Charleston is full of people who want their constituents to believe they are there to do what is best for West Virginia. Though their priorities may come across as addressing anything but improving our quality of life and ability to attract and retain new residents, a few of them are truly working to address the state’s real challenges.

Some education-related bills are already being discussed, but a recent study shows there is a monumental amount of work to be done.

WalletHub’s “Most and Least Educated States in America (2025)” places the Mountain State in a familiar spot — dead last.

We are 50th overall, 50th for educational attainment and 43rd for quality of education. West Virginia is also dead last for the percentage of associate’s degree holders or college-experienced adults and percentage of bachelor’s degree holders. We’re tied for 48th for the percentage of graduate or professional-degree holders.

But maybe that is because we are also 46th for average university quality.

We keep saying we want to boost our economy — to win an economic “backyard brawl” with neighboring states. We say we want to stop the hemorrhaging of our population.

We do that by telling employers and families alike that we care about providing a quality education for everyone.

“There’s a strong correlation between being more educated and receiving higher compensation,” said WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo. “The most educated states provide high-quality educational experiences from elementary school all the way to graduate programs, which helps parents raise children in an environment that gives them as many opportunities as possible. The top states also provide equitable schooling conditions, with low racial and gender gaps in educational attainment.”

In West Virginia lawmakers are working out how to support schools in dealing with matters of discipline, mental health help, poverty, hunger — even transportation and broadband access issues.

Of course, then, it’s not as simple as flipping a switch and reaching our goals because every lawmaker is working with the same set of priorities. Making this generational shift to prioritizing and then providing a good education for our young people will take determination and hard work.

It can start, though, with a few more politicians flipping their own switches from “score cheap political points” to “improving quality of life for everyone in the Mountain State.”

Our students, our families, our schools and our employers must know that lawmakers and other public officials have decided it’s time to stop settling for dead last and get to work.