An editorial from The Exponent Telegram
CLARKSBURG, W.Va. — Back in early March, The Exponent Telegram’s editorial board wrote in support of the Legislature passing a proposed bill that would allow school systems to accrue classroom time by minutes instead of days. We felt it deserved consideration from Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin.
The thought was that in some counties that are hard hit by winter weather, it’s unfair to have students going to school later in June.
Many school districts have students in class longer each day than required, so some educators were advocating for a minute-based system instead of a day-based one.
The original bill called for school to start no sooner than Aug. 15 and end no later than June 15.
However, as is often the case, lawmakers tweaked the bill and eventually ended up with the earliest start date of Aug. 10 and the end date of June 10.
Lawmakers passed the bill with strong support of teachers’ unions, and eventually Gov. Tomblin was faced with the task of either signing it into law or vetoing it.
Tomblin, who has been a leading advocate for increasing the rigor of the education system, carefully reviewed the issue. And while his decision goes against our original thought, we now understand his reasoning…
