Latest news with #LegislativeLookahead
Yahoo
11-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
W.Va. lawmakers say update to Education Funding Formula a priority
Feb. 11—FAIRMONT — After years begging the legislature to rework the state funding formula for public education, the Marion County Board of Education is finally getting what it wants. Sort of. "I think the direction that's being discussed is potentially doing a comprehensive study of the formula this year," State Sen. Mike Oliverio, R-13, said. "Maybe not necessarily making changes this legislative session, but focusing on that formula, how things are evolving, and if it makes sense, to do a new formula." The Marion County Board of Education sent a letter to members of the West Virginia Legislature and Marion County Delegation on Jan. 22. Among the seven topics chosen by the Board for discussion was the school funding formula. Oliverio said discussion of the funding formula has grown over the last two years from both the public and other legislators. "The outdated formula for calculating funding for positions no longer reflects the complexities of modern education," the letter reads. "Marion County has proactively addressed staffing needs, but systemic updates are necessary to ensure equitable distribution of resources statewide. Revising the formula will allow schools to better support teachers in integrating technology, managing diverse student needs and maintaining operational efficiency." State Sen. Amy Grady, R-04, brought up the subject at the Legislative Lookahead hosted by the West Virginia Press Association on Feb. 7. Grady is chair of the Senate Education Committee. Her comments followed House Speaker Roger Hanshaw, R-62, who said the funding formula hasn't evolved with time to reflect the current state of education in West Virginia. Grady said she was shocked there has never been a study done on the effectiveness of the school funding formula. She said it hasn't seen much change since the '90s and the needs of schools today are vastly different today. "We have a lot more mental health issues," Grady said. "We have a lot of low [supplemental education services] students. We have a lot more students with [individualized education plans] and those aren't addressed in our state formula right now. We also have some positions within our school systems that are required by law, but they also are not included in our state aid formula." Updating the state funding formula won't be easy due to the complexity built into the equation, changing one element of the formula can have a domino effect on the rest of it. Grady added the formula isn't transparent and can be a challenge to understand. The last thing Grady wants to do is take a trial and error approach to the formula, and prefers something that works out of the box rather than having to revise it multiple times. "I think we need an outside agency or an outside firm to come in and give us a study to give us some data driven evidence to show what we need to change," Grady said. "Is it effective? Are we getting the outcomes that we expect based on the way we are funding our schools?" Oliverio said changes to the formula most likely won't come this year. Instead, legislators will assess the results of any study and figure out what to do in future legislative sessions. The funding formula isn't the only thing Marion County Schools will watch in this year's session. The funding transfer from public schools to privatized education, accountability for where HOPE Scholarship money goes, addressing chronic learning loss caused by the pandemic and chronic absenteeism and truancy. The Board of Education also urged the legislature to stabilize the Public Employee Insurance Agency, which provides health insurance to school employees. The school board also called for more support to Career Technical Education. "As more and more jobs require certificates and completion of programs at CTE, I think we should invest more and more in those types of facilities," Oliverio said. "I think their requests there are very consistent with what I've seen other states do in my travel around the country." Reach Esteban at efernandez@
Yahoo
08-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
West Virginia Press Association fostering next generation of reporting talent
Feb. 8—CHARLESTON — Before hosting the West Virginia Press Association's annual legislative lookahead forum, Interim Executive Director Doug Skaff went prospecting for talent. "I've made a commitment to get into the universities and say, 'We want a partner,'" Skaff said. "We want to partner with you. We want to show off your talented students in whichever way we can. What better way than to have them come see events like this and get them involved." As a result, this year's Legislative Lookahead was perhaps one of the largest attended, Skaff said. Fresh eyes and ears joined industry veterans, asking tough questions to members of the legislative leadership and Gov. Patrick Morrisey's cabinet. Bailey Parsons, from Marshall University's The Parthenon student newspaper, asked Del. Roger Hanshaw for more details on the liabilities to the state budget he mentioned during his panel presentation. Parsons was interested in how Hanshaw and the legislature would address any liabilities that would impact her future as a college graduate. Skaff said all industries need to nurture the next generation to fill the jobs of tomorrow. What better way, Skaff said, than to bring students to an event filled with media professionals, where students can watch professionals at work, as well as expose them to what media outlets exist across the state. The WVPA also has internship opportunities it can connect students with. Skaff said this time, they didn't cap how many students a school could send, opening it up to as many who wanted to attend. The result was a Daily Atheneum team and capstone class from West Virginia University as well as the newspaper from Marshall University, as well as one student from Fairmont State University. WVU student Tayler Pillo is a senior in the journalism major. Pillo, 21, was there as part of her capstone class. It was her first time attending anything like the event. Although she's still figuring out what her future will look like, she thought it was interesting to see some legislative reporting. Pillo is aware of how the media landscape is changing, which is why she's considering a career in multimedia. Pillo said it's important for young people to get involved in journalism because they're going to shape how the field works in the future, which will be dominated by digital. "There is a shift happening right now, and that's kind of what our Capstone focuses on," Pillo said. "We're looking at how AI can be integrated into journalism in a way where it's not replacing jobs. It's just aiding journalists, so I think it's good for young journalists to get into whatever they can to get some experience and see what they're doing." Twenty-two-year-old Wade Sullivan, a senior in Marshall's multimedia journalism program, said it was also his first time at the Legislative Look Ahead. He said there hasn't been enough reporting toward the lower economic demographic in the state, and he wants to be a part of that. It's why he's doing his training in West Virginia, and he plans to remain in the state after graduation. Attending the event was a good opportunity to learn from other journalists. "More than anything I learned from the journalists here, specifically the ladies from West Virginia Watch," Sullivan said. "I think they had some incredible questions to ask and the other reporters here as well. Learning those kinds of questions, how I should phrase things better, things like that." Pillo said there's been a big shift in how young people get their news. Younger people want short news summaries or only consume news through social media. She said the transformation is on par with the first transformation from paper to digital. Pillo belongs to a new generation consuming news this way, but at the same time, she can transform news to be consumed how her generation does it. Sullivan said for the past 200 years there's always been a shift. How news is collected and spread changes with each leap in technology. "Print, unfortunately as much as I hate to say, is dying," Sullivan said. "And so is reading gigantic articles. We have to figure out creative ways to communicate news to the public while still keeping them well informed." Skaff said he wants to get kids hooked on journalism even younger. He's approaching high schools looking for ways to get more young people involved. "If we get involved at the earliest age possible and make them a part of the process," Skaff said. "Print their works, I think this industry will be alive and well for a long time." Reach Esteban at efernandez@
