CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Nearly four in 10 West Virginia pre-kindergarten through 12th-grade public school teachers missed at least 10 school days during the 2013-14 school year — the fourth-highest rate in the nation, according to an Education Week Research Center analysis of federal data released earlier this summer.
Hawaii had the highest rate of teachers missing 10 or more days, at 75 percent, followed by Nevada, at 49 percent, and Florida, at 39 percent.
Then came West Virginia, at 38 percent, followed by: Rhode Island and Wyoming, both at 37 percent; North Carolina, 34 percent; Virginia, 33 percent; and Alabama and Arkansas, both at 32 percent.
The national rate was 27 percent. Three Western states had the lowest rates: Idaho, at 18 percent; South Dakota, 17 percent; and Utah, 16 percent.
While the study didn’t include a county-by-county breakdown, analyst Alexandra Harwin provided the rates for several counties for which the Gazette-Mail requested information…
