More thoughts on the recent legislative standoff over K-12 educational priorities between state Schools Superintendent Jorea Marple and state Sen. Roman Prezioso, D-Marion…

Folks at the state Higher Education Policy Commission recently sent me some ACT (college entrance exam) data, which would support my comments in a previous post about math instruction in West Virginia. Nationally, the average student’s ACT English score was 20.6, while the average ACT math score was 21.1. So across the U.S., students are scoring higher in math than in English.

In West Virginia, it’s exactly the opposite. Here, students scored 20.6 on the English portion of the ACT — right at the national average. Kudos to our English teachers in West Virginia. However, West Virginia students scored a 19.5 on the ACT math section — the third worst state score in the nation. According to the HEPC chart, students in all but three counties — McDowell, Pendleton and Webster — scored higher on the ACT English subtest than on the ACT math section.

Also, West Virginia was one only a handful of states where ACT English scores were higher than ACT math scores, but none of those states had anywhere near the drop off between English and math scores as West Virginia.

I’ve heard a lot of talk that we need to be encouraging more students to major in math and science in West Virginia. That’s  a laudable goal. But if kids don’t have a strong foundation in math — and they don’t appear to be getting one in West Virginia as evidenced by the state’s abysmal ACT math scores — it’s going to be a real uphill struggle.

Is anything being done to improve math instruction in West Virginia’s schools?

West Virginia Housing Development Fund administrators have remained fiercely loyal to former executive director Joe Hatfield (pictured above) amid a federal investigation, and it’s no wonder why: Hatfield showered agency employees with more than $800,000 in cash bonuses over the past decade. Hatfield was the recipient of $50,000 in bonus pay. He also brought in a salary of $180,000 last year. Bear in mind, state employees at other agencies don’t receive bonuses. Hatfield announced his retirement in October, just days after federal prosecutors filed subpoenas on the Housing Development Fund. Hatfield hasn’t been implicated in any wrongdoing, but the Housing Fund has seen fit to pay a lawyer to represent him. Not a bad retirement perk.

Federal prosecutors and the FBI are investigating a land deal between state Treasurer John Perdue and Charleston developer Douglas Pauley. Perdue, who serves on the Housing Fund’s board of directors, sold 11 acres of land to Pauley in Mason County. Hatfield’s staff approved a $3.67 million federal stimulus grant for Pauley. The developer used the money to buy Perdue’s land (Pauley paid $215,000 for Perdue’s hay field, which was assessed at $11,000) and built a 32-unit low-income apartment complex called Milton Place and named after Perdue’s late father-in-law.

I briefly talked to Hatfield at his Putnam County home after the story first broke in late October. He defended Perdue and said there was no wrongdoing on the treasurer’s part — or by anyone else at the Housing Development Fund. I’ve tried to call Hatfield multiple times — during the day and night — for followup comment. He hasn’t picked up the phone.

Earlier this week, my colleague, Phil Kabler, revealed that the state Ethics Commission had given the green light to Auditor Glen Gainer to take an all-expenses-paid trip to Perth, Australia — with Visa International picking up all the expenses. Visa, the credit card company, is a subcontractor with the state’s Purchasing Card System. The Auditor’s Office oversees P-cards. Visa planned to pick up Gainer’s flight, hotel, meals, everything. Gainer was to talk about all the wonderful things Visa has done for the state’s P-card system. The Ethics Commission signed off on the trip.

Now, I have a lot of respect for the folks at the Ethics Commission. They’re a hard-working bunch. So I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt on this one. I assume they OK’d this trip because the state Ethics Act doesn’t prohibit this kind of stuff. If that’s the case, someone ought to change the ethics law. I’ve heard that many other high-ranking state agency officials have taken trips at the expense of companies that have contracts with their agencies. Those trips are hard to track down — and report on — because there’s no public record of the junkets. It’s all done under the table.

Gainer wound up doing the right thing, changed his mind, and decided not to go Down Under. For that he should be commended. He also should be commended for being above board and getting a formal advisory opinion from the Ethics Commission. As I’ve previously reported, there’s backdoor way of getting the Ethics Commission’s OK for doing something you probably ought not be doing. Public officials can call the Ethics Commission and get “informal guidance.” If you follow the informal advice, you’re given immunity from prosecution under the Ethics Act. Plus, your request is kept secret from the public. Gainer didn’t take the backdoor route. The Ethics Commission publishes its advisory opinions. The opinons don’t include the name of the public official, but it’s usually pretty easy to figure that out based on facts given.

The Ethic Commission’s backdoor immunity practice isn’t specifically authorized by state law. I’ve talked to several legislators about this. They don’t seem to have any problem whatsoever with it. Which makes you wonder: How many legislators are also taking the backdoor route?

Sen. Roman Prezioso’s dressing down of West Virginia schools Superintendent Jorea Marple last week caused quite a stir at the state Capitol. Prezioso, a retired educator, called Marple’s legislative priorities “disappointing.” Marple defended the goals. Prezioso dished out more criticism. Of course, it’s not unprecedented for a state legislator to scold a state school superintendent. It happened all the time when former House Education Chairman Jerry Mezzatesta was in office. Drag the superintendent before a legislative committee, fire off loaded questions, shake heads, snicker at the answers. This time, however, Prezioso’s criticism had some substance.

Here’s a summary of the Department of Education’s legislative priorities:

1. Pay raises for teachers and service personnel.
2. Reduce OPEB (post-employment benefits) debt.
3. Increase technology
4. Lift the funding cap on RESAs(Regional Education Service Agencies)
5. Encourage mentoring of new teachers

That’s it. Most of those were proposals from previous years, dusted off, repackaged, reissued. Marple seems to be listening only to county superintendents, teacher union leaders and RESA directors. It would be hard to imagine a student saying, “We need to cut that OPEB debt.” Or a parent saying, “We really need to remove that pesky RESA funding cap.”

My take:

1. Pay raises: Teachers and service personnel already have very capable advocates at the AFT and WVEA to push for pay hikes.
2. Reduce OPEB liability: Important, but everyone already on board on that one.
3. Increase technology: Students already way ahead of the game on that front. Because of bureaucratic delays, the technology is always outdated by the time it reaches classrooms anyway.
4. Lift the RESA cap: RESAs were set up to replace county school boards. Never happened. So now we want to give them more money?
5. Teacher mentoring: Good idea. But who’s doing the mentoring? Most of the parents I talk to say many new teachers often outshine the veteran teachers. You want the best and brightest teacher graduates to stay in West Virginia? You give them signing bonuses like they do in South Carolina and other states.

Prezioso’s complaint: There was little about students in the education department’s priorities.

It’s hard to disagree with the senator from Marion County.

For instance, West Virginia’s ACT scores (the scores kids need to get into college) have DECREASED in recent years. You don’t hear much talk about that. Instead, there’s a lot of talk about the WESTTEST scores (the achievement test given to students in West Virginia), but the importance of the WESTTEST is overblown. The ACT score is what matters. It’s a national college entrance test that students take in 11th or 12th grade. It’s a difference maker in getting the Promise Scholarship. You can compare scores state by state. West Virginia’s ACT math score is abysmal. Only three states have worse ACT math scores — and in each of those states, 100 percent of students take the ACT. In West Virginia, only 60 percent of students take the ACT — and that number is dropping as well. The more kids you have taking the ACT, the lower the expected overall ACT score.

So back to Prezioso’s point: nothing about students. Indeed, what is the state doing to boost ACT scores? What’s being done to improve ACT participation? What’s being done to improve math instruction and the math curriculum? We didn’t hear anything about that last week. Apparently, those aren’t priorities.

Yesterday’s announcement that Lincoln County’s sheriff and county clerk were charged with absentee vote-rigging brought back memories of my first job out of college in 1987 as a reporter at the Anniston (Ala.) Star.

I covered a handful of rural towns. The mayor and a city council member in one of those towns decided to rig the election with absentee ballots. They filled out absentee applications for voters, hand-delivered ballots, and in some cases even filled out ballots for voters. The pair got something like 90 percent of all of the absentee vote, enough to propel them to victory.

Sound familiar? Lincoln officials must have been using the same playbook. The only difference is that the mayor and city council member in Alabama rewarded voters for their absentee vote. Most voters got a crate of peaches. I’d rank Alabama peaches right up there with Georgia peaches. Sweet, juicy, delicious. Apparently, Lincoln County absentee voters received nothing in return for their vote for Sheriff Bowman and County Clerk Whitten. No pints of whiskey. No $100 bills. Nothing. Next time, I suspect, Lincoln politicos will update their playbook.

State GOP Chairman Mike Stuart sent out an email this morning, ripping state lawmakers for failing to introduce any bills designed to spur economic development and create jobs. Stuart lambasted legislators for spending too much time on “Sudafed bills,” a driving-while-texting ban and creating an office of the lieutenant governor.

This is the first time I’ve covered a legislative session, and I’ve come away with two major impressions so far: State lawmakers spend an extraordinary amount of time singing “Happy Birthday” to each other. In unison. Everyone singing out loud.

I’m no mathematician, but with 34 state senators and 100 delegates, odds are there will be quite a few lawmaker birthdays — and a lot of singing — during a 60-day session.

My other impression: Legislators really like to bring their grandchildren, nieces and nephews to the House and Senate chambers. Lawmakers also, without fail, publicly announce/introduce the presence of those grandchildren and nieces and nephews during floor sessions. Perhaps those young ones have some ideas for creating jobs.

There’s an email circulating among volunteer firefighters in West Virginia this morning.

The email says legislation — introduced last Thursday — would give county commission’s extraordinary authority over volunteer fire departments. I made some phone calls and was told by a legislative staff member that the document was only a “rough draft,” and the language in dispute “won’t likely see the light of day.” Kanawha County Commission President Kent Carper already is fielding complaints about the proposal, and he said he would adamantly oppose it. The draft bill would allow county commissioners to hire and fire officers at volunteer fire companies, and give commissioners control of firehouse equipment, vehicles and construction.

“That’s not the proper role of county commissioners,” Carper said. “There are too many county commissioners who don’t have the slighest idea how to manage a fire department. They need it to keep their noses out of it.”

Carper is investigating to determine who came up with the proposal — which also would give tax breaks to VFDs.

House Speaker Rick Thompson, D-Wayne, is having a fund-raiser Monday at the Power Alley Grill, as he prepares for a 2012 re-election campaign.
However, invitations sent out inadvertently featured a return address of “Thompson for Governor” — from Thompson’s ill-fated run in the 2011 special primary election.

That faux pas required the Thompson campaign to issue a releaseTuesday stating, “Rick Thompson is running for re-election to the House and fully supports Gov. Tomblin’s re-election.”

Since day one, the West Virginia Housing Fund has publicly been a huge champion of a low-income housing project being built by Charleston developer Doug Pauley on land owned by West Virginia Treasurer John Perdue near Point Pleasant. In 2009, Mason County commissioners rejected a request from Pauley and Perdue to write a letter of support — which Pauley needed to secure federal funding for the project under WVHDF rules. In response, WVHDF administrators suggested a way to circumvent the rules. They told Pauley he could file a discrimination complaint against Mason County commissioners. If the feds found that Mason commissioners had discriminated against low-income elderly and handicapped people, Pauley wouldn’t need the letter of local support. Federal housing officials investigated but didn’t issue any findings one way or the other. So the WVHDF went to Plan B. They eliminated the local support letter report requirement. In December 2010, they awarded Pauley a $3.67 million stimulus grant. Construction is now underway — despite the fact that the FBI and U.S. Attorney’s Office are investigating Pauley’s deal with Perdue.

Since the WVHDF has been so quick to praise the project — and help Pauley secure funding — I requested a copy of the agency’s 2007 analysis of Perdue’s property. I figured the WVHDF would readily want to disclose the two-page document because it would likely support their contention that the project was needed in Mason County. Turns out,  I did get a copy…of the first sentence. The agency redacted, or blacked out, everything else. On Friday, I left a message for Lonnie Stringer, who wrote the report, but haven’t heard back. Which has me wondering: Why does the WVHDF want to keep this document secret?

Here’s the latest on the story.

Republican Party Chairman Mike Stuart put out a media alert this morning with this “scoop”: House Speaker Rick Thompson’s wife, Beth, has been hired by West Virginia Auditor Glen Gainer’s office. Of course, Sunday Gazette-Mail readers of Phil Kabler’s column already knew that. Yet Stuart’s release makes no mention that the Gazette had it first. Stuart makes no bones about his hatred for the Gazette (though he always returns phone calls from Gazette reporters promptly and never ducks an interview request; Can’t say the same about his counterpart from the opposing party). So I guess it’s no surprise no props to Phil and the Gazette this time.

Here’s an excerpt from Stuart’s media alert:

MEDIA ALERT*
*
*
*IMMEDIATE RELEASE *
*December 19, 2011
*
*OFFICIALS WITH BENEFITS – A FAMILY AFFAIR*
*Spouses Network In Key State Government Employment*

CHARLESTON, W.V. – Beth Thompson, wife of Speaker of the House of Delegates
Rick Thompson, today joined the State Auditor’s office as a local
government purchasing card specialist.

“Congratulations to Beth Thompson and the Thompson family for her new
employment in state government,” said Mike Stuart, Chairman of the West
Virginia Republican Party. “It is reassuring to know that Democrat elected
public officials in West Virginia are at least successful in creating jobs
for their immediate family members. Mrs. Thompson joins a growing tradition
of the spouses of high-ranking Democrat officials in the state that get
state jobs and state salaries.”