There’s a famous quote that I learned from my seventh grade social studies teacher: “Figures don’t lie, but liars figure”. That quote is often attributed to Samuel Clemens, also known as Mark Twain. However, according to other sources, the quote may have come from one of his contemporaries, Carroll D. Wright, who was once the top statistics expert in the US. Makes sense. From 1900 to 1901, he was university lecturer on wage statistics at Harvard, and in 1903 he was a member of the Douglas Commission to investigate and recommend a program of vocational education for Massachusetts. He was also the first U.S. Commissioner of Labor, serving in that capacity from 1885 to 1905. Recently, another labor figure, Dale Lee, the current president of the West Virginia Education Association, a teachers’ union, offered quotes of his own. He campaigned against SB 451 the Comprehensive Education Reform legislation recently passed by the WV Senate. It was defeated in the House. Dale Lee doesn’t feel the need for education reform having had this to say: “We have the 3rd highest graduation rate in the country; we are 17th in the nation in the number of teachers that are nationally board certified; we are the leaders in the nation in our pre-school program. But they don’t want you to know those things”. OK, Mr. Lee. Now we know.

Dale Lee and the WVEA have a credibility problem. On the WVEA website it says: Teachers Dedicated to Great Schools. Unfortunately, that’s lip service since you’d be hard pressed to find one in West Virginia. Performance levels are perennially ranked on the low end of the spectrum. According to US News and World Report the best High School in West Virginia ranks 1517th in the nation. 70% of all high school graduates in WV that attempt a college education require remedial courses because they aren’t reading and doing math on a level that would give them a chance to succeed. EdWeek ranks WV 48th in its Chance For Success Index. EdWeek’s related article with regard to this index is entitled “Data: Are We Preparing Students for a Lifetime of Success?” That is the 2 Billion dollar question in WV. The answer appears to be “No”.

At some point Mr. Lee can tell us what being a leader in pre-K means - especially with such disappointing results later on. But I think that someone should let him know that he just threw the entire system under the bus. Now that we “know those things”, what does that tell you? What it tells you is that a high school diploma from here isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on. You can issue a diploma to a cocker spaniel, but it doesn’t mean it’s ready for college or ready for the workforce.

Memo to Dale Lee: 70% of those graduates that go on to college aren’t prepared. They aren’t ready. They require remedial courses just to be able to participate in college level courses. What that means is that there is apparently something fraudulent about the way the system works. High School graduates should be ready for work or college but in West Virginia they’re not. Thanks for pointing that out Mr. Lee. An 89% graduation rate and Johnny can’t read. The graduation rate is a canard. Pure and simple.

Dale Lee asserts that WV is 17th in certified teachers. So, where are the results? What does the certification mean if the results show we’re 49th in math? In fact, there are many states that have innovative alternative certification programs, like Maryland - that ranks in the top 10 on the Chance of Success Index. Thank you Mr. Lee for pointing out that certification is just another piece of paper for bureaucrats to crow about.

In today’s world, facts and figures don’t matter. What matters is power. The union is saying that it doesn’t care that the system is broken. It doesn’t appear to care that kids are graduating without the skills that they need to succeed. The union has become a reactionary force standing in the way of progress for its own special interest. And they will use force to get their own way. Scofflaw strikes? No problem.

But actions do have consequences, unintended or otherwise. Since the teacher strike of 2018, the number of students leaving the system to enroll in either private school or home school programs increased by approximately 80%. And that’s a conservative estimate. According to the Gazette the overall drop in enrollment in the West Virginia school system was 4858, the largest in the state’s history. The guess was that maybe around 40% of that could be attributed to adjustments in pre-K eligibility. But they aren’t sure. How many families are simply leaving the state to look for better opportunities elsewhere? Now that our economy is finally improving - if we don’t improve our education system, that progress will be short lived.

Dale Lee’s comments draw attention to the stark reality in West Virginia. You can exercise power and intimidate politicians to bend to your will, but in the end you will be overpowered by the marketplace. Monopolies don’t work, people want alternatives. They want choices. They don’t want their kids to graduate high school unprepared for the next steps in their lives. The declining enrollment in our school system shows that people are voting with their feet. They leave the system in any number of ways including leaving the state to find better opportunities elsewhere.
For now, with SB 451 put on hold, Comprehensive Education Reform in West Virginia is on hold. So Dale Lee and the union power brokers can take a victory lap. A power lap. But it’s a hollow victory. The losers are the kids. The losers are the teachers. The losers are the parents. They are merely the pawns in the power game. The problems remain and they don’t get better over time.