Kindness must have a place in public school planning.

Terry George is bringing a kinder attitude to the management of the Randolph County Schools.  He has a long history of working in Randolph County, his family has attended the schools and taught in the RCPS system.  George served as superintendent here and elsewhere when the state school board assigned him to help correct problems in other counties.

Reduction in Force will not completely solve the school problems in this county.  When we lose our best teachers, we also lose students.  Parents want their own children to attend the best schools they can find. Interim Superintendent George spoke kindly about RIF in Thursday’s Inter-Mountain: 

“It is unfortunate that we are here every year to do these kinds of [RIF] hearings. All of the teachers and service personnel that will be represented in these meetings are probably excellent employees.”

 The list of school employees who will be transferred or terminated includes the names of teachers who have gone out of their way to bring meaningful learning experiences to their students. They have brought bookmobiles, butterfly gardens, and other innovative opportunities to students who would not have such things otherwise. I hope that many of these teachers will find their way back into RCPS classrooms. As much as good teachers matter in the classrooms, it is the responsibility of service personnel to create a safe and caring environment in buses, lunchrooms, and restrooms at school.

Superintendent George understands that children are not just numbers.  They should not be expected to ride on a bus for hours each day. We do not have enough bus drivers who are willing to drive all the necessary miles to take students to four schools in the center of this sprawling county.  Randolph County has a small population and a large land area.  We need to take both numbers into account.

Unfortunately, our legislature does not realize that most children in West Virginia really need public schools. Instead, legislators have been fooled by the national “School Choice” agenda that takes students out of public schools and puts them in private academies or homeschooling. Such programs may work in cities where rich parents can take their children to excellent private schools, and public transportation can take poor kids to better public charter schools.

Poverty is the real problem for many young families in West Virginia, and a better education will bring better career opportunities for the next generation. We need to pass a school levy in Randolph County and make every school a charter school where parents can expect their children to learn.  

Nevertheless, our population continues to decline and funding for schools decreases every year in our state.  Now people are having fewer children all over the United States and the world.  If humans can learn to live in peace and understand that a smaller human population may be the best thing for our home planet, we human beings may have a brighter future after all.