. The pupils tookof Virginia were all too aware that the aristocrats turns standing at this desk to practice writing.who ruled the state considered the westerners Pens were made from goose quills. Paper wascrude backwoodsmen who did not require many scarce and was dark and coarse. Ink was madeof life's amenities. from pokeberries or the bark of trees. "They had been exposed to a condition that Schoolbooks were usually a speller, an was imposed upon them, the poor cousins west arithmetic and a reader. There were few books.of the mountains, by the so-called Tidewater Very few pupils could afford to buy them." portions of Virginia, 'Let's keep those folks not In 1810 the Virginia legislature establishedas smart, Judge Recht said. "So when they a Literary Fund to pay tuition for childrenwere debating the Constitution, that came up. whose parents could not pay to send them toThey said, 'We have to insist that we provide a, school. Lawmakers increased the fund in 1816.and they used the term 'thorough and efficient To settle differences of opinion about whethersystem of public education' for every student the fund should be used for higher educationin West Virginia." or for elementary schools, legislation enacted The problem, even then, was that some areas in February 1818 allocated $15,000 annually toof West Virginia were more remote, more the proposed University of Virginia and $45,000backwoods than others, with fewer books, annually to the counties of Virginia to educate fewer educated people, fewer jobs that required poor children. a classroom educationand, perhaps most Schools commissioners were appointed byimportantly, less property wealth to provide county courts to oversee the funds. In 1832, reportsadequate funding for schools. Wheeling, site of reveal that 22 of the 25 counties comprising whatthe original state capital, was very different is now West Virginia offered school periodsfrom Welch in what would become the varying from 40 to 81 days attended by 5,872 poorcoalfields of McDowell County. And families children out of a total 9,255. in what would become Lincoln County were In 1841 sixteen counties from what is now Westprobably as different from the men who drew Virginia sent representatives to a meeting in.up the new state's constitution as the settlers of Clarksburg, where aplan urging thethe western part of Virginia were from those in establishment of free schools was presented inthe Tidewater area. resolution form to the Virginia General Assembly. The situation did not escape the attention of By 1850, western Virginia had more thanWilliam R. White, the Methodist-Episcopal 1,300 common schools and three counties minister who became the first Superintendent Jefferson, Kanawha and Ohio had adoptedof Free Schools in 1864. In 1865 White reported district free school systems to be approved byto the Legislature that 133 schoolhouses across local voters and financed by local taxes, asthe state employed 387 teachers, conducted an allowed by a Virginia law passed in 1829. average term of less than three months and cost Soon after the western counties broke awaya total of $7,722 to operate. from Virginia to form West Virginia, the new White also submitted to the Legislature state's Legislature authorized using generaldisheartening reports from county superin- property taxes to fund public education.tendents which described shortages of funding 4 7 43 and supplies, school buildings in ruins, localwrites. "(The residents) had been deprived of a school commissioners who were ignorant,due share of their birthright, in that their natural indifferent and not always honest and thoseresources were being exploited rather than citizens who didn't want to see the children ofdeveloped... Thus the thorough and efficient the poor uplifted by education. system of free schools authorized in the "The people must be educated up to that pointconstitution failed to materialize." where they shall see the great advantage of being By 1908 West Virginia had only twelve high taxed to build school houses and properlyschools from which graduates would be remunerate the teachers of their children," Whiteunconditionally admitted to West Virginia wrote. "Especially is it the duty of the state to educateUniversity, Ambler reports. In that same year the the children of the poor man." Legislature authorized the construction of district In his A History of Education in West Virginia,high schools in areas where citizens were willing Charles H. Ambler remarked that during the nextto support secondary education with a levy Duval few years, under the High School, in the leadership of White Duval District of Lincoln and Monongalia County, was constructed County superintendent in 1914, the first high Alexander L. Wade, the school builtin the new state in some county. respects led the entire In the years preced- country in educational ing World War I, the progress during the high school movement Reconstruction period. continued to mush- Wade in 1874 had room. In 1912 the state devised the graded had 125 high schools school plan for country with 6,950 students and schools, a plan con- 427 teachers, about half sidered the most ad- of them college gradu- vanced step in rural ates. By 1927, West Vir- educationinthe ginia had 260 high country and one which schools and 88 junior was adopted in some high schools with an form by every state in enrollment of 57,363 stu- the union. dents and 2,930 teach- Ambler reported ers. Unfortunately, only that beginning in about about 11 percent of el- 1880, the state was no longer in the forefront ofementary students continued on to high school, educational progress, a situation he said was "notcompared with 15 percent nationally. due primarily to a lack of interest in popular In 1929 State Superintendent W. Cassius Cook education. More than anything else perhaps, it was arecommended that the state assume one-third of

maladjustment to the Industrial Revolution..." the costs of running the school system. Supporters It was, of course, during this period, that Westpointed out that 95 percent of the state's school Virginia saw the emergence of the timber industry,revenues were from property taxes, compared with the coal industry, and the mineral extraction73 percent in the country at large. Cook warned industry. "Unfortunately for the state's educationalthat the reliance on property taxes made the state's interests, the corporate control of its industrialeducation system vulnerable. He proposed the economy was largely non-resident," Amblercreation of a school aid formula with an

44 Challenge West Virginia equalization fund for school districts that couldn'tto maintain the desired educational program. provide minimum terms with maximum levies; In The Strayer Survey of Public Education, Dr. a school building fund; and a fund forGeorge Strayer pointed out that $7.5 million management of school districts. The Legislaturein additional funds could be raised by took no action. extending rates on property assessments to In 1933, Gov. Guy Kump sponsored a bill tothe legal maximums. But, he pointed out, if eliminate independent districts and createthe state assessed property at its full and county units to operate school systems,actual value as required by law and if according to Ambler. The County Unit billnecessary levies were provided, then an became law in May 1933, abolishing 398 districtsadditional $22 million could be raised. Strayer and creating 55 county districts. Underalso recommended the establishment of a provisions of the law, ownership of schoolState Board of Education to be appointed by property and control of school affairs rested inthe governor and to be given complete control the hands of county boards of education, whoseof the state's school system, including the members initially were appointed by the statepower to appoint the state superintendent in superintendent for two-year terms beginning onorder to remove the position from partisan July 1, 1933. Beginning with the general electionpolitics. In 1946 the Legislature defeated a of 1934, board.members were to be elected byproposal to bring about the reforms voters with no more than two from the samerecommended by Strayer. It was not until 1958 magisterial district. that voters ratified an amendment to the State's Ambler noted that the public generallyConstitution changing the office of State appreciated Kump's leadership in bringingSuperintendent of Free Schools from an order out of a chaos that threatened the freeelective position to one appointed by the West school system. But he also observed, "ProgressVirginia Board of Education. in public free school education continued to be Said Ambler, "The inequalities and injustices retarded by a more or less veiled politicalthus entailed were intensified in those counties, control centering in the state capital, which atwhich, because of their lack of taxable values, were opportune times made it difficult to getunable to maintain standard programs. Then, too, legislative approval of educational measuresthere were still crowded classrooms, antiquated and appropriations without a green light fromand even unsafe buildings; inadequate grounds, the powers that be." excessive distances to travel by bus to and from In 1941, the Little Hatch Act was passed toschool; and a tendency to shorten the school day" address corrupt political practices in the So the problem of inequality in West education system. Ambler reports that prior toVirginia's public schools is nothing new, but it that time teachers "had been pushed about andis something that has intensified during this farmed out by partisan school boards in a fashioncentury. By the 1990s, a deep-seated feeling of which attracted attention beyond the state andinferiority had become an ingrained part of the caused residents to blush with shame." The lawsocial fabric of Lincoln County and other made the election of school board members non-counties where massive corporate ownership partisan and made it illegal for any person toof land and minerals is coupled with low tax solicit contributions from any non-electedbases. And despite the efforts of people like Dan salaried employee of the state or to offer favorsHedges and Arthur Recht, inadequate resources in exchange for political support. remain a problem for many counties most of A report by a retired Columbia Universitythem rural, most of them sparsely populated and professor hired by the state Legislature in 1945most of them with high concentrations of outside concluded that the amount West Virginia wasownership. spending on education was entirely inadequate But in the eyes of most Lincoln Countians,

49 45 the root of the problemAreas with no traditions of civic collaboration with education reformfound it more difficult to overcome barriers of overlays the problems ofsuspicion, exploitation and distrust. In other taxes, school aid formulawords, the traditions that had evolved over and the building authoritygenerations tended to perpetuate themselves. like a clinging sheet of Communities that have dense networks of civic transparent plastic. Go toengagement (through neighborhood associations, Lincoln County and justsports clubs, choral societies or cooperatives, etc.) about everyone will tellare generally rich in social capital and are democratic, youthe real deterrent to better schools is poli-Putnam maintains, because people act out of concern tics. Like the clear plastic, the political influence isfor the entire community. People in communities rich hard to see and difficult to describe. But Lincolnin social capital turn out to vote, read newspapers Countians believe the tax system is the way it isand are involved in PTAs and other associations because of politics. They believe the school aid for-which bring people together to act for the common mula was worked out the way it was because of politics. They believe 91 fear for the chHclren0 ot makesme so angry that the the School people in this school system don't care about the children." Building Authority is the way it is good. Such social capital, he argues, is a pre- because of politics. And, ultimately, the schools arecondition for good government and socio- the way they are because of politics. economic modernization. When they speak of politics, Lincoln Countians Lincoln County, with its history of out-of-state aren't talking about a structure of government thatcontrol of land and mineral Wealth, has been robbed allows ordinary citizens to control their destinies.of its social capital. Putnam On the contrary, politics as practiced in southernmight argue that the West Virginia is a method of control that leaves thecounty's economic past majority of citizens feeling oppressed andled to its political present victimized. Politics is a stacked system, set up to that the control and benefit a minority at the expense of the majority, aexploitation of natural politics of exclusion and disempowerment. resources prevented the In his book Making Democracy Work, Robertformation of democratic Putnam, director of the Center for Internationalinstitutions. The political Affairs at Harvard University, defined a conceptsystem in place today which he calls "social capital." Social capital, asevolved from the system Putnam uses the term, refers to features of socialcreated to protect those organization that enable people to work togetherabsentee interests, and it for the common good. Trust and cooperation arecontinues to promote the key components. good of a few at the Putnam had spent twenty years studying theexpense of the many. types of government that evolved in differentWith no collaborative parts of Italy after the country ordered the creationtraditions to fall back of democratic governments for its districts in 1970.upon and no truly democratic institutions to Those districts that achieved true democraticsupport them, the citizens of Lincoln County are government and, along with it, economic growth,almost powerless to alter their circumstances. were those with rich traditions of social capital.

46 Challenge West Virginia Even those institutions which could offer "I fear for the children. It makes me so angry some semblance of democracy fail to do so. Thethat the people in this school system don't care community newspaper at one time was run byabout the children. It's political. They can keep a publishing gadfly dedicated to providing atotal control. The kids will stay illiterate, and it lively weekly reflection of activities throughoutdoesn't matter what the Recht decision or any the community. It now is in the hands of theother case will do, it's not going to change until people who run the political establishment andthe attitudes of this county change toward doesn't even pretend to offer differing sides oncleaning it up. Until they get the politics out of issues of social concern. the school system, it's never going to change." The community schools once were places The imprint of that oppressive type of political where people gathered to work for the commoninfluence is on every page of the history of the good by cleaning up the playgrounds andlast twenty years of the Lincoln County school planting trees; where they discussed issuessystem. In1976school cook Mauna Honaker and concerning their children and their own lives;two other employees filed a federal court case where they came to celebrate the small milestonessaying they were fired because they refused to of day-to-day life in a community. When thesupport a particular school board candidate in schools were closed, another avenue to socialan election. A federal judge found in favor of the interaction was gone. "Now," said one resident,trio and ordered them reinstated with back pay. "we only get together for ftmerals, to share our Prior to the1982primary election, newspaper losses, our past, not our future." ads showed a school board hopeful included in a As for voting in elections, many Lincolnlist of candidates endorsed by the School Board Countians have come to the conclusion that it re-Faction for county and state offices. The ads ally doesn't make any difference whether theypledged that all the candidates, including the vote or not. The elections are so controlled as tosupposed "non-partisan" school board nominee make it imi)ossible for"will continue the progress which has been made them to change theirin Lincoln County by our organization." community by doing In the1980election, the county schools their civic duty at thetransportation director, who still holds the post, polls. Voters from onedoubled as treasurer for the local Democratic district are played offparty and got$20,000from then Governor Jay against voters from an-Rockefeller to do precinct-level organizing, other so that ultimatelyaccording to Rockefeller campaign reports. the influence and money And in that same election47school employees of a few controls the elec- most of them cooks, janitors and school bus drivers tions and only those al- were identified as Democratic precinct workers. ready in power benefit by the government. A parent who was active in the movement to save cl Lincoln County's four high schools observed: "I keep desmi&'.7- "It's Boss Hog poli- wanting to fall back on the political corruptness and tics," explains one vet- control in Lincoln's school system because I think eran elementary teacher. that's the heart of Lincoln's problems. In Lincoln "I think everyone can County all roads lead to the political powers." understand that. They're wanting to keep the children uneducated and keep "How can you move past (politics) when it's them ignorant, to keepthemin control. Then theyright in the middle of it?" asked another parent. can be the Boss Hog. They keep the children where"It's an underlying factor in the education system." they can't achieve, so they can't become intelligent A principal lamented, "I wish I could explain people that make intelligent decisions at the polls.how politics works in the schools. I could get rich 51 4 7 "How can you [move past (pon-azs) when 'Ws Fight M tft 8nrqddle Of K?"asked another parent. "It's an underlying factor in the ed cation system."

if I could explain this one. It's not Democrat orsubtle nuances of politics in the schools and the Republican politics. It's good old boy politics, politicslong-term devastating results which occur when of influence. Most people get their jobs because ofchildren are not put first. who they know or some contact that they have." The principal told this story: "Somebody that's "I try to stay away from politics," an educatorunhappy with me can very easily just pick up the said. "I don't play politics, but that is a very bigphone and call a board member, who now feels problem, especially here in this county. The politicalobligated to do something for this person who has factions basically tend to run the school system. Thecalled him. After all, this could be a potential voter, county boss, the head of the Democratic party,and he doesn't want to make him mad. He'd like basically controls what the board of education does.to do something to help him. They want programs put through, the programs go "So the board member will want to intercede, through. If they want something stopped, generallyforgetting the fact that he's just a policy-making it gets stopped. person at a board meeting and has no powers "I think in years past hiring and firing was aoutside. He wants to intercede in some day-to-

really big thing. I don't think it's as (bad now)... day things, minor things, it may be cheerleading maybe in hiring more than firing because there isthings, just minor on the scope of a board a lot of protection there afforded by the state nowmember. But it's important to those people who as opposed to what it used to be. It's a lot harderare calling him, which makes it important to that to fire somebody. But hiring, particularly for newboard member." teachers, it's who you know as opposed to what If the principal won't do what the board you know." member suggests, "then the board starts honing One community leader said while thein on you as an administrator because you've now election of officials by the people is positive inkept them from doing something those people most cases, the controlled political process ofhave asked. So you come to directly butting heads Lincoln County makes it more difficult to bringwith them. After all, they're the board member. about change. You're one of their employees. Why don't you do "It's difficult to get new people in and to getwhat they say? It becomes little gougings. You new ideas," she said. "They, when I say they, I meanmay get audited more often than you'd ordinarily the political powers, they just don't want to let goget audited. Or you may get more reprimands sent of that control. Lincoln County is a very rural area,your way. And little silly things that you've now not a lot of employers in the county. When you cangot to call back and check yourself about and put control 800 people, give or take, you have a lot ofin writing. Things are said that cause you control in your hands. problems, destroy your credibility. That's the politics of the school system. Nothing to do with "Most of those folks are married with families, Democrats or Republicans." voting families. They use the service personnel, the bus drivers and the kitchen workers and the aides. I The teacher said she doesn't hold out any heard rumors that some were threatened with theirhope that the school system can be changed until jobs, 'you be careful or you'll lose your job, be carefulthe political system is changed. how you vote." "People in Lincoln County are so entrenched Four stories describe the way political influencein the political system and the way it's always affects education in Lincoln Countyone from abeen done," she said. "For example, we were principal, one from a teacher and two fromdiscussing the janitor at our school not doing his reformers who worked in county bond elections.job and how bad it is, and somebody said, 'Well, Together, their stories illustrate the subtle and lessit's because his family got him the job politically, so he's protected no matter what he does.' This 48 Challenge West Virginia 52 other teac.her grew up in Lincoln County, but Iwere going to vote. You know, and I hate to say thought she would not say something in supportthis, you just knew when they came in, you knew of politics. I was shocked when she said shewhere they came from and how they were going didn't see anything wrong with taking care ofto vote. And the ones that came in voted it down. your family. They didn't own property. They didn't have "Lincoln County doesn't have enoughchildren. I don't want to come out and say what money to run an adequate education system, butthey were, but you knew they were brought in the board of education there to vote that has enough money to down. They could hire a lawyer, keep a have cared less what maintenance director happened tothat and a transportation school. They were just director, have assistant told to vote it down. principals at the high "I don't like to say schools and have a that low-income principal and a director people are who de- ofthevocational feated that, but I have school," she said. to say that they're the The political sys- ones that defeated our tem negatively affects bond.I saw it.I everyone in the school understandthose system and hiring people. They survive people for political rea- by living off poli- sons breeds incompe- ticians, and I know tence, she said. The how they have to failure of anyone at survive. They don't any level of the state to think anything about address that incom- going in there and petence causes good voting against that. educators to give up on the idea of being able to And, for all anyone make a difference for children. "How can youknows, it may be $20 extra in their pocket." help children believe they make a difference The other parent told of going to the county when you don't believe you make a difference?"seat to view a film on how to run a precinct on she said. election day. She and the other election officials "If you're not really self-motivated, aftertook notes and tried to do everything by the year after year after year of that, you soon giveletter. "They said if you have any questions, call, up and say nobody else cares, why should I?but we had no access to a telephone. So we talked It's hard, it really is. Everybody needs to beamong ourselves, the four of us, and we'd come affirmed in their work. But in a political system,to an agreement," she said. that doesn't happen." "Then it came to the tallying part at the end, The parents told the discouraging story ofand one of the people from out front came back. working in the bond election in LincolnThey weren't supposed to. They had done it County in 1996, the one the political leadersseveral times during the day, and we kicked them fought to defeat. out. They're not supposed to be in there. But he came back there and threatened us. Threatened "I don't think in Lincoln County it is possible us that we were holding them up. I said, 'If you to have an honest election," one parent said. "You want us to sit here until you go to Hamlin and get knew before those people voted exactly how they somebody, go ahead, because we've done 53 49 "Of you can pu00 pogitics out of an education system, you'00 Create an everything by the book, and we had clearcounties, stand as his greatest achievement. consciences.' Caperton and officials he named to run the state's "One of the men tlit worked in the countingschool system suggest that because the schools are room with us down here told us that he used to workbig and new, a higher quality of education is going the elections. I thought he had worked in the electionon within their doors. (precinct). 'Oh, no,' he said. 'I used to work on the Lincoln County parents argue that even if the outside, but not on the inside. I just looked at himnew schools have the latest state-of-the-art and said, 'Can you tell me how that works?' equipment, they are not enough to overcome the "He said, 'Well, somebody goes in and they vote.problems caused when political interests super- I was the one that had sede the education the money. They go in of children. and vote and when "(The politicians they come back out, are) controlling your somebody comes out educational system with them, whoever and the employees, the door-opener the teachers, the person was, and if principals.It'sa they pull on their ear, vicious cycle, that, I'm to pay them as long as that power because they voted is allowed to re- right. But if they main and continue, don't I'm not to give the cycle is going them anything.' to continue," a "Now that's how it parent said. works," the woman said. "I was astonished. But he "If you can pull politics out of an education was sitting down there telling this story while wesystem, you'll create an excellent education were counting votes." system," she said. "But in a county where the tax When the election was over and the bondbase is as low as ours is now, it's kind of a no-win defeated, the woman talked to a friend whosesituation. Your power brokers or your political son had worked at a local grocery store on thepower brokers who control your economy, your day of the election. "He said at the end of thebusiness, who basically control your tax base, day he helps count the money. He said theythey're not going to bring anybody else new in." usually have five or six $50 bills. At the end of Echoed another parent, "To make the school that day, they measured them, an inch and a halfsystem better and to make it work, they need to of $50 bills. An inch and a half She said theybring politics out of the county board and let them pressed them together. They had an inch and amake good decisions about what's best for the half of $50 bills that day at the end of the day."children and what's best for the school system. I The politics of education doesn't stop at thedon't know how. We tried, I know we've tried, county level. Gaston Caperton was determined tobut I really don't know the answer to the question. make his political mark as the state's "educationWe need to elect officials that are not told what to governor." The two-term governor attended everydo, but I really don't know. I'm at a loss. When we ribbon-cutting for every school constructed duringwent to the state board, we had other counties his administration and boasted of investing morefighting their school boards right along with us, than $800 million in state and local funds to build 58and theirs was the same thing. Politics was in their new schools and renovate 780 others. school board. And when it is, they're going to control the money. They don't even think about Those big new consolidated high schools, many the children." of them located on isolated stretches of road in rural 50 5 4 Challenge West Virginia ce011ent educatrion system," (0 P A teacher said the entire structure of opposed when she was principal of Hamlin 5 w education needs to be changed. "Our prioritiesElementary, exacerbates the problem. a) are just all mixed up," she said. "We're c "School is so structured and many children c supposed to be there for the children, and itdon't come from homes that are structured," o seems like the children are the least of our t0 said an elementary teacher. "When I was D -0 concerns. We need teachers who really wantgrowing up, we were at the table three times a Lu to teach children, we need administrators who 15 day together as a family. We did a lot of talking u) are more interested in curriculum than they PO at the table. That's not happening now. The ,7) are in politics. Everybody's looking for a quick a_ children just aren't exposed. They don't have 0 fix, and there just isn't one." ;S the advantages. They don't travel, they're not t) Especially vulnerable are the children of theexposed to magazines and books and ts-,._----poor,A 1996 study by Craig Ramey, an authoritynewspapers in their homes. So they come into ----, a) --, on early dev_elopment at the University of _c -,, school at a disadvantage. And if they're 1- Alabama, Birmingham, found that children from grouped together, all these kids with the disadvantaged and higher,income-:----, families scoreproblems, who haven't had these experiences ,__, about the same,on-,, mental testsuntil the age ofarid Who are behind, it really is difficult. one year. After thaf;\ children frofir,low-incomeChldrenlearni from each other, so it's better not or troubled homes develOp,at a slowe-i-rate. Bytohave sO\OIalgrouping." the age of two, they lag behind,their better-off Another elementary teacher said socio contemporaries by the equivalent of-15-,-,,points''''economci groupngi was a fact of life in her school on the IQ scale. --,, untilithe, mid-1990s. The grouping began when Braxton County School Superintendent,,students,-first----, '). entered school, the teacher said. Kenna Seal said flatly, "The single most powerful'He (the principal'would goto parents and predictor of school achievement is socio-1 --,-,:--,,,, ...---buil&this one teacher,up; everybody knew in ? -...,-., economic status." --,-_---. kinde-rgarten that the 'who's who' would request teacher). He would>make sure the 'who's Many teachers feel that the practice of ability--(that, --,- grouping, which Betty Jones so vehementlywho''were all together. So inskindergarten they put the 'whb'swho' group together. -"We had-a joke we called\ig, the qunch box group.' Youdi-Cln'teven have to see the free or reducedform.You watched the kids go through the lunch line, and the 'who's who' had lunch buckets. The poor other Mile tatteredchHdren had shrts, Httte stanang there Ileekhg rces0 pitful] wuth drirty IMthe halir and no konch buckets. "He would put together the special ed kids, the BD

55 51 BEST COPYAVAILABLE (behavior disordered) kids, the learning An honors student who did succeed in Lincoln disabled, the children he hated, the poor kids. ICounty schools was blunt in her assessment of really felt sorry for poor boys. He would stickthe system. "They sit the dumb ones in the back them in there, and they didn't stand a chance.and the smart ones in the front. In first grade, Even the brightest of children, it was really sad.they're told to sit in the back of the room. By fifth It wasn't just a case where they catered to a fewgrade, they go there automatically." of these top people. They would ruin children's And many of those children aren't slow, insists a lives," she said. "I can name children whose livesveteran first grade teacher. The problem is they've were ruined, entire groups of students. I'm willingcome from homes where there are money problems, to say I'm sure it's the discriminatory socio-family problems, extreme need. Many don't get economic grouping patterns here. It's stillenough adult attention, and their parents, who often showing up in low test scores in the high school,are stressed to the breaking point just to provide the and no one seems to care." basic necessities of life, don't know how to help them A parent explained it this way, "The minute asucceed in the school system. child is enrolled in school, expectations are set based "I see a big difference just in the last several on who his parents are. And this follows the childyears of children's home lives affecting what all his life." they're able to do at school," the teacher said. A community leader who has been involved in"Children who are kept up at night by parents the struggle to improve Lincoln County's schoolsarguing, fighting and drinking haven't slept, and added, "I think the little kid doesn't un- derstand the differ- "Children who are kept up at night by parents arguing, ence between the dad that's never worked fighting and drinking haven't slept, and they come and is never going to schoog woffied about what's gang work and the mother to happen to mom." that doesn't care as opposed to a class- mate whose dad does work and mother does care. He looks at him- self as an equal and so they all try about the same. Somewhere along the line as they grow up, the kids be- gin to see the differ- ence. The kids here in third grade are well above the national av- erage in CTBS scores. They're hanging in there at the sixth grade level. By ninth grade level, they're started downhill and in elev- enth grade, it's over."

52 Challenge West Virginia they come to school worried about what'sout of, and sometimes we have to help them tan; going to happen to mom. Daddy beat Mommysucceed in spite of that." up last night or Daddy was with so and so last The 1996 Kids Count Data Book, which used s night, and we don't know where he is. 1990 census figures to draw a picture of West "A person who was in charge of a workshop IVirginia's children, found that almost halfor di took was talking about how we expect children45.1 percentof all children in Lincoln County

45 to come to school and have their book bag with ) live in poverty. That figure is a 56.3 percent 2 them and their reading book or library book andincrease over the number of children in eL their pencils and paper. But if you go to thatpoverty in 1980. Researchers found a strong child's home, they probably don't have a chestconnection between child poverty and low for their clothes. The clothes are in a box orschool achievement. g maybe they're just stacked up somewhere by One of the measurements of child the side of the room. poverty used by Kids Count, which focused "And she said, 'You think about where youon education issues in the 1996 data book, came from, how you live now, where you've gotis the number of children who receive free a drawer for your underwear, a drawer for yourand reduced-price school meals. In 1994, socks and your shoes are kept here and your64.1 percent of all Lincoln County students clothes are kept here. And that child's comingin grades kindergarten through 12 qualified from a home that's totally disorganized, andfor free or reduced school lunches and you're asking him to be organized and readybreakfasts. On a chart comparing child well- for school and bebeing with composite scores of the prepared.The child justindicators used by Kids Count, Lincoln doesn't understandCounty ranked 54th out of 55 counties. what that is." Lincoln ranked fifth in the percent of births The teacher said theto mothers with less than a 12th grade workshop helped openeducation; ninth in the percent of low birth- her eyes. "I try to talkweight babies; and tenth in the infant to the children at themortality rate. beginning of school, to Kids Count cited a 1995 study by the West trytoteach themVirginia Education Fund which compared 33 responsibility, to gethigh-achieving elementary schools with 33 their things ready forlow-achieving elementaries. The lowest the next morning, putachieving schools had 2.5 times more it by the door if theystudents receiving free and reduced price need to so that they'llmeals than the highest achieving schools. see it when they startKid's Count research showed that the great out to school the nextmajority of West Virginia's blue ribbon morning, that they'veschools are in counties where child poverty got to start acceptingrates are lower. responsibility for their Needless to say, not one of the Blue Ribbon things. We can't just laySchools is in Lincoln County, where the median it on the parents. Partfamily income in 1990 was $16,868a decline of the responsibility forof 20.3 percent over a ten-year periodand helping them becomewhere the percentage of families receiving Aid responsible people isto Families with Dependent Children (welfare ours. We have tobenefits) increased from 14.8 percent in 1980 understand the enviro-to 28.7 in 1994a leap of 93.7 percent. nment they're coming 57 53 feel that poverty breeds hopelessness. And the adults are powerless. And when they're powerless,they're hopeOess and they're frustrated. There's anger and them's no way out for these peopds."

The Kids Count report also noted that counties like Lincoln, where high numbers of children are born to mothers with less than a high school education, face a special challenge of educating more disadvantaged children and improving the educational level of parents. "The improvement of education for children in poverty is one of the crucial factors to reduce welfare dependency and to prepare students to participate in tomorrow's economy" said Margie Hale, executive director of the West Virginia Kids Count Fund. "Poverty is a big issue," agreed a Lincoln County administrator. "It breeds a thousand Ms. You don't know unless you've been poor. You don't know what kids have been through before they come to school or what they go home to. A thousand ills. "I feel that poverty breeds hopelessness. And the adults are powerless. And when they're powerless, they're hopeless and they're frustrated. There's anger and there's no way out for these people."

54 58 Challenge West Virginia LI

f

NW. oof. photo. Jim Batow

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)7,

55 iincla Martin has argued for more thanthrough the mid-1960s." One of the first books twenty years that these low-income children fromchallenging the notion that bigger is better was the troubled homes children who are consideredBig School, Small School: High School Size and Stu- at-risk by sociologists and social workersare thedent Behavior, by Roger Barker and Paul Gump. ones most affected by consolidation, which hasBarker and Gump found the levels of extracurricu- enveloped Lincoln County just as Mrs. Martinlar participation are much higher in small schools predicted it would back in 1982. than in large ones and that in small schools, where Research by the Appalachia Educationalmany students are needed to participate in clubs, Laboratory supports Mrs. Martin's belief. Studiesoffices and teams, even marginal students are made since 1990 have revealed that most consolidationsto feel that they belong. shut poorer, smaller schools and while richer Barker and Gump found that although there students have done well at bigger, consolidatedappeared to be no conscious intent to deny schools, poorer students have done much worse.participation opportunities to students, large high In a 1996 study, AEL researcher Craig Howleyschools have that effect. Not only is it difficult for concluded that longer bus rides curtailed studentthe children in far reaches of counties to participate and parent participation, satisfaction andin after school activities, their parents also are not achievement. The absence of involvement andable to participate in the life of the school and the participation, Howley maintains, leads to lowerteachers and parents don't have the chance to get test scores and higher dropout rates. to know each other like they do in small com- James Marsh, principal of the con'solidatedmunity schools. Webster County High School, where many students ride buses more than an hour each way, noted that today's children are judged not only on academic achievement, but also on community service. The principalhas tried to squeeze an "activities" bus ruu into the bloated transportation budget so that students can take part in after-school programs and extra-curricular activities. Marsh, who grew up in the county when there were two '1104.4 ab high schools, told the Associ- ated Press, "If I'd had to take the school bus to Upperglade .#41110,M4, from Cleveland (on the Upshur County line), I probably would have been a dropout. It's bad enough in a car, let alone in a school bus." Howley wrote that "profes- sional faith in the virtues of larger schools persisted, virtu- ally unchallenged, at least photo: Beth Spence 56 Challenge West Virginia "Any time you consolidate, parents get leftas just another 'Mud River hoodlum' or another out because they quit coming to PTA, they loseloser from a family of losers." interest in the school because it's so far away A teacher who taught a combined first and and they feel powerless," explained Juliansecond grade class at one small school remembers Martin. "The worse off you are, the harder it'san incident in which two children, a first grader going to be to get to the schools that far away Soand a second grader, came to school after spending poor people get hit hardest by consolidation. Theythe night in a hospital emergency room where their lose their voice. They don't have a school nearbymother was taken after she tried to commit suidde. where they can go to find out what's going on. The children were traumatized and had trouble "They have to travel long distances, and theirexplaining what was happening. The teacher, who kids don't get to participate in extra-curricularknew the mother and understood the problems activities because they don't have any way to getshe was having at that time and the effect they home. If you have a little bit of money, it isn't goingwere having on the children, ended up taking to hurt you that much, except it's going to tear yourthe children home with her that evening to look community up. When you consolidate schools,after them. you're taking the soul out of the place." A principal who oversaw the closing of two "When you take away the community school,schools said she felt like she was losing family you take away the knowledge about that family andmembers when the schools closed. "It took that that child," adds Linda Martin. "In a small schoolfamily feeling away from the community there all the teachers pretty much know the families andthat you have when children start in the problems those families may be having. Ifkindergarten and are there for seven years. It's Jolmny's mom and dad are fighting, if his dad is inreally emotional. Unless you've been through jail, if there is sickness, they know and they makeit, you don't realize what it's like. allowances. When the "The parents worked well together, and the child is in a school whereteachers did. It was just like a family working no one is aware of thosetogethera village raising children," she said. problems, the allowances"If I wasn't there and I needed someone to take aren't made." care of my daughter, even if I didn't get word An elementary teach-to them, I knew somebody was going to take er echoed the sentiment,care of her. And the same thing with the other "In a small communitykids. There was one little boy who was being everyone is related toraised by his father, and a few times I couldn't everyone else. Kinshipget hold of his dad, so I just took him home goes a long way towardwith me and fed him supper. When his daddy eliminating a lot ofcame home from work, he hadn't had any socioeconomic and classsupper either, so I fed him, too. That's the type issues. If a child is yourof situation it was." nephew and his parents A parent whose community school was are having bad luck orclosed said the community wasn't the same are poor or are onafter the school was closed. "Everything was welfare, you want thatcentered around the school. After the school nephew to succeed, andwas taken out, you could tell a big difference. you make sure theThen we were a community that got together. school knows what'sNow we're just people who live along the same going on. Unfortunately,road. We don't even see each other much." when those children go out of that community, Julian Martin believes that just about everyone loses when schools are taken out of they're often perceived 57 communities and built along four-lane highwayselementary schools, serving students in grades where nobody lives. "We''re Wal-Marting thekindergarten through six. school system," he says. "We're putting them out Today, the four high schools remainthe on the mall on a four-lane highway. That's whatresult of long and bitter battles against the schools are becomingjust big Wal-Marts."consolidation. But while citizens have been able Today in Lincoln County the smallest schools into hold the line against consolidating secondary the smallest communities are gone or on their wayschools, the county administration, under toward closure. A majority of Lincoln Countypressure from the State Department of Education, parents, teachers and officialsagree thathas systematically closed elementary schools. By consolidation,not the beginning of the better schools, has 1997-98 school term, been the outstand- Lincoln County had ing legacy of the only nine element- Recht Decision. ary schools, and the "The biggest board of education change I've seen is already had announ- consolidation," said a ced plans to close teacher who has been two more. in the system almost 30 In 1991 Lincoln years. "Smaller schools County citizens em- have been closed and phatically defeated a the effort made to bond issue which consolidate the high would have financed schools. I think the plan two consolidated high is to consolidate the schoolsone serving elementary schools students from Hamlin into the old high school and Duval, the other buildings so you will for students from have really large ele- Harts and Guyan mentaries, too." Valley. The plan was As late as the 1948- placed on file with the 49 schoolyear, state, which had re- Lincoln County had commended building three high schools one high school and and 134 elementaries, closing Ferrellsburg, 104 of them one-room McCorkle, Midkiff, schools. It is still possible to talk with retiredPleasant View and Woodville elementaries. The educators who began their careers at Bear Creekremaining elementary schools would have served or Brush Fork, Berry Branch or Buckeye. students in grades K-5 with two middle schools set up at the current Duval and Guyan Valley High By 1962, after the first wave of consolidation, schools. With the defeat of the bond, many felt the the number of schools was down to 83. The schools school consolidation issue had been placed on a lost were in the most distant, least populated areas back burner. of the county. By the time of the Recht decision, Lincoln County had 21 schoolsfour high schools As it turned out, the pressure was just beginning. (a high school had been constructed at HartsLate in the year, the State Department of Education because of concern about dangerous travelingplaced Duval High School on a list of "seriously conditions) serving students in grades sevenimpaired" high schools in the state, citing a 33 through twelve; one vocational school and sixteenpercent dropout rate, low test scores and poor 58 Challenge West Virginia "Twenty percent of the kids get the best of everything. Mghty percent get what's ceft student attendance. The following year a report Board meetings were packed with irate was issued which said 80 percent of students whoparents, many of them from the eastern part of had come out of the Martin Elementary Schoolthe county, which had supported the two high attendance area dropped out of Duval beforeschool plan. They were incensed that the School completing high school. Members of the stateBoard would give serious consideration to Board of Education expressed shock after readingconstruction of a school that would have their the report. childrenespecially very young children The county superintendent at the time laid thespending more than three hours (an hour and a blame squarely on the backs of parents, saying "manyhalf each way) on a school bus each day. of the parents don't place the right emphasis on the Parents from the Harts area joined in the importance of education." Martin's principal blamedprotest. "The kids down here would have a "the family situation" of many students, saying atwo-hour bus ride one way," said one parent. majority of parents were receiving public assistance."They can't participate in after-school activities, But a bright and sensitive high school student,and they'll be too tired to get homework done." who became part of those statistics when she The parent noted that the high school had dropped out of school in the eleventh grade, saidbeen built in Harts in the first place because it wasn't that simple: "Twenty percent of the kidsof concern about long and treacherous bus get the best of everything. Eighty percent get what'srides over Fourteen Mile Mountain, which left. You're in a category. They know who you areseparates Harts from the Guyan Valley area. and who your parents are. People who have"When they went to Guyan Valley, kids were introductory calculus or physics are politicians'dropping out left and right," she said. "Now sons or daughters. What they mean is, 'I knowthey're taking something away from us and where you're from and you don't need this.' Sowe're really frustrated." you battle for a while, but then you just give up." The frustration intensified when parents' The year after the report was issued,questions were answered only with anecdotes and Martin School was closed, together withlengthy slide presentations showing consolidated McCorkle Elementary, which was convertedhigh schools in other counties. School officials into an early childhood center for kindergartenseemed to believe that if Lincoln County residents and Head Start students. Fez and Garrett's Bendwere shown pictures of big, new schools, they had been closed a few years before that. would fall in line behind the idea of a big, new Then in 1994just weeks before the schoolconsolidated high school. They could not have been board had to submit a new comprehensive fadlitiesmore wrong. plan to the stateSuperintendent Dallas Kelley Julian Martin summed up the sentiments unveiled plans to build the largest consolidatedof the majority of Lincoln Countians when he high school in West Virginia, a facility which wouldsaid, "It's the dumbest idea anybody has come house 2,800 students in grades five through 12. Theup with." Lincoln Journal reported that the plan was the result Like wildfire, a citizen movement sprang up of a meeting between Kelley and the county's twoin opposition to the plan. Board meetings were leading political bosses, Democratic Partypacked and the atmosphere hostile. School Chairman Wylie Stowers and State Sen. LloydBoard members eventually stopped answering Jackson II. The site of the school was rumored toquestions about consolidation. Protesters who be in West Hamlin, a community on the far westernshowed up for the August 9 meeting at which fringe of Lincoln County which was home tothe Board was scheduled to vote on the plan Stowers. The proposed school site was about a milewere met out front by state troopers. "When I down the river from his shopping center. walked in that night and saw the state police, I 59 6 3 knew how the vote was going to go," recalledthe facts together, it all weaves a nice little protest leader Bryant Bowman. photograph of Mr. Stowers being reimbursed for The plan passed 3-2 on the votes of boardhis endorsement of Lloyd Jackson. It all paints that members Keith "Hillbilly" Johnson, Richardnice little picture." Adkins and Bill Workman, all of whom had Besieged by people from every corner of expressed opposition to consolidation whenLincoln County, the State Board voted not to running for school board. accept the plan. Before the month was over, the Bowman and others organized a group Makethree board members who voted for the plan a Difference (or MAD, as it was known) to appealwere subpoenaed to appear before a federal the decision to the state Board of Education. Evengrand jury in Parkersburg. The Charleston Gazette School Board President Jerry Alford joined in thereported that Keith Johnson said prosecutors protest, writing the State Board, "To say the least,asked if he had taken money for his vote on the the proposal was prepared in haste and secrecy."consolidation issue. Johnson said he hadn't, and "The secrecy was one of the things everyone wasno charges were filed. so upset about," said one parent. "It's public dollars, That fall voters showed their contempt for the public information, and yet they tried to completelybosses when Lloyd Jackson failed to carry Lincoln circumvent the public. No one could reallyCounty in his Senate race (which he won with understand what the force was, what was thevotes from Logan and Boone counties) and Greg pressure to consolidate a rural, out-of-the-wayStowers, son of Wylie, was defeated in a county county like Lincoln with four little high schools,commission race by Republican write-in numerous backways, side roads not big enough forcandidate Doug Waldron. The election of a two vehicles to pass." Republican to a county office for the first time in The force, according to one parent, was as simple40 years stunned the political establishment. as it was apparent. "Politics. That's all it was. It wasOnce more residents felt they had made clear to pocket money. The money was going to come intotheir opposition to school consolidation, that part of the county That part of the county wasespecially to a plan that would send all students going to grow. Several influential political people into one school in the far corner of the county. the county own property there. If you're going to Just one month later, in December 1994, the bus 2,800 kids into one school, you have to haveSchool Building Authority voted to make Lincoln infrastructure, you have to have housing, you haveCounty's facilities plan a top priority. That, to have business, food. Just the whole area stood tocoupled with Lloyd Jackson being named really boom." chairman of the Senate Education Committee, State Senator Lloyd Jackson played a key role inconvinced members of Make a Difference that the move to consolidate schools, according to atheir battle was far from over. protest leader who attended a meeting in the office "A lot of little things were happening to get the of State Schools Superintendent Hank Marockie,consolidation thing going again," said one resident. which the senator also attended. "And Lloyd Jackson A report issued by the State Department of proceeds to direct Hank Marockie to lend LincolnEducation the following spring said Lincoln County all the assistance they need for the purposesCounty students weren't getting the education of studying consolidation figures and facts and tothey needed to succeed in college or to compete help them work on any of the information theyin the workplace. The study pointed to a lack of would need to look into consolidation." advanced courses and few foreign language and To that citizen leader, it appeared that the pressurefine arts classes. It also noted that the county's to consolidate Lincoln County's schools came fromComprehensive Test of Basic Skills (CTBS) Lloyd Jackson down to Hank Marockie rather thanscores were the lowest in the state for 11th from the state down to the county. "If you look atgraders and only slightly better for third, sixth the whole picture, if you step back and look at alland ninth graders. 60 Challenge West Virginia 6 4 In the summer of 1995, residents againDuval High School attendance area to Guyan began to hear rumors about a one-schoolValley High School would take 70 minutes, consolidation plan. By now the Make aaccording to an assistant superintendent of Difference group was just one battalion in theschools who had directed a trial run. The officials army of citizens that began to meet and rallyknew the time would be within a framework not and attend board meetings under the anti-considered excessive by the state. consolidation banner. Many of those who But the times just could not be accurate, parents joined the fray did not oppose consolidationargued. "We asked him(theassistant outright. What they opposed was a one-highsuperintendent) where those bus times came from," school plan that seemed to promote the interestsaid a parent who attended the meeting. "He had a of a powerful elite rather stack of bus times that tall, and than the best interests of we had tried to get them for themajority of the months and months." county's students. Another parent added, Having learned little "We didn't know what was from the 1994 experience going on. But someone who in which they drew up a lived on (Route) 214 made a plan in haste and pre- comment about a school bus sented it to the state with- running that day, and she said out the benefit of exten- they acted like they were sive public input, the Lin- going to a fire. They said that coln County Board of run took 70 minutes. It sure Education again adopted did. They didn't stop to pick a one-high school con- up any kids. They didn't solidation plan. And, make simulated stops. They again, the proposal was developed in secrecydidn't obey the speed limits." and thrust on the public without warning. This When the State Board delayed making a time the school would be for high school stu- decision, a group of women interviewed bus dents only, but the proposed site was not clearly drivers and drove the bus routes themselves, defined. However, transportation studies indi- using the same data the board had claimed to cated, and citizens assumed, that when it was use. "They said 30 seconds a stop so when we finally revealed, the location again would be the did our study, that's what we allowed," one West Hamlin farm down the road from Wylie committee member said. Stowers' shopping center. An official who did not support the 'We drove routes at recommended speeds, and a school bus can't always do that," one said. 'The rim consolidation described the board meeting at they said would take 70 minutes wasn't actually which the proposal was approved, "They our longest. Everybody thought the longest run obviously had a plan. You could see them looking would be from Island Creek because that's over at at one another for the motion so they could Alum Creek. Woodville had some of the longest second it. It had been scripted for them. At one runs. Dogbone, I think, was two hours and 20 time Hillbilly Johnson read, I know he read, from minutes one way" the script. It had been given to him to make sure he'd get the words right." Students from the Dogbone area weie among those described by Ric MacDowell as the most When they went to the State Board of impoverished students in the county, the students Education to argue against the proposal, citizens who were dropping out of high school in record were shocked about some of the information it numbers. They had attended Martin Elementary contained. In support of the plan, Lincoln County School until it was closed. officials claimed the longest bus ride from the 61 6 5 "I told the State Board of Education I would putthe Alum Creek area is to go to Kanawha County my study up against our board's study any day, and Iand build a school for the rest of the county." would stand by it, and they would find it was quite a The suggestion angered Bowman, an engineer lot more accurate than theirs was," the parent said. who was born and raised in Lincoln County and Citing the overwhelming public disapproval, thehad chosen to remain in the county and raise his State Board refused to accept the county plan and gaveown sons there. officials three weeks to meet with the public and come "I leaned forward, and I said, 'Lloyd, your up with something all sides could agree on. One of thefamily has run the county for 40 years and we've leaders of the citizen group said a state board membercut our trees and hauled them out, and we don't told him later that the delay was a cooling-off period,have a sawmill, a large sawmill. We've drilled that state officials really didn't think a plan could be putoil and gas wells, and we've piped the gas out together in three weeks. and trucked the oil out, and we don't even have a But Lincoln County residents took up thesmall refinery. What little bit of coal we've got, challenge as a sacred cause. They formedwe've stripped it, and we don't have a coal cleaning committees and worked tirelessly with schoolfacility, and now you want to export the kids." officials, meeting almost nightly to develop a plan Bowman stopped and hit the table with both that all could live with. fists. "We're not going to export the kids. Build A great deal of arm-twisting went on duringthe two schools, and let them come here." that time. The night before the State Board was Bowman said McCann then proposed set to vote on the matter, Bryant Bowman receivedspending $3 million to upgrade Harts High a call from Dr. Carolyn Arrington of the StateSchool and build one school for the rest of the Department of Education, who said a couple ofcounty. No one agreed to accept the proposition, State Board members wanted to talk to him thatbut Bowman wondered where McCann got the evening. Bowman said he would like to bringauthorization to make the offer and where the several other community leaders, but he was toldmoney would come from. no. The meeting was by invitation, and the invitation was for him only. Two hours later Alford made the proposal that Lincoln County pass a bond and build two high When he walked into the room, Bowman sawschools with locations to be decided by the Dallas Kelley, Jeny Afford, Bill Workman, and Charlescommittee that had been working on the McCann from the Lincoln County school system; Dr.consolidation issue. Arrington from the State Department of Education; The next morning Marockie announced to a Senator Lloyd Jackson and Lyle Stowers, son of Wylie, packed meeting the vote on the Lincoln County representing the Lincoln County political world; and issue would be held over until a later date. two members of the State Board of Education. Hoss Farley, from the Harts area, was the only otherBowman and other members of the committee went to the State School Building Authority community member invited to the meeting. Charleston attorney Mike Carey, who was representing somemeeting, where he said the SBA had been parents in Harts, also was in attendance. presented with a resolution to do nothing in Lincoln County for another year or two. "They called us there for the sole purpose of Bowman was invited to speak. He found selling us the one-school idea," Bowman said. The himself becoming emotional as he pleaded his meeting, which started at 7 p.m., lasted until after case, "We've worked on this for two years, and 11. "Somewhere around 8:30 or 9 o'clock, Lloyd you have a sheet of paper here destroying became agitated," Bowman recalled. "And he turned everything we've done. This has got to come to to me and said, 'You're just going to have to realize some kind of resolution. It's got to be done that the best thing for the students in Harts is to go now because the kids are being done wrong to Logan County, the best thing for the students in here," he said.

Challenge West Virginia 6 6 A very exhausting hour later, the Schoolinvolved with its school. The staffs of Harts Building Authority agreed to give LincolnHigh School and its feeder elementary schools County $2 million out of the previous year'shad worked hard to develop and nurture funds and said if the county passed the bond,community involvement. They felt they would the two schools would be built simultaneously.lose more than a school if forced to consolidate. The two high school plan was reminiscent of Bowman, Farley and the bond were soundly the earlier plan which voters had opposed. Bytrounced. Those who had worked so hard for this time, however, a majority of those who hadtwo years, who had compromised and had played been on the front lines of the battle againstby all the rules, could not comprehend what had consolidation realized they had no chance ofhappened to them. maintaining four high schools. With tremendous "We've got a county here that they've been in energy, the committee continued its work,control of for 40 years and we rank dead last in locating sites for the two schools and preparingtest scores," Bowman mused. "Our students for a bond election which would be held ingraduate from our high schools on the same level conjunction with the 1996 primary election theor lower than the students in the Delta in following spring. Mississippi. If they were so concerned about Bowman and Farley announced plans to runeducation all of a sudden, why did we spend 40 for the two vacant seats on the Lincoln Countyyears languishing like we have? Board of Education as they campaigned for the "They didn't do it at all for the children. They bond. Tired of fighting the consolidation battle,don't care about the children. It's the power and Alford had decided not to seek another term.control. I think they probably would have settled Incumbent Keith Johnson also decided not tofor two schools had they been able to do it, but run, doubtless realizing he couldn't win givenwhen the people got involved, they had to defeat his support for the one-school plan. it. And, meanwhile, the little first grader starting The Stowers faction threw its supportelementary school here in this county will behind two newcomersKim McCoy andgraduate in twelve years unable to compete with Billie Frye. The women went door-to-doorkids that live just across the county line. That's campaigning. Their platform was simple.the sad part." They stood for four county high schools and The failure of the bond threw a giant they stood against the bond. roadblock into the plans of the Lincoln County "They (the politicians) started doing a lot ofBoard of Education and the State Department writing that Hoss and I were the consolidationof Education to consolidate the county's high people," explained Bowman. "We were theschools. Without the construction of new ones that had fought it, and they were the onesfacilities, there was no way the four high schools that wanted to consolidate. But they put us incould be merged. So Lincoln County officials, a corner. And it was smart on their part." facing a $900,000 deficit and under pressure The strategy worked especially well in thefrom the state to trim expenses, turned their Harts area, where residents desperately wantedattention to elementary schools. to keep their small high school, both for In early 1997 Superintendent Dallas Kelley transportation and safety reasons and forabruptly retired. In the next few weeks Acting socioeconomic reasons. Superintendent Donna Martin recommended Many Harts residents were not pleased withclosing the McCorkle Early Education Center, the proposed location of the school that wouldtogether with Woodville, Pleasant View and combine Harts and Guyan Valley, feeling theirBranchland Elementary schools. The move, which children would still be forced to travelwould all but erase the county's deficit, was dangerous sections of roads to get to school.approved by the board of education even though But also the community was passionatelyexisting schools did not have enough space for the 67 63 additional students, and even though some studentswith teachers changing assignments and children from the Martin area would have to endure bus rideshaving to adjust to new teachers at midyear. He of an hour and a half one way each day. merely insisted that it had been done before. At the same time the closures were proposed, And that, said parents, was why Rick Powell the Board of Education announced it would seekwas brought to Lincoln Countyto make sure funds from the School Building Authority to buildschools were consolidated once and for all. "One a 16-room "state of the art" addition to Westof the parents said it to him," a teacher recounted. Hamlin Elementary School. The county also"She said, we know why you're here, received an assurance from the School Buildingyou're here to consolidate schools." Authority that it would receive funds to build four The teacher added, "People like him, even if they additional classrooms at Midway Elementary. are interested in education, their job is political. If As parent opposition you've taught at a school sprang up, Lincoln any time, you know County officials post- what's best for the kids. poned plans to close When you get out of Branch land and Pleasant the classroom, you kind View so the communi- of lose interest, it ties along the Guyan seems like." River would be able to Woodville parents keep their schools until protested vigorously, even the new addition was taking the matter to court. completedatWest But their efforts were in Hamlin. No such post- vain. They were for the ponement was offered to most part low-income residents of the Midway people, and the school and Woodville atten- was small. The crowds dance areaswhere op- that turned out to protest position to county poli- merging the high schools ticians was strongest. could pack a board The county had hired meeting. Not so with the a new superintendent, supportersofsmall Rick Powell, an adminis- elementaw schools. trative nomad who had As the end of the most recently presided school year approached, over school closings in however, andafter Fayette County. Powell said he was confident the fourmeeting with the faculties of the affected schools, Powell new classrooms at Midway would be ready by thedid a partial about-face. Plans were revised so that the begirming of the 1997-98 school year even thoughMcCorkle Center would remain open until the addition construction had not begun when school dismissedwas completed, but Woodville students would be in June 1997. But, if by chance, the addition wasn'tmoved into Midway at the beginning of the school ready, the schools could be merged when the roomsyear to make the transition run more smoothly. were completed, he said. If the new rooms were not completed in time for Powell responded to every concern of facultythe beginning of the school year, teachers and and parents with the assurance that what Lincolnstudents would have to double up, said Powell, who County was planning had been done before in otherwhen questioned about the problems of places. He didn't answer charges that it would beovercrowding, simply repeated his mantra. It had educationally irresponsible to move a school fullbeen done other places. of children into another school at Thanksgiving 64 Challenge West Virginia 6 8 "They deserve a quality education in an envk.onment where they want to earn."

Children who would attend the newly mergedprincipal and teaching staff were left with the task school in the fall faced two first grade classes ofof moving rooms and trying to prepare for the 25 students each and a second grade class withaddition of more than 100 students. Maintenance two teachers and 29 children in a room that hadpeople hustled to section off part of the upstairs contained 17 youngsters the year before. Many ofhallway to create space for two Title I teachers. those children were at-risk, coming from very low-Equipment and supplies lined the hallways because income families, and those most at-risk had tothere was no room for storage. travel the greatest distance to get to the school. The Parents appealed to the State Board of school's computer lab, assembled just the yearEducation, complaining about crowded before, had to be taken apart, returning computersclassrooms, filthy restrooms, long bus rides and to the already overcrowded classrooms. computers that hadn't been hooked up. "Give OUT The faculties of the schools begged that thechildren what they deserve," pleaded one parent. merger be postponed for another year, until the"They deserve a quality education in an construction was completed. This position wasenvironment where they want to learn." endorsed by the county's curriculum supervisor, Another parent, who joined a picket line who wrote a letter to the superintendent voicingthrown up at the school to protest conditions, his concerns. The recommendations were ignored.said, "People think we're ignorant and we don't "If the School Board and County Administrationknow what we want. But we just want what's best had tried to figure out a plan that would be the mostfor our kids." harmful from an educational standpoint, I don't think Exhausted and overwhelmed before the they could have come up with a better one thanchildren even arrived, seeing their concern this," said a teacher involved in the merger. "If theymirrored in the faces of parents, teachers vented bring children over here in the middle of the year,their frustration. and a lot of us have to change teaching assignments, "This is an impossible situation," said Betty it will probably mean the children will lose a year. Jones, who was assigned to teach second grade in "If they merge the schools before the new roomsthe same room with 29 children and another are completed, it will just be chaos crowding tooteacher she had not even met before the school many people into too small a space. Anyone whoyear began. "The kids are going to be sitting knows anything about education can see that itshoulder to shoulder, and there's nowhere to put will be almost impossible to teach or to learn incoats or book bags." this kind of environment." Even Powell admitted the situation was not ideal. "I don't think they really had a plan," said"It's not the most desirable, but it's the least of the another educator. "I'm pretty sure theytwo dilemmas," he told a reporter for The Charleston intended all along to close McCorkle and moveGazette. "I could not have a third-grade student the kids to Midway, but with the budgetchanging teachers mid-year." crunch, they started talking about closing the But for Betty Jones, the situation became one of schools on the Guyan River (Branchland and being not able to teach at all. "It has to do with what Pleasant View). Then, for some reason, they I believe learning is all about. I believe children learn just threw in Woodville. I don't think they had best by doing things," she said. 'That's why my really thought through how they would house teaching involved a lot of hands-on activities. the students." Children would bring in frogs and we would create Incredibly, little was done to ready Midwaya terrarium. We would raise meal worms and feed for the major increase in enrollment. Two weeksthem to the frog. We would find books about frogs before school was to start, construction had notand read about them and learn everything we even begun on the promised addition and thecould. They brought in frog eggs and we watched 69 65 them hatch into tadpoles and turn into frogs. WeLillian Clay spent a month at Midway before shared the wonder of caterpillars turning intoreaching retirement age. butterflies, and we read books, fiction and nonfiction, By Thanksgiving, the other teacher in the about them. second grade classroom also had opted for "I had a rocking chair in the front of the roomretirement. The teacher who had replaced Betty where we read books to each other with the readerJones took a position at another school for second sitting in the rocking chair. I had a stove in the room,semester. By February, one very large class of and we cooked. If we studied pumpkins, we roastedsecond-graders at Midway Elementary School pumpkin seeds. If we studied apples, we madehad had five different teachers. applesauce or apple pies. When we read the book, In mid-March, the Board of Education closed Chicken Soup with Rice, we made chicken soup withthe McCorkle Early Education Center, moved the rice. We made books and wrote a monthlykindergarten students to Midway and at last split newsletter. Our room was full of activities. up the class of second graders. "When we had to put the computers back in the Simply by keeping Woodville open until the room and pack in 29 children plus another teacher,classrooms were ready, Rick Powell could have there was no space for activities. I had to take outavoided the entire chaotic charade that passed for the rocking chair and the stove and the science table. education at Midway Elementary in the fall of 1997. Then I realized I had to take myself out because IAn editorial in The Charleston Gazette noted, couldn't teach with the children confined to spaces"Lincoln County parents are notoriously leery of so small that all they could do was look at me andconsolidation. Fiascoes like this certainly won't fill out worksheets. Talk about killing an atmospherehelp change their attitude." where learning could be exciting and fun and relevantthat really did it." Even before children came back to school for the 1997-98 year, Mrs. Jones had come to the sad realization she couldn't teach under the circumstances and she told her principal she would retire so that the children could start fresh with a new teacher. He pleaded with her to reconsider and promised to work things out. But he didn't take action, and just before the end of the first month of school, Lincoln County lost one of its best teachers. Betty Jones retired after more than 30 years in the classroom. It wasn't something she had plarmed to do, but she felt that if she couldn't teach, she wouldn't take a salary She was not the only loss. For decades Lillian Clay had earned the respect of educators like Ric Mac Dowell for her efforts at Martin School, the school in the community of Lincoln County where she lived. Mrs. Clay, who decried consolidation and who had started her teaching career at the one-room Berry Branch School, moved with her children from Martin to Woodville. She saw the writing on the wall for Woodville, but still hoped against hope she would be able to retire before she had to endure another school closing. She didn't quite make it. 7 0 66 Challenge West Virginia REPOR'll -IOOLS WV 25311

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1-72--eTh to vp-iie7.1nc:and photo: Charleston Gazette 71 67 SEST COPY AVAILABLE isgusted by the failure of the Legislaturedeveloping the Master Plan, Hedges made it clear to fully implement the Recht Decision after twelvehe had second thoughts. "Naming a special master long years and frustrated after watching Kentuckywould have kept the public eye on the result that reconstruct its education system in just five years,was needed," he said. "I think the failure to have Dan Hedges in December 1994 petitioned theone probably allowed the issue to escape more Kanawha Circuit Court to reopen the Pau ley vs.public scrutiny." Bailey case. In his brief, Hedges argued that the Recht By this time some of the characters in the longDecision found that "the inadequacies and court drama were missing and others, in the case ofinequalities in educational offerings in West the defendants, had been altered by elections andVirginia are directly produced by the inadequacies retirements. Arthur Recht, having been appointedand inequalities in the level of educational by Gov. Caperton to complete an unexpired termresources and expenditures among counties" and on the State Supreme Court of Appeals, was nothat to provide a thorough and efficient education longer the judge in the case. Janet Pau ley, nursing asystem "the funding of all direct and indirect costs

terminally ill husband and upset because she hadof the high quality education... mustbe fully seen only consolidation come out of the case bearingincluded in the state financing system." her name, told Hedges she no longer wanted to be He charged that in the more than twelve years a party to the suit. Her sons had long since finishedthat had elapsed since Recht's decision, the state school, all but one had left the state, and she nohad ignored many of the reforms mandated by the longer was able to carry on the fight. And this timecourt and the Master Plan. State Treasurer Lathe Baileythe Bailey of Pau ley "As was the case when the Circuit Court order versus Baileyjumped sides to become a plaintiff (Recht Decision) was issued, the state's failure to in the suit. adequately finance public education prevents many Added as defendants were then Speaker of thecounties from providing educational programs House Chuck Chambers, Senate President Earl Raynecessary to meet the standards of a thorough and Tomblin, and Gov. Gaston Caperton. Theefficient system of education," he said in his brief. Legislature and State Department of Education Hedges called the state education financing tried to have themselves removed from the suit by arguing that they had improved education,structure "constitutionally deficient." He attacked the school aid formula, saying it reimbursed counties increased teachers' salaries and raised educational for only a portion of their instructional personnel standards. They also noted that the state gives 55 and was arbitrary and not driven by a county's percent of its budget to education. The arguments educational needs. He pointed out that it especially failed to sway retired Cabell County Circuit Judge ignored the needs of smaller schools which may have Dan Robinson, to whom the case had been handed. a greater need for principals and administrators. Maintaining that the state had failed miserably to implement the Recht Decision, Hedges called The limitation on service personnel, he said, does not reflect the varying needs of counties, particularly for the immediate appointment of a special master those counties with poor roads, greater distances to oversee the implementation of the Master Plan, as Judge Recht had initially recommended. between schools and a higher percentage of special needs students. Hedges, no longer young, mused about what had happened with the case during the twelve Hedges said the formula failed to reimburse years between Recht's ruling and his decision tocounties for fixed charges, including Social Security reopen. While falling short of admitting he hadand Workers' Compensation contributions. He noted made a mistake in giving tacit approval to thethat the formula inadequately funds school bus request to put the State Department in charge ofreplacement and does not account for differences in terrain, road conditions or population density.

Challenge West Virginia 72 5 The defendants argued that the Legislatureday of March 1983, that children of all races in cn had fulfilled its duty to establish a thorough andthis state have been constitutionally entitled to a a) efficient system of free schools and it was the dutythorough and efficient system of education." .c of the court to determine whether the system 0 The judge gave the Legislature one yearuntil 0 established by Legislative action meets theMarch 16, 1998to decide how it would remedy constitutional definition. school ftmding. At that time, if lawmakers hadn't They noted that in the years since the Rechttaken significant action, Robinson said he would 7,0 Js'Vri4lielzegislature had : again consider appointing a special master or commissioner to implement the decision. a) 0 increased education's share ofthwtopl "Since May of 1982, no one can deny that the general revenue from 45.9 percent in Legislature has enacted many programs and statutes 1979-80 to 56.5 percent in 1995-96. pertaining to education, and if the programs and a) 0 increased the pay of teachers and statutes enacted define the Legislature's concept of service personnel. a thorough and efficient system of schools, they are O created and funded the School Building in error," the judge wrote. Authority with an appropriation of $7 Robinson pointed out that the executive and million from the general revenue fund legislative branches of government are political to allow for the sale of $70 million in in nature and "if they enact certain programs and bonds and another $70 million to statutes pertaining to education which they purchase computers. believe comply with a thorough and efficient O increased the authority and power of system of free schools, and there are no serious the State Board of Education. complaints, they are not likely to be concerned or feel a need to make any major changes. O mandated the State Board to develop a plan to get computers in every classroom. "On the other hand, (with) 56.57 percent of the total general revenues and $300 million in bond O contributed to the teacher retirement fund. money with $300 million mor. e to be used by the O provided a mechanism for a uniform School Building Authority, plus the monies spent and correct statewide property valuation. by the 55 counties, there may not be anyone who O established a scholarship program to wants to complain." attract top students into teaching. Almost all news reports announcing the O dedicated portions of state lottery decision included the following comment from revenue to redeem bonds sold by the the judge, "You would think that sometime or School Building Authority. other during the last fourteen years, the parents of the children in the areas who were not receiving Robinson spent more than two and a half yearstheir constitutional rights would be picketing on toiling over the arguments before issuing a decisionthe Capitol steps demanding that something be in April 1997. By this time Gaston Caperton haddone. This hasn't happened." been succeeded as governor by Republican Cecil The assumption by those who have not read Underwood and House Speaker Chambers hadthe complete opinion might be that Judge retired (later to be named to the federal bench),Robinson was laying the complete blame for replaced by Robert Kiss. failure to implement the Recht Decisionor at When the decision finally came, it was aleast the failure to complain vigorously about the resounding affirmation of Arthur Recht's opinion.lack of implementationat the feet of the most Citing Recht's decision and cases which camepowerless citizens, the parents of low-income after Pauley versus Bailey, Robinson wrote, "It isschool children. now abundantly clear and has been since the 4th

6 9 BEST COPY AVAILABLE 7 3 But, in fact, the judge spread the blame around "The plaintiffs' main objection to the aboVe statutes to just about everyone who might have been in ais that they fail to finance the 55 counties equally as to position to do anything to make the implementationtheir individual needs, thereby making many counties occur His comment continues: unable to provide educational programs necessary to "You would think that the members of the localmeet the standards of a thorough and efficient system boards of education in the affected areas would beof education," Robinson wrote. complaining to their elected representatives and the In reiterating the plaintiff's arguments, the judge State Board of Education. This hasn't happened. demonstrated his understanding of the policy of "You would think that the elected officials of the"economies of scale." "One example given by the affected areas would be complaining to the Presidentplaintiffs was that the Legislature reduced the ratio of the State Senate and the Speaker of the House offrom which they would fund the professional Delegates. This hasn't happened. educators from 55 per 1,000 to 53.5 per 1,000, which "You would think that the members of the Stateresulted in a loss of over 1,000 professionals (allegedly Board of Education and the Superintendent of Schools,in order to give pay raises to the remaining professionals) both of whom helped formulate the so-called "Masterwhich had the effect of schools not being able to fund Plan," would be demanding that the Legislature andall of the professionals they needed to provide a the executive branches of government comply withcomprehensive program that was called for in the the constitutional requirement. This hasn't happened.standards for a high-quality education. Although all counties are hurt by this action, the smaller counties are "You would have thought that the governor wouldhurt more, because they do not benefit from the have taken advantage of the opportunity to expandeconomies of scale that the others do." on his views of the Master Plan. That didn't happen. Judge Robinson agreed with Hedges that the "You would have thought that the editorial writersfoundation allowance (or school aid formula) for of the news media would have had a field day pointing professional educators, service personnel, fixed charges, out the shortcomings of our elected officials andtransportation, current expenses and substitute appointed officials in regard to the education of ouremployees and the allowance to improve instructional children. That hasn't happened. Only Mr. Hedges,programs "all violate the equal protection require- whistling in the wind." ments of the West Vir- The judge cited Hedges' ginia Constitution." arguments that the legislative He further found and executive branches of that the defendants government had not complied and the state of West with the court's order on Virginia "could not financing the school system, and and did not demon- made note of the specific areas strate any compelling in which Hedges found non- state interest to justify compliance: the allowance for the unequal classifi- professional educators; the cation in the lack of allowance for service personnel; uniformity in the the allowance for fixed charges; State's educational the allowance for transportation financing system." costs;the allowancefor administrative costs; the allow- The judge denied ance for other current expenses Hedges' request for a and substitute employees; the specific time-table for allowance to improve instruc- implementation, but tional programs. he said the court

Challenge West Virginia would continue jurisdiction over the case until While applauding Judge Robinson's decision "full implementation of the master plan isto force implementation, Linda Martin took special accomplished." offense at his suggestion that parents should have He offered the opinion that it should be easybeen doing more to make sure the reforms of the for the Legislature to correct the problems if theyRecht Decision came to pass. would use the Master Plan as a guide. "Parents have been taking action since Janet Not everyone agreed. State Schools Superin-Pauley went to that PTA meeting at McCorkle tendent Hank Marockie complained that times andElementary School," she said. "The original suit schools had changed in the years since Arthur Rechtwas brought by parents concerned about issued his decision. inequalities at schools. Our group, The West Virginia Education Project, tried to get involved "It used to be a school would be interpreted to on an official level, but the court denied our be a good school if it had so many teachers, so petition to become a party to the suit. many library books, x, y, z," Marockie told The Charleston Gazette. "The focus of schools in West "Since the Recht Decision began to be Virginia and the country has been away fromimplemented, parents have been involved. We have inputs and over to the results of what students doheard them cry out against the loss of their physical when they're in schools. education teachers and music and art teachers. They have mortgaged their homes to pay lawyers to save "It becomes more difficult to interpret what their local schools. They have come to the State this decision says because of the different frame in which schools are now working," he said.Department and they have come to the State Board of Education time and time again to express their "We're looking at results." But, he added, "I'm convinced the leadership exists to come to thefeelings about the changes that were occurring. I'm not talking about just Lincoln County. I'm talking table and work together and develop a plan that about parents across this state. would be acceptable to the judge." "But they have been ignored. Their local school Deirdre Purdy pointed out that the Master Plan boards have ignored them. The State Department developed by the State Department of Education has ignored them. The Legislature has ignored was to have been updated every four years. Not them. The only tangible result they have seen from only was the plan not updated, she said, a specific time frame was never developed for itsthe years of effort is that more and more of their implementation,despite Judge Recht'scommunity schools are gone and the education their children are receiving is no better than it was requirement that a thorough and efficient system when all of this started." of free public schools be "available at the earliest practicable time." Hedges' response was understated. "I just hope that implementation comes quickly for the benefit As in 1982, the response from the Legislature of students. No county has a system that totally was less than enthusiastic. Senate Finance chair- meets the constitutional requirement," he said. "I man Oshel Craigo pointed out that West Virgin- hope it means change for school kids in West ians already contribute more than half of the state Virginia. You have to be sympathetic with the budget to education."I don't know how they can difficult situation the legislators face in having to put more in," he said."I don't know how we can fund the number one priority of the state. We have ask them to make a stronger commitment." limited resources and all the other needs out there. Senate Education Chairman Lloyd Jackson But, he insisted, "education is the most responded in politic-speak: "We have made huge strides in education and certainly we haveimportant function state government has. This needs to be done." legislation in place to continue that progress, but I view the decision as an opportunity to review When politicians speak of successes in the how we can assure both equal and adequateeducation reform movement, one of the first things funding of education in West Virginia." they cite is West Virginia's Basic Skills Initiative

71 7 5 or, "the governor's computers," as the program isword processing, spreadsheets, data bases, Internet commonly known. This was the program whichusage,telecommunications and graphic promised to take computers into every classroompresentations," a vast majority of computers in the state of West Virginia. currently in classrooms lack the capability to In an article for a newsletter published by theperform those tasks. Governor's Cabinet on Families and Children As early as 1991, teachers complained that the in early 1997, Gov. Gaston Caperton wrote,computers that were coming into the classroom "We have dramatically improved our publicwere obsolete, and Attorney General Darrell schools. We installed morethan 18,000 com-McGraw brought an unsuccessful suit attempting puter workstations to invalidate the in kindergarten IBM contract. and elementary Marockie classrooms to im- argued that the prove students' contract is a 10- basic skills." year "program" When President with an annual Bill Clinton visited renewal clause, Clarksburg in May which the state 1997, he was taken has never chosen to Robert C. Byrd to rebid. He said High School, which standardizing boasts of a lab the computers where students photo: Beth Spence andsoftware work with "virtual and buying on reality" technology involving high-poweredthe state level saves money because the state can computers and three-dimensional graphics. Atbuy in volume. He defended the decision to buy Robert C. Byrd, which was opened in 1996,on the state level, saying, "If we can save $800 a approximately $2 million was spent onmachine, it would appear to me to be a waste of technology, and every classroom is connected tomoney to have local people buy machines." the Internet. A furor broke out in 1996 as Marockie In 1989 the state entered into a ten-yearprepared another ten-year contract to put the agreement with IBM to supply computers to schoolscomputers in grades seven through 12. for grades one through six. In exchange, accordingEditorialized the Gazette, "West Virginia's to The Charleston Gazette, IBM would spend $2computer program is at best mediocre, and by million on a public relations campaign to helpsome measures, it is the worst in the nation. "West Virginia become a national role modelThe ten-year contract with IBM and Jostens for education." (for software programs) has led, as we warned The computers have put West Virginia on thein 1993, to obsolete computers in the state's education map nationally, but are they really whatgrade schools." people think they are? Educators say no, and others The Charleston Daily Mail pointed out in an who have investigated the purchasing practiceseditorial that computer prices have fallen too don't think taxpayers are getting much tecimologyquickly to justify a ten-year contract. The for the more than $50 million that has been pourededitorial cited examples from the Wall Street into the hardware and software. Journal, which showed a 47 percent drop in the While legislation authorizing the classroomprices of Compaq PCs during the previous year computer program states that children will beand a 39 percent drop in the prices of AST and expected to master "basic computer skills such asGateway computers. 76 Challenge West Virginia The Journal quoted an analyst for Dataquest,by to see why educators, administrators, parents Inc., as saying that the price slashing wasand children alike are excited about technology historic for the 20-year-old computer industryin West Virginia," he said. and that microprocessor performance was But even Marockie did not contradict reports improving more rapidly than ever before. stating that most of the computers bought through The Daily Mail's editorial concluded, "Westthe West Virginia's Basic Skills Initiatives program Virginia should not obligate school systems tohave processors that are too slow and primitive for pay yesterday's prices for yesterday'sthe exciting and interactive educational software that is available today. There's nothing to it. The kids have to have "What we have are electronic worksheets," 90 minutes on the computers, So we're said a teacher who was tried and Hnrgted as to what we on the committee to can do. They reany cap get select the software for bored." Lincoln County Schools. Along with teachers from across the state, she went to the Charleston Civic Center, where she technology. With state buying power, schools was shown fascinating computer programs on should pay less and get more. A ten-year multi-media computers. 'There were all kinds of contract isn't in the state's best interest." programs and encyclopedias. They had motion Quality Education Data, an independentpictures. You could see volcanoes erupting, you Denver research firm, ranked the state 21st in thecould hear Martin Luther King make his famous number of students per computer (one machinedream speech. But when our computers came, they for every 9.9 students) but dead last in the ratiodidn't have that capability. And our software just of pupils with access to multimedia and Internet-did math and reading lessons." capable computers (one for every 81.6 students Another elementary teacher added, 'They teach as compared to the national average of one people how to be little parrots, how to call up the computer for every 35 students). programs, follow the directions. There's nothing to Marockie countered the criticism with ait. The kids have to have 90 minutes on the computers, newspaper commentary insisting that the schoolso we're tied and limited as to what we can do. They computer program is a huge success and arguingreally do get bored." that paying higher prices for computers was a Another thing teachers have complained about is responsible investment because it was a that there never were as many computers in classrooms "turnkey" program that offered delivery, as state leaders would have people believe. installation, training and support for teachers. "I would hear the state superintendent say all He noted that Caperton had received the "1996 the first grades and all the second grades in the Computerworld Smithsonian Technology state have computers, and I would say, 'Wait, I Leadership Award for education for his efforts indon't have my computers yet. I teach second putting technology in schools." grade, said one teacher. "I finally got my last one The proof of the program's success could be(during the 1995-96 school year) when they were found in the classroom, the superintendent said.saying that all elementary classrooms have "There is no greater testimonial to the success ofcomputers." the Basic Skills/Computer Education program Another teacher said, "Marockie keeps saying than to view the children in action. When school they're ready to go into the junior highs. Well, this resumes this fall, call your local school and stopyear (1995-96) our fourth graders got three 77 73 computers, and there are supposed to be at least fourthey've got, the most outdated unit, and it's far in every classroom. I read in the paper that Kanawhasuperior to what Marockie's wanting to buy" County was farther behind than any other school The official said that IBM had a huge over-supply system in buying computers. It said they just got themof computers in 1990 and 91, and the corporation in their fourth grades this year. Well, that's all we'veunderestimated how fast the technology would got them in." advance. "The competition got a couple of steps It was not until 1997 that one Lincoln Countyahead of them and they ended up with outdated elementary school finally got a computer that wascomputers still sitting in the warehouse and no multi-media and capable of accessing the Internet market for them. And they dumped them on West one computer for the entire school. Virginia. I think there were two or three other states By that time, two teachers at the schools hadthat bought them in volume and really overpaid managed to have computers with greater capabilitiestremendously" donated to them. "The one I was given has a CD-Rom, The official is baffled by the state's decision to buy so the children can use an encyclopedia," one teacherthe outdated computers. "They knew what the said. "And I have a dictionary and other educationaltechnology was, what it could do, they knew prices. programs which are interactivethe children can takeYet their leader went and bought stuff that was the programs where they want to go-and it has games.completely out of date the day he signed the contract, They are really excited when they use that computer.and he bound us up in this so-called ten-year contract, and he's keeping us behind the state of the art.

"A lot of people don't understand why the kids don't like computers," the teacher said. "Well, I can understand why our kids don't like working on the governor's computers, because it's just like doing a worksheet in a workbook. bortIng.

"A lot of people don't understand why the kids "You can go out and buy yourself a pentium don't like computers," the teacher said. "Well, Iprocessor with a CD-Rom for about $1,500, $1,300. can understand why our kids don't like workingCould you imagine what you could buy that for if on the governor's computers, because it's just likeyou bought 10,000 of them on one purchase order?" doing a worksheet in a workbook. It's boring. All Meanwhile, facing the deadline imposed by they have to do is type their name in and pressJudge Robinson in his decision, Gov. Cecil enter and then the lesson is up there and they justUnderwood in June 1997 appointed a 21-member click on an answer. It's like filling in a bubble on acommission charged with coming up with a fiscally worksheet. It's not interactive at all." responsible method of making public school A. Lincoln County official said when Hankfunding more equitable. The committee very male, Marockie talks about computers, he's speaking in avery white, very middle-aged and very politically different language from that used by most peopleconnected included many of the same people who who are computer-literate. "He's not talkinghave been making state education policy for the past computers like you can just go out to the store anddecade, including State Sen. Lloyd Jackson and State buy" the official said. Schools Superintendent Hank Marockie. "Places like Sam's Wholesale always stay a little Other members of the committee were behind the state of the art and buy in volume and thenretired Marion County businessman Ben sell cheaper," the official said. "So ff you want a goodHayes; Kanawha County lawyer Michael price on yesterday's state of the art, go to Sam's. YouAlbert; Wood County Delegate E.W. Anderson; can go to Sam's Wholesale and buy the cheapest unitSenate Minority Leader Jack Bucklew (R-

Challenge West Virginia Kanawha); Tax and Revenue Secretary Robin Among the Council's recommendations Capehart; Senate Finance Chairman Oshelwere a broad-based tax system to support Craigo (D-Putnam); former Del. George Farleyschools, rather than a reliance on property (Wood County); acting secretary of Educationtaxes. Those taxes might include a statewide and the Arts David Ice; Raleigh Countylevy, which had been twice rejected by West businessman John Johnson; former Del. RobertVirginia voters, state level collection of Lindsay (Brooke County); State Board ofindustrial and commercial property taxes and Education member James Mac Callum (Boonethe use of income and sales taxes for County); State Board member Cleo Mathews,educational support. Other recommendations Summers County; West Virginia Retailersincluded revision of the funding formula with Association president Paul McKown; Housemore flexibility at the local level, linking Education chairman Jerry Mezzatestafunding to student performance and greater (Hampshire County); House Finance chairmanacademic accountability with testing Harold Michael; Jefferson County Develop-standards for students and performance ment Authority president Jane Peters; formerevaluations of teachers and administrators. administration secretary Chuck Po lan (Cabe 11 At the conclusion of two days of meetings County); retired Wood County schools superin-in November, the group still didn't have a draft tendent William Staats; and administrationof a plan, but chairman Benjamin Hayes said secretary James Teets (Preston County). he wasn't disappointed. "We've zeroed in on "I hope you won't be afraid to challengethe issues at last," he said. the status quo, if you find it needs to be On December 1817 days after its.deadline challenged," the governor told members of the the Commission released a 75-page report commission at their first meeting. which called for educational audits of public Many observers felt that if Underwood trulyschools, adding instructional days to the wanted change, he certainly had named the wrongschool calendar and cutting the number of people to the Commission. Columnist Tom Miller, adays for faculty senate meetings. Significantly, native of Lincoln County, suggested that the flaw withthe Commission bailed out on the most the committee was that it had "too many legislatorsimportant question it facedhow to provide and state officials and too few parents withoutfinancial equity for the state's schools. The preconceived ideas of how to proceed." question of how to pay for public schools was By August 1997, the Commission appeared toleft to another gubernatorial panel, this one be floundering. Distancing themselves completelycharged with examining fair taxation. from the poverty-stricken school districts they were The Commission did suggest that if the charged with helping, members met at the poshgubernatorial panel on fair taxes, whose report Greenbrier resort. The chairman of the Finance andwas due later in 1998, wasn't able to come up Equity Subcommittee admitted to a reporter forwith a method of funding schools that is not The Charleston Gazette that the subcommittee'sreliant on property taxes, then the Commission meetings to that point had been primarily infor-recommends resurrecting the statewide levy, mational. "It's been orientation and getting a wholethe measure twice defeated by the voters of bunch of statistics," said Robert Lindsey, a retiredWest Virginia. superintendent of Brooke County schools. Noting that the school financing system With a December deadline pressing downbased on property values and county excess on them, Commission members in Novemberlevies "remains a concern," Hayes said in his began to examine a report prepared by theintroduction to the report, "The Commission Council of State Governments on reformingbelieves the prudent approach to solving the school finance, which examined how otherexcess levy inequities is to await the states had complied with court mandatesconclusions of the Governor's Commission on similar to that imposed on West Virginia. Fair Taxation on alternative funding sources 75 79 for public education before once againstudent performance and targeting our scarce resources attempting to secure passage of statewideto the areas where they're needed," he said. "We don't excess levy." want to just throw money at the thing." The proposal to create an Office of Education The other person who was incensed about the Performance Audits recommended that theproposed auditing system was Superintendent office operate under the direction of the StateMarockie, who cast the only vote against the Board of Education, independent of the StateCommission's report. Department of Education and the State But Marockie said his opposition to the report Superintendent of Schools. was not because the team of auditors would report The office would be charged with, among directly to the State School Board, bypassing his other things: .,, ,.-,c;--4..? '1' ',,----'OffiKand thereby puttinga check on his power . o reviewing all current'AsessmenttOoK'tntIUn'i'--Rath&,,he said, it was the result of the group's student achieverderit tests .-driti measurernentsmf failureIRincorporate a detailed funding plan into school and,Ounty4SyStem ,perftiimance andAs report:t\he superintendent said the options of recommend changes. ,.,---(- waiting for the tax fairness panel to recommend an alternativ P; to property taxes or replacing county 0 revieWing-atcoundbility measures, such aslevies with A statewide levy did not address r ? accreditatO .andj5ersonnel evaluation systems andconcerns raised at public meetings. recominendthanges. /-i r.;.!'''' ;,.' No o0 addressed some of the very interesting accninistering the accreditationprocess for items hickedr .. .. into the back of the document. For r) ..,gchObls and school systems. instani ce/on the law requiringno more than 20 stlidentS in kindergarten classes andno more than 0determiningthe needs of schools and school in ,-,'" ,--' ,,,25/ in. grades 1-6, the report suggested that those meeting standards established by the Legislature antiJ" State Board of Education. ,..,("'"': 'mumbers be "targets" and that "school wide , averages should be used to attain compliance." i.,,`,% 0 determining whether state-wide AefiCiencies :. \ 0, \ 0 10 , . 0,,,,,, ,Nexist and reporting,those,.., , deficieriCiesr to the

board------,.. 0 . ., While Chairman,Hay'es and Senator Jackson had high praise for the proposal to create the Office of Education Performance Audits, an official with cr" the West Virginia Education Association complained that the creation of the office did little to help schools improve. "It's easy to say, We want children to reach this level," said Robert Morgenstern, the teacher association's lobbyist. 'They haven't provided the resources to get the children up to that level." Dan Hedges also wasn't impressed with the Commission's recommendations. "It is the resources ... and not the outcomes by which the constitutional adequacy of a school system must be measured," he said in a petition renewing his request for the appointment of a commissioner to oversee the implementation of the Recht decision. Jackson argued that "that word 'resources' is code for 'spend more money.' Our plan focuses on

Challenge West Virginia 80 Another item that might be of interest to those The Commission also proposed that local battling school consolidation is the attention givenvoters and boards of education retain the right to to transportation. approve excess levies to pay for educational The report noted that "transporting studentsprograms over and above the thorough and to and from school requires a large number ofefficient standard required of the state. service personnel. The county boards of education Finally the Commission called for a are restricted on the number of service personnelConstitutional amendment making "the that may be employed with the 'School AidLegislature not the Supreme Courtthe sole Formula.' Since the transportation system requiresand final arbiter of what spending plan is a major proportion of the service personnel, manynecessary to provide a thorough and efficient times there are too few service personnel left topublic school system." provide the support services of the school system Taking a swipe at the Recht Decision while such as maintenance and custodial services." revealing its own political nature, the One conclusion that might be drawn is thatCommission offered the opinion that the state money could better be spent on community"will never have a fair, stable and competitive schools than on operating major transportationtax structure until control of the public school programs. But the Commission insteadbudgetwhich represents the majority of its recommended another study, a comprehensiveoverall budgetis fully subject to the democratic study of transportation to examine funding,process. Likewise, we in this state will never have service personnel needs, inter-county service,a thorough and efficient system of public schools routing, maintenance, safety training anduntil the institution having the constitutional privatization. responsibility for funding that system is given In July 1998, after a year of study, thethe clear authority to periodically adjust Governor's 14-member Commission on Faireducational priorities based on accurate Taxation issued a 129-page report proposingmeasures of the results of the present programs." sweeping changes in the state's tax system. Among the Commission's other recom- In a special sec-mendations: tion of the report, O Eliminating personal property taxes on entitled "Funding of automobiles, machinery, equipment and Education," the inventory. Commission proposed O Eliminating state property taxes on real three changes in the estate and giving cities and counties the way the state raises power to tax real estate and retain the money tosupport proceeds for local use. public schools. The first O Replacing sales and services taxes with was a recommendation an excise tax on the purchase, sale or use that the Legislature of personal property. eliminateproperty O Retaining estate taxes, severance taxes, taxes as a source of racing fees, bingo fees and special funding and instead support the public revenue taxes on gasoline, tobacco, liquor, school budget with beer, wine. general revenues O Replacing the personal income tax with generated through a a progressive income tax. reformed statetax O Replacing up to ten business taxes with a structure. single business tax. Saying the proposed changes would impose fewer taxes and create a less regressive tax system, 77 81 "The read question is: Why tie, a resouros-Hch tat6,41<,.1*,A,".,4,,IpttryA.11.1011e so poor , -

Tax-ali0e:Venue',S0retary Rebin Wehartiw,ho_ _ chairea*ho.COinmission, told The diarleston-Gazette 0 ,. that- iWthe past-the-state:4fused4k, ta,systern.to lts.,o,, punish and reward... to engagein class warfare . to usesocial engineeiing." He said the current , system "limits the ability of local governments to take care of themselves." While a spokesman for the West Virginia Education Association took a cautious approach to the recommendations, saying he would have to wait for more information before commenting, the director of the Affiliated Construction Trades Foundation charged that the commission had side- stepped the real issue. "These proposals drive me crazy" Steve White told The Gazette. "The Blue Book says there are 54 billion tons of recoverable coal reserves," he said. "Today, when coal reserves are sold, they are worth between $1 and $1.50 a ton. So it is reasonable to assume the value of coal in West Virginia is somewhere between $50 billion and $75 billion. The tax commission should be asking how much should be collected in property taxes on coal. "But we also have to ask why the state keeps giving new tax breaks to industries like the timber and wood-products industries. Ember is another natural resource where a few people make a killing And the state tax system helps them. The real question is: Why is a resource-rich state like West Virginia so poor. The answer is that we are not collecting the taxes due on the state's coal, oil, natural gas and timber resources."

82

Challenge West Virginia "There is no grie_ater testimonial to thesuccAs-diakeT13PaSi&Skillsg a';

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1 n January 1997 members of the Westa set of policies and is ready to improve its schools. Virginia Board of Education publicly patted(But) NAEP (National Assessment of Education themselves on the back when a report cardProgress) scores suggest there's a long way to go." grading the state's education system was issued In fact, the state received two C'sfor qual- by Education Week, a trade publication for teachers,ity of teaching and school climateand a C- principals and counselors. minus in allocating money for schools. And Initial media stories about the report card werethe report contained the suggestion that the glowing. The Associated Press said that "despiteState Superintendent of Schools was planning the state's high poverty and a scatteredmoves that may set back standards and assess- population, Education Week gave West Virginiaments reform. three A's for standards, level of spending and Specifically, the authors were talking about equally spending the money, in part because of aHank Marockie's plan to design the state's 1982 state court ruling." educational objectives and standards around The wire service noted that no other statethe Stanford 9 standardized achievement test. received three A's, although the states did not"If you talk to anyone in standards or reform, receive an overall grade, and the study did notthey'll tell you that's a cockamamie idea," Wolk make an attempt to rank them in terms ofsaid. "Norm-referenced tests don't have educational excellence. standards in them." Members of the State Board of 0,001.142:6c; Education, however, viewing the report as vindication for their efforts,didn'thesitateto congratulate themselves. "Those around the country who have considered our state to be a backwards, rural state with an inferior education system, well, let that myth now be dispelled," proclaimed Board of Education member James Mac Callum. Chimed in State Board of EducationPresident Cleo Matthews, "Despite our poor standing in per capita income and c- despite our image a supposedly more sophisticated world has The state officials who trumpeted so loudly about us, we have managed to come out on top." about the report card also failed to mention the Not so quick, Education Week editor Ron WolkEducation Week headline describing education in told The Charleston Gazette. "We didn't evaluate thethe mountain state: "Pushing Forward: West schools, we evaluated the state policies that willVirginia's schools have surged ahead, but are allow the schools to get better. Some states are doingthey veering off course?" much better in scores, maybe because of wealth, but Not too many people intimately involved they haven't put policies in place to benefit the with Lincoln County's education system would students," Wolk said. "West Virginia has put in place give it an A. Most would grade it no better than

Challenge West Virginia 8 4 average, and many see the system as failing theto be better and to go further and to raise students it is intended to serve. expectations." An elementary teacher said she could give So, is the major problem for Lincoln County the system no more than a D and that probablyand other counties like it a lack of resources, the would be a gift. "I think we're failing," she said.decisions about how to use those resources or a "If not, we're pretty close to it. When you seecombination of the two factors? the dropout rate, when you see our test scores, Charles Damron, the former legislator who was when you talk to teachers and you hear thehired as a lawyer for the Lincoln County Board of attitudes that they have." Education, commented about education on an Another elementary teacher gave her ownalmost weekly basis in his other position as profession low associate editor of marks. "I'd give The Lincoln Journal, Lincoln County the county's only schools a C, certainly newspaper. Damron not above," she said. "I insists that there just think the problem is isn't enough money mediocre teachers." to provide what is A secondary needed education- teachersaidhe ally for children in couldn't give the Lincoln County and whole system one that county officials gradethe grade are doing the best would depend on they can, especially photo: Ric MacDowell which students you in view of unfund- are talking about. ed state mandates "For the top students, it's a B+ or A because theythat eat up county education budgets. do well anywhere," he said. "But I'll tell you the "What happened back in the eighties is that honest to God's truth, I really think that the over-then Governor Rockefeller and the Legislature all grade is an E refused to take the expensive and painful steps to "We get an F for sure on the 50th percentileequalize funding throughout the state. The kids, the bottom half of the classes on test scores,question now is: Will the present governor and the kids that score in the lower 50th percentile,Legislature do any better than the earlier ones?" there is almost nothing for them in school, there'she asked. nothing that interests them. We're really serving On the other hand, the Charleston Daily Mail the top 25 percent, the college-boundhas repeatedly editorialized that money is not curriculum." the problem with West Virginia's schools and A reformer said flatly that Lincoln Countyparticularly Lincoln County's schools. "West would receive a failing grade because of itsVirginians spend more than the national politically controlled administration. "Lincolnaverage on schoolsquite a feat for the second- County's administration would get an E" shepoorest people in the nation ... In 1980 the state said,"because the heart of it is the politicalspent an average of $3,814 per student, Lincoln system, the administration that's controlled byCounty spent $4,003. In 1994, the state average the political system. You have excellent teachersreached $5,512 per student. Lincoln County in Lincoln County who really want to make aspent $5,736. difference. When you know it isn't going to get "The ills of West Virginia schools do not any better and you know that nothing's goingstem from lack of money. The money is there. to change, there's no motivation to do better andThe Recht decision wasn't implemented be-

"The iiis of West Virginia schoois do not stem from Oack of money.81 8 5 cause it wasn't needed. What is needed is ancomes out in the school system or knows what's explanation of why money fails to producegoing on in the classroom. All we get from the excellence. Perhaps Lincoln County schoolState Department are checklists. This is supposed officials could explain that." to be done, that is supposed to be done, we're Louis K. Watts, principal of Lincoln County'ssupposed to be teaching this or spending so many Midway Elementary School and one-time directorminutes on that. They don't seem to care what's of curriculum for the county, stepped forward togoing on in a classroom, whether you're engaging offer a response to one Daily Mail editorial inor challenging children, whether there is which he personally was taken to task foreducation going on at all. suggesting that the problem was lack of funds. "When I taught in North Carolina more than 30 "The tax base in Lincoln County is low," Wattsyears ago, we saw state supervisors in every area wrote. "Despite the fact that our people haveof the curriculum in our classrooms. I mean, they traditionally voted for a 100 percent excess levywere there seeing what we were doing. We had

to buy textbooks, library books and materials... serious curriculum planning meetings. But until that levy doe's not generate a great sum of moneypeople get concerned about the curriculum, and in a county with little industry and where thethat has to begin with the State Department, I don't county school system is the largest employer. think we're going to get that kind of initiative from "I (did) not suggest that money was the answerLincoln County. I think the people who are in charge to all of our county's problems. It is disturbing,of education here are satisfied with the status quo." however, to think that editors apparently believe that socioeconomic conditions and equity of funding have no relationship to student achievement." They don't seem to As the debate has raged on for more than ©are what's going a decade, little has been done to address either problem. The financial support for school on 4n a©Oassroom9 systems has not been equalized as Judge Recht whether you're ordered, and very little, if anything, has been engagMg or done to investigate and remedy management ©haElenzIng problems. chHdren9whether Likewise, the problems to which Watts there draws attentionthe relationship between adiu©E,Non socioeconomic distress and low student et`c achievementhave not been addressed. goIng Nowhere is there evidence that the state has become intimately involved with schools that have high populations of at-risk students. In fact, the teachers and administrators of those schools have in essence been left to fend for themselves. "For some reason, nobody cares what's going on in your room. Most principals don't come in. Nobody from the central office comes in. It's like nobody cares what you're doing," said Betty Jones. "We don't have anybody at the State Department that ever

Challenge West Virginia 86 One point The Daily Mail ignores is thatregardless of their enrollment. Having fewer sparsity of population makes higher per studentstudents over which to spread these costs spending inevitable. School systems that don'tinevitably means that the per-pupil costs will be have as many students per square mile musthigher in rural schools." either operate more schools or more busesor At the time the report was written, West both. The sparsity issue is one that makes it veryVirginia had 25 counties defined as sparsely- difficult to separate the tangle of economics andpopulated (two more have since been added politics in the state's schools. to the list). Many of those counties already had "Educating students in sparsely populatedexperienced extensive consolidation of counties is not cheap," stated Schools in Crisis,schools; fifteen at that time had only one the 1989 report of the special task force on ruralcounty high school. school districts. "Thus higher costs which arise However, even in Lincoln County where as a consequence of this sparsity must beparents and teachers have repeatedly in- regarded as one of the economic facts of ruralsisted that inadequate funding remains a real life rather than as evidence of wastefulness orroadblock to educational excellence, there as costs which can be erased by stricterare those who think The Daily Mail makes an expenditure controls." interesting point about mismanagement of Specifically, transportation costs were notedavailable funds and that attorney Charles as inherently higher in sparsely populatedDamron and people like him are part of counties. "Every county in the 25 most sparsely-the problem. populated counties has higher than state average The State Aid Formula allows counties so transportation costsmuch money for administrators, based on per pupil," the studystudent enrollment. The county is required to stated. "In fact, ithave a curriculum supervisor. It has to have a costs approximatelysuperintendent. After that, the county Board of $98 per student, or 40 at, Education determines how to spend money. percent higher thanWhen Lincoln County officials complain that the state average, tothey have cut to the bone, they don't always transport children intake into consideration positions that could be these counties." eliminated or consolidated. The report also "When cuts have to be made, Lincoln stated that the cost ofCounty has made the decision to cut teachers specialized programsand eliminate field trips rather than cut and services is highersupervisors," an elementary teacher said. "This in rural schools, andyear (1997) we were told that the acting that sparsity "ensuressuperintendent proposed eliminating the that rural districts willpositions of school bus supervisor and have relatively highmaintenance supervisor. But that never did per-pupil costs forhappen, even as schools were being closed. energy, administrative "When I think of what these people's salaries overhead, equipment are and how horrible the bus schedules are, how and materials, and the maintenanceandbadly the buildings are maintained, I just want to throw up my hands," she said. "It's very construction of school apparent the children of this county are not the facilities. There are certain minimumtop priority for the men who run the school fixed costs whichsystem, and, until that changes, it won't matter schools must bearhow much money you send in here for 83 8 7 education. It will continue to be used to fuel a "This is how this system goes, and it's another political machine." reason why we will never have a thorough and Another teacher complained about the Board'sefficient system in Lincoln County, until they action in hiring the lawyer. "They had unnecessaryclean it up from politics. They could put legal costs to start with, so they hired this attorneythousands upon thousands of dollars per child, to save them money, spending around 60-someand it would never make a difference. Because thousand dollars, to save $61,500." until they get the politics out of the school system, The teacher said she and other teachers at herit's never going to change." school didn't have a planning period, so they So, again, is the problem lack of funds or filed a grievance. The response from themismanagement of available funds because of administration was to put one teacher in chargelocal political control? There are no easy answers. of 50 children for an hour so another teacherAs Dan Hedges said, you can guarantee you could have a planning period. won't have an adequate education system if you don't provide the necessary resources. Likewise, "They blatantly break the law, and they do it as a control," the teacher said. "We wanted a planningyou can guarantee you won't have an adequate education system if you can't remove political period, so they showed us. They gave us two classes patronage from the equation. to teach for one class period. So you have 50 kids in a room that's designed for 25." The argument about which is the greater Teachers took the matter to circuit court, andproblem could be debated forever. The sad fact of the Board of Education ended up having to paylife in West Virginia is that a scarcity of resources the teachers a percentage of their salary for eachcoupled with political mismanagement of the day they did not have a planning period, thefunds that are available have resulted in a two- headed monster that frustrates reformers and teacher said. In addition, the Board had to pay all works to the detriment of children. As long as attorney fees, both its own and those of the teachers, together with all court costs. All of this was, ofresources are inadequate and poor management course, at taxpayer expense. The entire episode waspractices continue, the mindless debate as to which is the greater problem can go on and on. about misuse of power, the teacher said. "All it was, in my opinion, was to keep us in line." Both need to be addressed and remedied if the state is ever to provide a thorough and efficient It all goes back to the priorities of the educationsystem of free schools for all our children. system, the teacher said. She is convinced that While Lincoln County parents were losing political leaders are more concerned with keeping constituents happy or making sure someone has athe fight to save their elementary schools, an job than making sure low-income children receiveequally disturbed group of Pendleton County a good education. parents went to court in 1997 to try to stop the proposed closing of Circleville School, whose 130 "They should never have hired the attorney tohigh school students were to be merged into a start with," she said. "There's nothing we can dorenovated Franklin High School. about that, but it's gross misuse of public funds. Our children are the victims. They're the ones Circleville and Franklin are separated by suffering, and no one seems to care." approximately 17 miles of some of the most rugged terrain in the state of West Virginia. The The teacher said she understood that LincolnCircleville parents expressed concern that their County received more money per pupil than otherchildren would have to travel an additional 34 counties in the state. "There's no reason for themiles round trip on steep and winding roads. system to be in the state it's in, so it has to be poorThe daily trip would include two passages over management countywide," she said. "Thethe 3,700-foot North Mountain, a perilous piece money's coming in, but it's poor management inof highway that becomes even more treacherous the county and politics. in winter.

Challenge West Virginia 8 8 Bob Bastress and Jim

Lees, attorneys for the .4 parents, brought suit on their behalf against the Pendleton County Board 4 /111,4: of Education, the State Superintendent of Schools pi/ and the School Building Authority. They main- AlI tained that the SBA's arbitrary schoolsize requirements are uncon- stitutional because they do not take into account rural geography or demo- graphy, thus unconstitu- tionally denying rural schoolchildren equal access to educational opportunity Witnesses from the area testified that the extra 17 miles over North Mountain would add 30 to 50 minutes of bus time each way for the students, countering the state's contention that the consolidation would add only 15 to 25 minutes to the trip. Lawyers for the parents pointed out that if the consolidation took place, a photo: Covenant House significant number of Circleville children would endure bus times greatly in excess of the maximumissue is not simply busing children 17 miles to permitted by State Board of Education Policy. Franklin, but "17 more miles across North That policy, set out in an often ignoredMountain, in addition to the 20 miles that they guideline, allows elementary students to beare already being bused. The frequent winter on a bus 30 minutes one way, middle and juniorstorms that typify North Mountain will create high students 45 minutes one way, and highnightmare situations for the children and school students 60 minutes. The attorneys saidparents alike," Phares warned. even without the consolidation, Pendleton He also noted that "since all children from County had such sparsity of population that itpre-schoolers through 12th graders will ride the incurred the highest school busing costs persame bus, it will mean that many 4- and 5-year- student in the state. old children and K-6th graders may have to In a letter to the editor of The Charlestonboard the bus by 6:15 in the morning in order Gazette, Robert Phares, vice president of thefor the bus to get to Circleville by 7:15, so the 7- Pendleton County Citizens for Community12th graders can transfer to another bus to Schools, pointed out that the transportationFranklin. And in the evening these same young 89 85 people will have to wait until 3:40 for the bus tosaid. "The people up and down this valley built it return from Franklin so they can reload to returnand turned it over to the county and the state to home. For many pre-schoolers and K-6th graders,maintain it, and they haven't. It was a free gift." that will mean at least a 10- to 11- hour school day Phares said attempts had been made to close an intolerable and illegal situation." Circleville since the 1970s, but were unsuccessful But physical distance is not all that separatesuntil redistricting efforts earlier in the 1990s the two communities. The youngsters who makechanged the composition of the county's school up the Circleville student body come from aboard. As the Circleville community lost its voice farming background. A high percentage of themon the school board, the school's maintenance (approximately 50 percent receive free or reducedneeds were ignored, residents told Daily Mail school meals) come from low-income families. reporter Bridget Bradburn. In their efforts to save their school, the Derek Vandevander, as he prepared to begin Circleville parents made some of the same pointshis senior year in high school, assessed the that parents around the state have made in favorsituation, "They don't want to make the improvements so "increased schooi size does not correiate positiveiy they have an excuse witheducat'ons0 quan'W or educatonall to tear it down," he outcomes." said. "Politics and moneythat's all it comes down to." The arguments culled by lawyers from the of small rural schoolsthe school is an integralconcerns of parents were reminiscent of those part of the life of the community. It isn't simply amade in other school consolidation cases from learning factory. Their lawyers noted that thecounties across the state that found their way to distance from the school will significantlycourt over the years. The difference was that they diminish the students' ability to participate inwere made in the courtroom of Kanawha Circuit extra-curricular activities, and it will limit theCourt Judge Tod Kaufman, who, moved by ability of parents to maintain the high level ofevidence others had ignored, ruled in favor of involvement they have had in the life of the school.the parents. Circleville School, which served students in In his decision, Kaufman took full aim at the grades kindergarten through twelve, has beenSchool Building Authority, saying when the SBA described as less a community school than adecides to fund projects, it fails to consider how regional school for those who live in the Northclosing and consolidating schools will affect Fork Valley, which runs from Grant County tostudents from poor and sparsely populated areas. Pocahontas County. The building, a stately redHe said the School Building Authority should not brick structure with white columns, is listed onuse size of school as a factor in funding school the National Register of Historic Places and sitsbuilding projects. The decision, in short, on land owned by Robert Phares' family sinceinvalidated the very core of the SBA's priorities 1790. A baseball diamond adjacent to the schoolthe concept of economies of scale. hosts games from Little League up, and the school's gym is open every Tuesday night for Kaufman's ruling made it clear that he saw students to play basketball, Phares told thecrucial factors the SBA has ignored in its rush to Charleston Daily Mail. make sure counties operate the fewest possible number of schools. "The Circleville school is the Phares and others in the community are upsetsocial, cultural, education and recreation center that the state is destroying something that belongsof the North Fork Valley," the judge wrote. "Its completely to the community it serves. "The stateclosure will have a serious adverse effect on the didn't build this, the county didn't build it," Phareslife, spirit and economy of the valley." 86 Challenge West Virginia 9 0 Further, Kaufman found that state school The Charleston Daily Mail weighed in as well, officials have not demonstrated that closing andsaying the ruling "saved Circleville, but destroys consolidating schools saves money or improvesthe education of its children." The Mail compared learning. "Increased school size does notKaufman to Recht, saying that Kaufman, like correlate positively with educational quality orRecht, "thinks he knows better than 134 legislators, educational outcomes." state school officials and the governor when it The judge chided the state for a policy ofcomes to education." lumping students together into one school The arguments in support of the SBA ulti- whenever possible while ignoring the area andmately swayed the State Supreme Court of terrain. He said the closing of Circleville HighAPpeals, which in July 1998 voted unani- School would violate its students' rights to amously to overturn Kaufman's decision and quality education. The case was appealed by thethus allow the closing of Circleville School. State and the Pendleton County Board ofIn the opinion, written by Justice Larry Education to the State Supreme Court ofStarcher, the court said the SBA's funding for- Appeals, which heard arguments during themula does not violate state law and that clos- summer of 1998. ing Circleville does not deprive its students Not surprisingly, State School Buildingof their constitutional right to an education. Authority Executive Director Clacy Williams reacted immediately and negatively to Kaufman's opinion, saying the decision threatened to freeze more than 60 school building projects worth about $230 million across the state.

Joining Williams as one / of the most vocal critics of Kaufman's decision was, predictably, Lincoln County Superintendent Powell, who told The Charleston Gazette the biggest tragedy of the ruling is the effect it will have on children. "Ultimately, I hate to see anything that will impede the opportunity for the children," he said. "I would hope that the SBA and the state would appeal it so that we can continue to make educational improvements for the children. The SBA has tremendous impact on the educational quality for our children."

, photo: Beth Spence 87 91 State officials were jubilant."This is ahad more than 1,200 students. Of the 15 districts significant statement that we will be able to reachwith the highest math and reading test scores, the goal of thorough and efficient education forten had an average high school size of fewer all students," said Superintendent Hankthan 600 students. Marockie. "It supported the mission where the He found that there was no guarantee large state is going. It supports the future for theschools would save money and concluded that development of schools. It really supports the"there's not a single major national report that says initiative to encourage systems to move intoconsolidation is the answer. Not a one." consolidations and to look across county lines." The thousands of parents across the state who The Daily Mail backed up the decision have fought to preservecommunity schools are editorially. "People do not certain those schools have an entitlement to a have value and that nearby school no matter learning is not only how far from the beaten possible, but can even path they may choose to be enhanced, when it live. Taxpayers cannot is grounded in a com- afford such a policy." munity that provides While acknowledging support, history and that the community will concern for all its chil- suffer pain, the Mail dren. The Pendleton insisted that the "new County citizens group school willgivethe maintains that satellite children of Circleville a far classes were used to better shot at jobs in the meet the technological nextcentury," and needs of their chil- maintainedthatby dren, while the small reversing Kaufman, the school setting allowed justices are allowing "state teachers to tend to the officials to make schools emotional and physi- more efficient." cal needs of students. But Jonathan Sher, The problem citizen who studiedschool groups face in trying consolidation for the to defend their schools North Carolina Department of Public Instructionis that what some refer toas "place value" is diffi- in 1986, said his research failed to find educationalcult to quantify. improvement for children in large, consolidated A former Board of Education member from schools. Sher told the Charleston Sunday Gazette-Webster County noted that of the four elementary Mail's Trina Kleist he found research supportingschools remaining in the county, tiny Hacker large consolidated schools "inconclusive at bestValley, with fewer than 100 students, had the top and embarrassingly shoddy at worst." test scores. The second school in size, Diana "Moreover," he told Kleist, "we were taken abackElementary, with approximately 150 students, had by the extent to which the legitimate arguments inthe second highest test scores, followed by Webster favor of bigger schools and school districts had beenSprings, with approximately 400 students, and routinely exaggerated, overstated and oversold." finally, the 700-student Glade Elementary. The Sher said of the ten North Carolina districtsHacker Valley students also had the lowest with the lowest dropout rates, six had an averagedropout rate and none had ever been suspended high school of fewer than 600 students and nonefrom school for disciplinary reasons, the board member said with pride. RR Challenge West Virginia 92 In research for his doctoral "One of the tHngs we dissertation, Craig Howley know found that the factors cited by that chHdren need parents in school consolidation a sense of communKy. case after school consolidation They're just Dike aduOts. We need a case really are the factors that sense of community and a sense of make small, rural schools better pgace. for low-income children. "Increased school size has negative effects upon student participation, satisfaction and Deirdre Purdy told the story of Neboattendance, and adversely affects the school School, a three-room facility serving anclimate and a student's ability to identify extremely low-income community in Claywith the school and its activities," Howley County. Despite the poverty of the familieswrote. "In addition, small schools may be whose children attended the school, Nebofriendlier institutions, capable of involving parents raised $7,000 each year to support thestaff and students psychologically in their school and had 100 percent parenteducational purposes." participation in its PTO. When the school was In testimony in the Pendleton County case, closed, that strong parent involvement didn'tHowley said that children from lower-income follow the children the eight miles down thefamilies fare better in small schools because small road to Ivydale. Only two parents from theschools blunt the usual negative relationship Nebo area have been talked into participatingbetween socio-economic status and academic in the PTO at Ivydale. achievement. He warned that taking children of "To urban administrators, moving a school tenlower socio-economic status out of their or fifteen miles down the road may seem a minorcommunities and combining them with children adjustment on the state map, but local schools areof higher socio-economic status will negatively the only town hall, gym, polling place, theater,affect the educational development of the more dance hall and recreation center," said Purdy. 'Poorimpoverished children. parents with worn-out cars, welfare mothers with In a brief filed with the State Supreme Court more kids at home, grandparents and proudon behalf of the Annenberg Rural Challenge, neighbors can get to the community school for theattorney Franklin Cleckley stated, "The talent show or the kindergarten graduation, butmajority of West Virginia's rural children are they cannot get ten or fifteen miles down windingalso poor, increasing their educational need two-lane roads or over mountains. Parental andand making this denial of access to schools community involvement in the schools dropsdoubly destructive. When education is a precipitously. No balance sheet is kept of suchfundamental right, an equitable and adequate immeasurables, but these systematic blows tostate-wide facility funding program must education, community and citizenship cannot berecognize crucial differences in rural good for social morality of students or the state."geography and demography which affect Linda Martin agrees. "One of the things weappropriate, accessible school sizes." know is that children need a sense of community. The Pendleton County case, he said, captures They're just like adults. We need a sense ofthe essential problems of West Virginia's policy community and a sense of place. That's one ofregarding school size requirements. "Large the things that affects how children seeschools mean large catchment areas," he said. themselves and how they live in the world. It"Large catchment areas mean exhausting bus leads to all kinds of negative behavior in childrenrides, with students traveling hours each day. when they don't have a sense of place." J3 89 Falling student achievement, lower extracurricular participation, de- creased family involvement and ris- ing dropout rates mark resulting fail- ures of educational equity, adequacy and access for rural students." It is easy to dismiss those favoring small schools as ignorant hillbillies who are anti-education and anti- progress. But in doing so, the news media and critics miss another important factorthe symbiotic relationship among legislators, state and local school officials and the governor that has created and nurtured current education policy. That relationship, built on political need and fueled with School Building Authoritydollars,makesit exceedinglydifficult,ifnot impossible, for officials involved in making education policy to oppose the current school funding system while it forces legislators, local school board members and superintendents to rally together against all who oppose it, whether they are low- income parents or judges who happen to see merit in the values of those parents. Two governors and the state school officials they have appointed have created a system of building and financingpressure from, the State defendants forced the schools that now seems locked into place. AnyPendleton County decision to close Circleville legislator who would dare oppose the SchoolHigh School." Building Authority only ensures that his or her "Pendleton County had no possibility of home district gets none of the educational pie.raising the money locally to finance major And putting his or her district out of the runningschool construction or the renovation that was for the SBA money wouldn't be helpful whencritically needed at Franklin High School," the that legislator needs to be reelected. lawyers stated. "Thus, the county's only means The same dilemma exists for local schoolof finance was through the SBA. But the SBA's board members. As former Senate Educationweighted evaluation criteria (and especially its Chairwoman Sondra Lucht said, if lawmakersinsistence on either minimum school size or did not force county educators to consolidatecounty-wide catchment areas) meant that schools, they would never do it. The Pendletonfunding would never be forthcoming for County situation is a case in point.BastressPendleton County unless it closed Circleville and Lees pointed out "the policies of, andand consolidated the high schools."

Challenge West Virginia 9 4 "Et comes down to a sense of vaDues," she said. "What ars your vakfles9 what ©o you want your chHd9s educaUon?

Linda Daetwyler Spencer said she was stepping down from the board out of concern that two rural 'schools were sacrificed to get $13.7 million to construct a new high school in Elkins. "It came back to us that, in order to receive any funding, we had to incorporate some or a lot of consolidation into our plan," Spencer told the Gazette Mail. "I'm not against consolidation where it's feasible, but... they're hurting those children back on those country roads." So county school boards may oppose consolidation and they may dislike the School Building Authority as intensely as do their constituents, but they can't really oppose the SBA. Keeping open local schools costs more than they can raise locally and the school aid formula

photo: Beth Spence narrows their options. So they have to consolidate. They may not be very happy about it, but they are stuck, just like tlie legislators, with a system that seems to be operating completely Bastress and Lees said the SBA from 1990 to out of control. 1994 repeatedly rejected Pendleton County's requests for funds when those funds would have Even the most hardened politician would be been used to renovate and maintain both highpressed to give concrete evidence as to how the schools. Immediately after:the county changed itsconsolidation of elementary schools really comprehensive facilities plan to includebenefits the children of Lincoln County. The consolidation, the request for funds was approved.County's actions appear to fly in the face of the ruling by Judge Recht, who recognized that "In addition," according to Bastress and children in poverty come to school with more Lees, "SBA officials told Pendleton County needs than children of more affluent parents. officials that the SBA would not allocate funds to renovate Circleville and that the county's Recht said class sizes should not exceed 20 only option Was to consolidate." students in grades kindergarten through second or 25 students in grades three through twelve. In 1990, when the Randolph County Board He said class sizes should be even smaller when of Education voted to close two small schools, children come from isolated areas and have had one .member of the board of education wept few life experiences. publicly and another resigned from the school board in protest of the action. 95 91 "Instead of getting better, it seems that tHngs are gethng worse9"

A Lincoln County administrator, who is State Superintendent Marockie dismissed convinced that reading and early intervention areconcerns about them and countless other the keys to helping children succeed, said sheimpoverished rural students with three terse believes the ideal class size for early elementarysentences in a 1990 interview with the Charleston classes is 12 to 15 children." That gives you enoughSunday Gazette Mail. "The ultimate value of diversity so children learn from each other andconsolidation is not consolidated buildings, but learn there are different kinds of people in theeducated children," Marockie said. "In order to world and that we have to accept those people.get those skills, one has to give up something. And it's not too big," she said. They must give up the nostalgia of clinging to But just as state policy moves away from smallrural culture." schools, it also appears to be moving away from The principal of an elementary school in a low- those ideal small classes. The state has routinelyincome community vigorously disagreed. "It granted schools waivers to increase class sizes upcomes down to a sense of values," she said. "What to 28 students in elementary classrooms. And if theare your values, what do you want in your child's recommendations of the governor's Commissioneducation? What never gets taken into on Educational Quality and Equity are followed,consideration when consolidation happens in those numbers may grow even more. rural Appalachia, is that the children who are hurt "Instead of getting better, it seems that thingsthe most are the children who exist in my school. are getting worse," said a Lincoln CountyThe poor children who live far from schools are elementary teacher. "Judge Recht said we shouldyour dropout children. And then they become have diverse programs, resource teachers, smallersociety's burden because they will be the class sizes so we can really work with children whounemployed and recipients of social welfare. So come from deprived backgrounds and who need ayou can get them now, save rural schools, or you lot of attention. Actually, we now have no resourcecan pay for them later." teachers and class sizes are getting larger. "I know a first grade teacher who had 25 students this year (1997). It's just an impossible situation for a teacher to have that many children. Some kids are going to fall through the cracks and who are those kids? I'll wager it's not the children of the well-to-do. I guess my question is, do we now have a state policy that says we should just give up on the children who need us the most?" Many of the students affected by the merger of Woodville, McCorkle and Midway are among the poorest children in Lincoln Countythe students who would have attended Martin School had it not been closed. These students have to travel farther and endure larger classes, while their teachers are less likely to know their families and their home situations.

9 6

Challenge West Virginia Story of the Politics of Etfacation in West Virgini& , 1 ' *1-t 1' 4, r 1, IIII

04. rg 1110111 LAeHes -sn Awed 01. peueddell JaneteLIM Pusiow-111111: he story of Pau ley versus Bailey still is beingcommittee formed to plan a regional Putnam- written in West Virginia. Superintendent HankMason regional high school. The county also Marockie in August 1998 reported to educatorsstands to lose SBA funds awarded to construct a attending a state-sponsored conference that heconsolidated high school in Point Pleasant. expected to face compliance hearings on the Recht Following the action by the Mason County Decision before the end of the year even though the board of education, school officials in Logan and Legislature passed a bill requiring the State Board Lincoln counties began meeting to plan a regional of Education to review and update education school of their owna school that would serve standards for student, school and countychildren attending Harts High in Lincoln County performance through the newly-established office and Chapmanville High School in Logan County. of Education Performance Audits. According to The Logan Banner, the Logan/ Marockie's prediction appeared to be accurate inLincoln officials hope to get the funds Mason light of a statement by Judge Dan Robinson that heCounty is losing. anticipated holding hearings in the late fall. Robinson At the same time, the Lincoln Journal reported also named Professor Richard Salmon of Virginia that Sen. Lloyd Jackson has persuaded the state Tech in Blacksburg, Va., to serve as an expert witness to deed back to the county land that once was used to the court. Salmon is a nationally recognized expert as a "poor farm." Those who have followed school in school funding formulas. news in Lincoln County for the past decade believe Meanwhile, the one drastic change that hasthe local school board will propose a consolidated taken place in community after community is thehigh school for the rest of the county on the poor consolidation of the state's schools. Since 1990,farm siteeven though no public statements have local boards of education have closed 258or 26been made to that effect. percent of West Virginia's schoolsand 28 more In an attempt to head off lawsuits over school have been targeted for closure. Most of the schools closings and consolidations, the SBA announced which have been closed served small, rural, low- in June it will require county school districts to income communities. hold forums to gauge public As they have continued to fight for their localsupport for school schools in court, citizen groups also have tried tobuilding make a difference at the polls, electing local school board candidates pledged to support and defend small schools. In Mason County, two consolidation opponents were elected to the local school board in 1998, giving those who have fought to maintain the county'sthree t44 small high schools a three-to-two majority. Since that election, the school board has voted to disband a

94 Challenge West Virginia 9 8 projects. The SBA has given each county $20,000 It is no longer acceptable to pretend that to develop ten-year comprehensive educationcomputers and new buildings make our facilities plans during the next year and a half.education system better. It is no longer acceptable Under the new guidelines, school districts areto create committee after committee to endorse required to hold at least two public forums tofailed policy or to pass the buck about financing discuss their building plans instead of waitingand reform to another committee. The time for until those plans have been developed, as hasaction has long since passed. been the case in the past. If the governor and legislators believe, as the Governor's Commission onFair Taxation rec- ommended, that the Legis- The chaDOenge for DegisPators is to provide lature is the "sole and final the resources to aElow the fun impPementation arbiter of what of the Recht Decision,and they must spending plan do A now. is necessary to provide a thor- ough and effi- cientpublic "They must take their plan to theschool system," then the politicians in Charles- community and talk about it," SBA directorton need to quit complaining about how hard Clacy Williams said. "We want to try to solvethat job is and take the courageous action nec- problems before they become aggravations.essary to make it happen. The purpose is to let the public be part of the The challenge for legislators is to provide planning process. The public is going to bethe resources to allow the full implementation educated and informed." of the Recht Decision, and they must do it now. The message appears to be reaching stateThey need to implement legislation which school officials that school systems must take intoensures, once and for all, fair and equitable account the concerns of the parents and citizens.taxes on all property, even if it means that West Virginians haven't been able to discuss theircertain industries have to begin to shoulder a vision of an excellent school system because,much greater load than they have in the past. since the Recht Decision was issued, the battle They must restructure the School Aid line between the state and communities has beenFormula so that school systems receive the drawn over the issue of consolidated schoolsfunds they actually need to operate high quality versus community schools. schools that serve the best interests of children The Recht Decision has been a mixed blessing not do the best they can with the funds made for West Virginia's school children. On the oneavailable to them. They must restructure the hand, itsets high standards which, ifSchool Building Authority so that the implemented, would give all the state's children"economies of scale" criteria no longer drives an opportunity for unlimited educationaldecisions to fund school construction. They possibilities. On the other hand, for the pastneed to lower the maximum class size in grades sixteen years, the Pau ley case has remainedone through three to twenty students or less unfinished business. While Legislators haveper teacher to make sure every child gets a fair failed to provide the necessary resources, Westand equal chance for a good education. Virginians have debated whether the problem Local boards of education must develop with our schools is lack of funds or poorprograms that truly reflect the needs of their management or both.

99 95 counties and their children not plans based on pressure from a state bureaucracy so removed from the children that its leader thinks rural culture is something separate from who those children are, just a frill that should be given up in the interest of economy. Board members need to visit the schools they represent on a regular basis, talk to the teachers and children

and have those faces in their minds k when they make policy. And they need to make sure that intra-county funding is fair and equitable. It's unfair to say that small, rural schools are not good schools, when, in fact, those schools are not financed equitably when compared with other schools within the county. This is an issue that has not been addressed except by those who teach at, administer or have children attending those schools. 1( County boards need to push the Legislature, the State Board of Education and the State Department of Education to understand the needs of the children in classrooms throughout the state. They need to take political risks by insuring that the majority of funding goes directly into classrooms rather than into political jobs and bureaucracies. And every board of education member whose primary interest is politics rather than children, should immediately resign his or her seatits state-of-the-art technology. It is a much more and leave education policy in the hands of peopledifficult experience to go to counties where lack who genuinely have the best interests of childrenof funding makes it impossible to have even the at heart. basics needed for educational achievement. Members of the State Board of Education need The State Board needs to mandate officials in to volunteer one day a week in a communitythe State Department of Education to monitor school where there are high numbers of at-riskclassrooms and schools across the state, to children and listen to the concerns of teachers,encourage local management of schools through parents and children so that they have a personalcurriculum-planning sessions, empowered understanding of the educational needs, especiallyfaculty senates and school improvement councils in poor rural counties. It is easy to visit Robert C.that truly have a voice in local education issues. Byrd High School with the President and admire

96 Challenge West Virginia 0 0 The challenge to the State Department oftem, despite its flaws and what she believes we Education is to send the staff that sits in the officemust do for the children. in Charleston shuffling reports out into "No one person can fix the schools. It takes classrooms across the state with the mission oflots of people. Everybody's tomorrow depends helping make the schools truly excellent. Top-on what we're doing todayor not doing," she level administrators themselves should get outsaid. "The problem is taking it from theory to into schoolsand not just Blue Ribbon Schoolspractical terms. Do we really believe some kids or schools with cutting-edge technology go hungry if we don't feed them? All people Those who set policy need to look closely athave to do is get out and visit a school and watch those schools which work to try to determine whychildren eat. That's all they have to do. And they are successful and at those which don't workthey'll see for some children, that's all they get. to try to determine why they are not effectivelyAt least, that's the best meal they get. School's serving the children. They need to pay attentionthe safest place for them. It's the best place they to the things that excite children and help themcould be. learn. Often these are the things that spring out "Of course the schools cannot solve all of of the youngsters' experience and culture. Thesociety's problems, but if we don't educate voices at the school level can help guidepeople on how to solve those problems, how educational policy. to access information, how to work together The challenge to parents is to put childrento solve problems, then there is no future for firsteven those children who aren't their ownany of us, I don't think. I don't know the to participate in school improvement councilsanswers to a lot of questions. But I know one and fight to make them truly strong andthing for sure. If we don't take care of the effective instruments of change. Parents needchildren, they're not going to take care of us to make their county board of educationor anything else in our future." members and their legislators aware of the Those who have played leading roles in the problems in the schools. They need to raise theirlong battle for better schools are haunted by voices in the battle for better schoolsnot waitthe fact that the Recht Decision remains for someone else to do the job. unfinished business in West Virginia. The challenge for taxpayers and citizens is Betty Jones recalls with a tinge of sadness to support with our dollars and our voices andher days teaching children at tiny McCorkle our votes those people in our school systems who truly do understand the needs of children and every day give their best to offer all of us a brighter future. A Lincoln County admin- istrator who started her teach- ing career at the age of 19 in a one-room school and contin- ued her education until she received her doctorate, spoke with great earnestness about why she remained in the sys-

"The decisions that have been made about school consolidation during the past decade and a half haveput those ohren more at risk instead of heOping them." 97 101 Elementary School, where she says she spent herimportant by the people who make educa- happiest days in the classroom. It was a place,tion policy. she says, where no one had a lot of money but "When we look at those people who are under parents were vitally involved with the school andeducated and uneducated, they are the people in children reaped the benefits. our society who are suffering," she said. "Education "They felt that they belonged, that they werehas always been a way out of poverty and it still is. importantand they were in that school.One of the major challenges for West Virginia's Unfortunately, what I've seen come out of theeducation system is to make sure every child gets Recht Decision is that children like them haveeducated. And the best way for many children to lost their community schools," she said. "The decisions that have been made about school consolidation during the past decade and a half

have put those children more at O 0 risk instead of helping them." Deirdre Purdy agrees that state policy is particularly devastating c:=,2 for low-income children. "Forced O C.0 consolidation deprives poor and rural children of equal educa- tional opportunity and keeps them from getting their rightful educa- tion," she said. Her strong belief that socio-economic status and parental support are the two great indicators of student educational achievement was supported by expert witnesses in the Pendleton

County case. "Small community , schools are most effective in giving poor, rural students a thorough and efficient education," she said. Linda Martin, now educa- tion director for the Challenge WestVirginiaprogramof Covenant House, hears the very

same concerns she expressed C. more than 25 years ago echoed by parents today. "They see political consider- ations being given more impor- $4, tance than their children," she said. "They see that the things that gave them a strong sense of who they are as rural West Virginianstheir communities with schools in the center of them are not considered

Challenge West Virginia 102 "The reaRy of the sAtuatgon defeated in a 1996 bid to that LontH more peopge care retain his seat on the State about tHs9 more peopge get Supreme Court of Appeals out there and starl sayMg in what some observers felt tHngs about the need for was a referendum on the educaton9 the ugtumate resugt historic decision that bears his name, remains sn't gang to come about no optimistic about the future maTter what a ljudge says," of education in West Dan Fledges Virginia. Recht said he feels the most important part of his decision was the continuing jurisdiction in the Circuit Court of get a good education is in a school that is rooted Kanawha County. in their culture and comimmity." "If the plaintiffs feel that it's not being Dan Hedges, whose name is synonymous with implemented, then they can come back at any legal reforms of many institutions in the state and who remains passionately concerned abouttime and...then you take testimony. Is it being education issues, believes the future will beimplemented? Is it not being implemented? If it's not being implemented, why isn't it? And then written by all West Virginianspolicy makers, keep that constant kind of pressure." politicians, teachers, parents, taxpayers. Finally, Janet Pauley, now in her sixties, is "The reality of the situation is that until more alternately optimistic and pessimistic when she people care about this, more people get out there and start saying things about the need forlooks back over the events that have taken place in education since that long-ago PTA meeting at education, the ultimate result isn't going to come McCorkle Elementary. about no matter what a judge says," he said. "And if he says something and everybody thumbs their "I can't say that they (the schools) are greatly noses at it and gives the Legislature what theyimproved, but I don't have any regrets about what feel is political support for doing nothing, thenI did. I think it has helped some," she said. "I don't what have we got? think it will ever be equal. What we have now is sure not very good." "If you make the resources available, things are going to improve in a lot of places, but things Mrs. Pauley's youngest son is in his thitties. won't be perfect everywhere and there will stillAt the beginning of the 1997-98 school year, her be issues remaining. But you can guarantee thingsred-haired granddaughter Anita entered won't be good if you don't provide the resources."kindergarten at the McCorkle Early Education Julian Martin firmly believes that the fundingCenter, in the very building where her grandmother started her mighty push more than dilemma remains the major obstacle to creating high quality schools in Lincoln County and25 years ago. around the state. "Rather than build new "It makes cold chills run down me," Mrs. buildings, if you tax coal companies, doublePauley said as she considered her role in one of salaries (for teachers), halve class sizesif youthe most ground-breaking court cases in the tax the coal companies and Wal-Mart and all thosestate's history. Then she paused and mused, "I people, then you'd have enough money fordidn't know when I started all this I was getting supplies and equipment, and you would haveinto a wasp's nest. I was thinking of the children, creative people in the jobs," he said. and that's all I thought of. I still just hope and pray something gets done for these kids." Judge Arthur Recht says the good news for West Virginia is that, even now, it is not too late to make his decision a reality. The judge, 1u3 99 photo: Beth Spence

100 BEST COPY AVAILAbLE Challenge West Virginia 104 co

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111 sic Challenge West Virginia, a program of Covenant House, is connnitted to reforming education policy in WestVirginia through a sustained grassroots movement in support of high-quality small community schools. For more information about Challenge West Virginia or this study, please contact:

Linda Martin Beth Spence 801 Gordon Drive 58 Frontier Road Charleston, WV 25303 Alum Creek, WV 25003 304-744-5916 304-756-9191 [email protected] [email protected]

tet Covenant House, Inc. 1109 Ouarrier StreetCharleston, West Virginia 25301 email: [email protected] Lill <

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