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GOVERNOR'S EDUCATION PLAN
Tomblin Pushing Reform But Teacher Unions Protest

Reported by: Send eMail Kennie Bass
Videographer: Troy Morgan, Matt Durrett
Web Producer: Kennie Bass
Reported: Mar. 5, 2013 6:43 PM EST

EYEWITNESS ONLINE WEBCAST VIDEO
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Charleston , Kanawha County , West Virginia

In the wake of a scathing audit of the state's education system, Governor Earl Ray Tomblin is proposing several reforms to improve student achievement.

But the West Virginia Education Association and West Virginia Federation of Teachers are blasting Tomblin's proposals, saying the bill is the ugliest they've seen in thirty years and that it would push the state back into an age of cronyism and nepotism.

"We're doing everything we can in this bill to make sure our students are prepared where they graduate from high school to be able to go into the workforce, to be able to go to a community and technical college or on to a four-year institution to have the kind of skilled workforce we need in West Virginia," Tomblin said.

Tomblin offers several ideas to save the state money and improve performance. But the bill only goes so far. Other improvements would have to come from policies implemented by the state board of education. The idea is to make the program as flexible as possible to avoid one of the audit's concerns about the state's rigid bureaucracy.

"The unions want the same thing we want," Wade Linger, president of the West Virginia Board of Education said. "They want the best education system we can have and I think there's a lot of room for common ground. And on the areas we disagree, we disagree."

But for Tomblin's proposal to survive, it will have to navigate through a House of Delegates which has historically protected union rights for teachers, including the holy grail of them all, seniority.

"There's momentum behind our bill here," Tomblin said. "People want to see change. You know, we've got good teacher in this state. We need to make sure that we give them every opportunity to become great teachers."

The Senate Education Committee is set to tackle the bill this week.



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