AUDIT RESPONSE ISSUED State Board Of Education Issues Response To School System Audit
Reported by: Associated Press
Web Producer: Jeff Morris
Reported: Nov. 21, 2012 1:21 PM EST
Updated: Nov. 21, 2012 2:49 PM EST
Eyewitness News Photo
Charleston
, Kanawha County
, West Virginia
The state Board of Education has responded to an audit that criticized the school system as being too bogged down in state-level bureaucracy.
The board released a 130-page response Wednesday at a meeting in Charleston.
Among the areas the board deems in need of immediate action includes teacher recruitment and retention, boosting the quality of education and the use of technology, addressing work force needs and improving efficiencies of numerous departments. That includes reorganizing the Department of Education.
Board President Wade Linger says those critical areas are "game changers" that will move the education system forward more quickly.
Wednesday's meeting came the same day that the parents of a special-needs child asked the state Supreme Court to void the board's 5-2 vote last week to fire Schools Superintendent Jorea Marple.
The state Board of Education has issued its response to a wide-ranging audit that criticized the school system as being too bogged down in state-level bureaucracy.
The board released the 130-page response Wednesday at a meeting in Charleston and planned to discuss it further. Board members spent months drafting the response.
The $750,000 review includes more than 100 recommendations aimed at refocusing resources on student achievement.
The recommendations range from a voluntary merit pay system for teachers, to reduced workloads for new educators, using distance-learning technology, and penalizing counties that fail to provide at least 180 days of instruction annually.
Wednesday's meeting came the same day that the parents of a special-needs child asked the state Supreme Court to void last week's firing of Schools Superintendent Jorea Marple.
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