We need to put funding into supporting public school teachers — not investigating them.

The idea that the Randolph County BOE is funding an investigation of teachers is a sad sign that our democracy is not working. If teachers and students cannot have conversations about issues that directly impact them, then our public schools are not helping students learn to understand how a democracy should work. The right to free speech is a basic tenet of American democracy. Free speech should only be limited when it harms people. School funding is important to students.

In all my years of teaching, I never felt that I should deny students the opportunity to have some say in what was going on in schools. Furthermore, I always believed that it was my duty to talk with them about their future educational options. Each year in school is a preparation for the next year, and high school students need to take classes that will prepare them for their path after graduation. If they want to go to college, they need to take classes in higher math and more advanced sciences. If they do not want to go to college, they need to seek vocational training.

When cuts are being made that will affect the lives of teenagers, they have a right to know about the decisions adults are making for their future. Good high school teachers do not try to shut off student concerns for what is happening in their lives. Taking time to show respect for student opinions is something good educators always do in the classroom.

Students want to know what is happening in the news, especially when it has an impact on their future lives. Randolph County Schools are in the news now because we are at the epicenter of the public education earthquake in West Virginia. Our county test score ranking is 54th of 55 counties, and West Virginia has the lowest rating in this nation. Our students deserve better.

There is no accountability for the very expensive “Hope Scholarship” and our legislators need to know that taxpayers expect accountability. This tax drain is the most damaging assault on public education that a large rural area could face. If something really needs to be investigated, it is a better path to funding rural schools that will keep our best teachers here and attract more good teachers and students.

Our local Senator Robbie Morris introduced SB 516 to provide extra state aid for school districts where students are enrolled in remote rural schools. Extra funding is necessary to allow support services for students in these remote areas, but SB 516 did not make its way through the legislature process. Because Senator Morris is new to the Legislature, his bill did not make it through the legislative process, but I hope that Governor Morrisey will see that education is important and school legislation is worth a special session.

Randolph County is the “poster child” for the urban/rural digital divide that exacerbates educational decline. Local “Pill Billies” were an easy target for drug companies that preyed on poor and depressed people in rural West Virginia, but our legislators did little to deal with drug issues. Our school problems are part of the “urban/rural divide” that has been the central economic issue throughout American history. Historians believe the rural/urban divide was the root economic cause of the Civil War and the Great Depression.