Steve Paine, State Superintendent of Schools, gave an overview of the Department of Education this morning regarding their process so far and what they need to focus more in the future. Superintendent Paine said, Mathematics is a concern of the department as it is currently the states number one deficiency. West Virginia also has a chronic absentee problem. Over 20 percent of kids miss school, being considered “absent” means that a student has to have missed 18 or more days of school.
The department also wants to focus more on being proactive, with a special interest in mind to place a teacher in every school that is certified to teach coding and programming courses. The department expressed their willingness to partner with Governor Justice on the “Jim’s Dream” program for adult second time around. Our state has also seen an improvement in graduation rates going up with more students graduating from high school.
