Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor and the People of the Great State of West Virginia:

Hello!

I am a fourth grade student in North Carolina. In fourth grade, we do state reports and I have chosen your state.

I am very excited to learn more about the great state of West Virginia as I work on my report.

Most of the information that we get for our reports will be from books and websites.

We also like to get information from people who live in the state, too.

This is why I am writing to you.

I was hoping that you would be willing to send me some items to help me learn more about the best things in your state. It could be things like postcards, maps, pictures, souvenirs, general information, this newspaper article or any other items that would be useful.

I really appreciate your help.

Sincerely,
Wells Ryan
Charlotte, NC

Please mail items and information to:
Mrs. Smith’s Class
Charlotte Latin School
9502 Providence Road
Charlotte, NC 28277

Dear Editor:

Over the weekend politicians met for approximately eight minutes to deliberate the fate of a system that took West Virginian educators and administrators years to build. Legislators wish to change the current education standards again. With this much upheaval every few years, it is hard to say what the outcome will be.

The current standards have only been in place since the end of the 2014 – 2015 Legislative session. Changing them could make sense if the students across the state were failing out of school, but that isn’t the case. A change of this magnitude is a costly mistake the state simply cannot afford. Along with confused students, counties will struggle to afford educational materials and training.

The proposed changes only allow administrations until July 1, 2017 to prepare. While that is unsettling, the Legislature’s replacement proposal might be worse. Standards that had years of consideration were tossed out for some other states’ decades old example. The newest set of standards is from California dating all the way back to 1997.

At a time when well over half of the public schools in West Virginia are seeing graduation rates of 90 percent or higher, it seems illogical to change the standards yet again. Please keep the current standards in place.

Daniel Vannoy
Snowshoe