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OPINIONS
Editorial: On candidate debates, importing teachers, remedial classes
Physics teacher Michel Olalo, of Manila, Philippines, finishes up paperwork at the end of the school day during her summer school class at Foley High School on June 16 in Foley, Ala.
Purchase this photoCandidate debates are becoming a thing of the past in West Virginia, at least for people who are running for re-election to state or federal office.
According to The Associated Press, Gov. Joe Manchin has capped his debate appearances at four. Attorney General Darrell McGraw has so far rejected all debate invitations. U. S. Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., will appear at two debate-style forums. But candidates in wide-open races, where there is no incumbent seeking another term, use debates as a means of getting their messages before voters and as a way of gaining that all-important name recognition.
"Incumbents see little advantage to sharing a platform with a challenger," said Kathy Stolz, president of the West Virginia League of Woman Voters. "Candidates prefer to control their own appearances and messages to voters."
By appearing at debates, incumbents must answer questions about their decisions and judgment. It's not comfortable, and it does present an unwelcome opportunity for a gaffe. But if someone has been in office and is running for re-election, that person needs to answer for his or her record. Debates are good opportunities to do so.
Manchin, McGraw, Capito and others need to reconsider their stances on debates.
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Some school systems in the South are turning to citizens of other nations to teach subjects in which there is a shortage of American-born teachers. One group based in Chapel Hill, N.C., has placed more than 1,500 teachers from 55 countries, the AP reports.
The AP article didn't mention West Virginia, and there has been little if any anecdotal evidence to suggest that school boards in the Mountain State are hiring citizens of other nations to teach math, science, foreign languages or special education here. That may be one solution, though, if the state continues to have shortages of qualified and certified teachers in those subjects.
The obvious solution is for the West Virginia Legislature to allow some leeway in paying teachers in disciplines where shortages exist. Local school boards, likewise, must be willing to pay these teachers more.
West Virginia's colleges and universities are not alone in dealing with students who are not prepared academically for higher education. According to a group called Strong American Schools, colleges and universities spend between $2.3 billion and $2.9 billion each year on remedial classes, where students are taught what they were supposed to have learned in high school.
"That is a very large cost, but there is an additional cost and that's the cost to the students," former Colorado governor Roy Romer, chairman of Strong American Schools, told the AP. "These students come out of high school really misled. They think they're prepared. They got a 3.0 and got through the curriculum they needed to get admitted, but they find what they learned wasn't adequate."
Analyzing federal data, Strong American Schools estimates 43 percent of community college students require remedial classes, as do 29 percent of students at public four-year universities, with higher numbers in some places.
Some people cruise through high school unaware that the classes and learning they are ignoring are indeed valuable and will be necessary when they need more training to compete in the job market. Learning is the responsibility of the student, but families and schools must continue to emphasize to students that it's better to learn English, math and other subjects in high school than to find themselves studying those same subjects again in college.
