Trending – People Have the Power to Cast Informed Vote

By Patti Hamilton

“I awakened to the cry
that people have the power
to redeem the work of fools
upon the meek the graces shower
it’s decreed the people rule.”

“People Have the Power” was co-written by Patti Smith and her husband, Fred “Sonic” Smith (Fred was a member of the MC5 and a West Virginia native.  He was born in Lincoln County and has been inducted into the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame). I borrowed the title because voting is definitely an act of power by the people who vote.  

I spent twenty years as Executive Director of the WV Association of Counties, representing our county constitutional officers: Commissioners, County Clerks, Circuit Clerks, Sheriffs, Assessors, and Prosecuting Attorneys. Like our statewide constitutional officers (treasurer, auditor, secretary of state, attorney general, agriculture commissioner, and governor), the offices are established in the State Constitution.

County officials can and do administer their offices in a nonpartisan way. Their service to the public is not and cannot be based on one’s party affiliation or political disagreement.

During my twenty years, as an organization we worked on a variety of issues and not once was an issue discussed on a partisan basis.  It was either good for county government, good for a particular office of county government, or not needed or not helpful to county government.  In fact, all six groups of county officials had to agree on an issue before we decided to support or oppose.  One no vote as a group was a veto, just like the United Nations.  

The late Tip O’Neill, Speaker of the House of Representatives, famously said (or at least he made the quote famous),  “All politics is local.”  I think that phrase used to be true, but national issues are creeping into local and state politics and government in ways that make no sense.  A candidate for a statewide office says in an ad that he will “fight back” against immigration, although the office he’s running for has no authority or role in immigration policy.  Some local and state legislature candidates are making national issues part of their campaign talking points rather than addressing what they will do with the actual authority the office gives them.  

The county government offices of County Clerk, Circuit Clerk, Sheriff, Assessor, and Prosecuting Attorney are full-time positions and are prohibited by law from holding other employment.  (This does not apply to County Commissioners who are specifically part-time and allowed other full-time employment by law).  The five elected full-time officials in each county administer their office.  They and their staff have specific duties set forth in statute and in the state Constitution.  Except for prosecuting attorneys, there are no qualifications for the office except county residence. There is very important work to be done that has absolutely nothing to do with partisan politics or the party with which the official is affiliated.

While a county government candidate’s party affiliation may designate a certain trait or belief to a voter, it, in fact, has little or nothing to do with the responsibilities they will be expected to fulfill. Qualifications matter.  Experience is helpful.  Understanding the duties and the limitations of the office is necessary.  The ability to administer an office and employees is vital to the success of the county official. Whether they have a “D” or an “R” after their name on the ballot is of little consequence to the variety of duties they will face.  

The Assessor is responsible for assessing our real and personal property taxes on a regular basis.  It is the primary source of revenue for county government.  The Sheriff has both law enforcement and administrative tax collection duties.  The Sheriff is not required to be a certified law enforcement officer.  The Circuit Clerk is our keeper of Court records for circuit courts, magistrates, and family courts.  The County Clerk is the record-keeper for the county and its citizens, including deeds, probate, birth certificates, and marriage licenses.  They are also the chief election official of the county and administer all elections.  The prosecuting attorney is responsible for criminal prosecutions as well as cases of abuse and neglect.  They have the authority of prosecutorial discretion for determining what cases to prosecute.  

That is a very brief summary of just some of the responsibilities of the full-time jobs of county government.  While a county official’s party and own belief system may affect how they do their job, their political party does not allow them to refuse to perform duties or add duties for which they have no authority.  Their authority is found in statute and the State Constitution, not political party.  They are also expected to stay within their budget as provided by the County Commission and must be a capable office administrator, whether they have five or twenty-five employees.  Again, these are not attributes that are determined by party.  They are determined by a candidate’s qualifications and experience.  

We hear people say that “my vote doesn’t count,” which is certainly not true in a local government election.  Our county government is an integral part of our communities and those who run for these full-time positions deserve thoughtful consideration based on the responsibilities they must fulfill.

To blindly vote for the party designation is a disservice to the job and to the county.  People have the power to cast an informed vote.

– Hamilton is the former executive director of the West Virginia Association of Counties.

Popular Demand – West Virginia Statewide Assessment results show ‘modest gains’

By Richard Duncan, Ph.D.

Among the many traditions celebrated at the start of the school year, the annual release of statewide assessment results may seem like a rather dull one. This is especially true in West Virginia, where the results are rarely celebrated because, frankly, they’re rarely very good.

This year’s results are no different, with modest gains attributed perhaps to efforts under the recently passed Third Grade Success Act to bolster achievement in grades K – 3 and beyond. Of course, in only its first year of implementation, the bulk of the tangible improvements made by the Act were to place teacher’s aides in all 1st Grade classrooms and target additional support and interventions for struggling Kindergarten students, neither of which participate in the statewide summative assessment.

Test score metrics can be both ‘constructive and destructive’

Of course, like so many other metrics in our data-driven world, statewide assessment results can be both constructive and destructive in the appropriate hands. What starts as each student’s performance on a test meant to judge his/her mastery of an array of content standards becomes a rating for each classroom, each grade level, each school, and even each system in reading, mathematics, and science. Whether or not this is appropriate, it has become a key part of our perception of our schools and the expectations we might place on our teachers and students for the coming school year.

In West Virginia, the statewide assessment takes one of two forms. In 3rd through 8th Grades, it is known as the West Virginia General Summative Assessment, a mixed battery of online questioning in writing, reading, mathematics, and (in grades 5 and 8) science. In 11th Grade, by state law, students are given a college-readiness exam, currently the SAT School Day provided by the College Board.

In theory, these two measures give a sense of the academic achievements of students all across the state regardless of their backgrounds, their schools’ environments, or their counties’ resources. The same assessment is given to students in counties without excess levies as in those with an excess levy, to students with higher socio-economic roots and those in lower income households, and to students in old buildings, new buildings — and even in no buildings, as is the case for virtual school students. Only those considered significantly disabled and placed on a “modified” diploma track are given a separate exam, but those results are still factored into school and county ratings.

If these assessments are fair, then, we should be able to draw conclusions about various demographic and other factors effect student outcomes, at least within the limits of analysis of large data sets. (We can discuss trends, then, not try and predict individual student outcomes.)

Data is ‘puzzling’

But a careful review of the data from this and past years’ WVGSA and SAT School Day administrations should puzzle anyone who thinks they understand how schools in West Virginia work. Put simply, the largest, wealthiest, and most well-equipped districts do not universally lead, nor do those at the opposite end of each category universally struggle.

Take my county: Roane. Over the past two years, Roane County students have significantly improved in both reading and mathematics, so much so that only one other county – Ohio County – has posted more combined improvement in these two areas. Roane County lacks an excess levy. Our students ride buses for upwards of an hour each way each day from the far reaches of the county to attend one county high school and a multi-county vocational center next door in Jackson County. And until the recent infusion of federal dollars in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, we struggled to meet even basic needs without specialized programs or outside grant funding.

Students in Ohio County face a very different world than those in Roane County. Wheeling Park High School is well-regarded as one of the top in the state, while Roane County High School is known only in certain circles – FFA and football, for instance. Yet Roane County students posted the 15th best performance in reading and 29th best in mathematics this year, compared to 9th and 10th for Wheeling Park. On the full scale of 111 schools, Roane County and Wheeling Park are not far apart at all in test scores, but the communities they serve couldn’t be more different in this state.

One conclusion could be that, while resources and opportunities afforded to students in more densely populated areas and/or those areas with healthier economies might enhance those students’ school experience and lead to different career outcomes, the fundamental standards taught in each of our schools is the same, and so the differences between us may not show up in the standardized assessments.

‘Romanticizing standardized assessments?’

Now this may seem to be an attempt to romanticize standardized assessments but remember that these assessments are just a tool to measure a particular metric. They are designed to assess how students have mastered standards, not what opportunities they may have outside of these core subjects. If they are doing that well, then that’s all we can expect of them. They are not meant to be a holistic view of any school or county, but instead a baseline measurement.

If we can agree on that, then the implications may be far more serious than rankings and comparisons. Since 2019, the last year assessed before the COVID-19 pandemic, only 14 counties out of West Virginia’s 55 have managed to “recover” in both reading and mathematics — meaning their mastery level, as a county, is now at or above their mark from 2019. Roane County is one of those 14, as is Ohio County. The list is a mixture of “haves” and “have nots,” with larger counties like Putnam, Raleigh, and Cabell on the list, but others like Kanawha, Berkeley, and Monongalia are not. Smaller counties like Roane, Wirt, and Ritchie are on the list, but others like Clay, Gilmer, and Mingo are not.

“If counties have not reached their levels from 2019. . .”

If counties have not reached their levels from 2019 – let alone surpassed them in the five years since, especially given the significant federal funding provided through the ESSER program – then one must question whether resources really are the solution to what seems to be more a fundamentals problem. Again, no one should argue that students in places that have resources don’t have different and arguably better opportunities than those without. But if we’re just looking to ensure that each and every student has a solid education in reading, writing, and mathematics, it would appear that our focus should be on something more fundamental than dollars and cents.

Duncan is Roane County Schools Superintendent.

First Person

Opinion, WVPA Sharing

COLUMN: Find your diamonds

By Greg Kozera, Shale Crescent USA

This week Lynnda and I attended an economic development, climate and energy conference held in Oil City and Titusville, PA the birthplace of the commercial oil industry. For decades the world oil price was set at the building where we ate lunch on Monday in Oil City. I was the closing keynote speaker on Monday sharing the benefits of the Shale Crescent USA region. Usually, I use only my own stories when speaking. I opened with this story because it was so appropriate. You may find it helpful. It’s a true story in the book Acres of Diamonds by Russell H. Conwell. 

Back in the 17th century there lived not far from the River Indus a Persian by the name of Ali Hafed. Ali owned a very large farm with orchards, grain fields and gardens. He was contented and wealthy. One day a visitor told him about diamonds. With a handful of diamonds, he could purchase a country. With a diamond mine he could place his children upon thrones through the influence of great wealth. 

When Ali Hafed heard about diamonds and how much they were worth, he became discontented. He felt poor compared to diamonds and wanted to be rich. Ali sold his farm, left his family with a neighbor and went off in search of diamonds. After several years, failing to find diamonds, he was broke and in rags. In despair he cast himself into the sea off the coast of Spain and died. 

https://wvpress.org/opinion/column-find-your-diamonds/

 

 

 

Note: Opinions expressed are solely those of the contributors unless noted otherwise. It is the policy of Chop Wood, Carry Water Enterprises LLC, and this newsletter https://chopwoodcarrywaterllc.com/, to include a broad array of thought and opinion.