According to an article that appeared in the Charleston Gazette a couple weeks back, there are eleven counties in West Virginia that will be “reverting to traditional high school math classes…that predated the national Common Core”. Those eleven counties include, Brooke, Calhoun, Greenbrier, Hardy, Harrison, Kanawha, Mason, Morgan, Pendleton, Putnam and Ritchie. There are 15 counties, including Berkeley that have indicated that they will stay with the new “integrated” courses of Math I, II and III. Jefferson County has not indicated which way it will go regarding the teaching of Math.

Back in February, the state Board of Education decided to let counties decide whether or not to adopt the new Common Core teaching methods for math. The decision was in response to a report from Putnam County, usually a high achiever in math, that the new methodology was causing a decline in student proficiency in the subject. The decision, for now, is “temporary”, but indications are that it will become “permanent” this fall.

All of this is quite interesting. West Virginia is one of very few states that administers its schools at the state level. I have been told that only Hawaii’s school system is more centralized. In nearly every other state, schools are administered at the local level - either by the county or the local municipality. To my mind, when it comes to education, the more local the better.

Common Core is the antithesis of local, and according to its promoters, the so-called “Common Core Standards” are supposed to be just that - standards. But Putnam County’s issue with the “standards” reveals that it is more than just “standards”; it is really a curriculum or “method”. In referring to the “integrated” approach, rather than the “traditional” approach, “It’s the same set of standards,” said Joey Wiseman, director of secondary learning for the West Virginia Department of Education. “It’s just how they’re grouped.” I hope that clarifies the matter for you - it doesn’t for me.

Equally confusing is the recent legislative actions or non-actions regarding Common Core - as well as recent legal actions. In the most recent legislative session, a repeal of Common Core passed easily in the House. However, when the bill got to the Senate, mandatory repeal was replaced by a mandate to conduct a “study”. Chosen to conduct the study was Superintendent Michael Martirano. The House did not concur with the change so the bill died. However, it appears that the study will still go on. More on that in a moment.

The person responsible for the change that killed the bill was none other than State Senate President Bill Cole (R-Mercer). However, in his speech earlier this month announcing his run for governor, Cole declared his opposition to Common Core. Hopefully his confusion on the matter has been cleared up and we can get Common Core repealed in the next session. Stay tuned - and pay close attention.

Regarding the recent suit filed in Circuit Court to end Common Core, there was more confusion. In some circles mountains were made out of molehills. For now, all that has happened is that the Attorney General (the state’s lawyer) has objected to the suit, on procedural grounds - not the merits of the case. The plaintiffs have acknowledged flaws in the filing and last I heard they are working to amend the complaint.

Common Core was approved in West Virginia by the state’s Board of Education - a body whose members are appointed, not elected. One year into its implementation, negative feedback from Putnam County has inspired the Board to take an unusual step - allow for greater autonomy at the county level with regard to an aspect of that implementation. This is a tiny step in the right direction.

And the “study” is going forward. A headline on the West Virginia Public Broadcasting website reads, “W.Va. Superintendent Wants Full Review of Common Core Standards”. It adds, “West Virginia Superintendent of Schools Dr. Michael Martirano announced… [that] the state Department of Education will take on a full review of the state’s Next Generation Content Standards for English and math”.

So…the Department of Education has been tasked to do a review of Common Core. This is the same unelected body that approved Common Core and threatened to go to court if the legislature repealed it. Surely they will be able to do an unbiased and impartial study. You can’t make this stuff up.

On January 6, 2012, on the website of the governor of West Virginia there was this announcement, “Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin today announced the Education Efficiency Audit of West Virginia’s Primary and Secondary Education System, conducted by Public Works LLC, resulted in more than 50 findings and recommendations which has the potential to improve student education”. The audit cost taxpayers $750,000 and according to one analysis included, “money-saving recommendations” including “slimming the state’s Department of Education and bringing pay more in line with the private sector”. In other words, they’re overpaid. The audit, now nearly three and a half years old, has been tossed into the circular file - it has never been acted on.

The audit concluded that the state’s school system is “top heavy” - too much money spent on administrators, not enough money reaches the class room. This top heavy administrative body has now been charged with doing a study of Common Core - a set of national “standards” that they have already approved with no input from the public and which they now admit have already negatively impacted at least one West Virginia County.

Speaking of public input, this notice was posted recently on the West Virginia Education Association website, “State Superintendent of Schools Michael Martirano announced…his plans and the timeline for a statewide academic standards evaluation process, which he undertook after the Legislature made a serious but unsuccessful attempt to repeal the state’s involvement in the Common Core. By Thursday, June 18, a public comment website maintained by West Virginia University is expected to be up and running. The comment period will end September 30”. Better late than never?