Formal public school Education in West Virginia falls under the auspices of the West Virginia Department of Education. Each county in West Virginia constitutes a school district.

Education administration

West Virginia Board of Education The West Virginia Board of Education is established in the West Virginia Constitution. The Board is vested with general supervision of West Virginia's 611 elementary and secondary schools. Its twelve members include nine citizens appointed by the governor and three non-voting ex-officio members: the State Superintendent of Schools, the Chancellor of the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission, and the Chancellor of Community and Technical Education. The State Superintendent is a constitutional officer who serves at the will of the board. Board members serve overlapping terms of nine years, and no more than five citizen members may belong to the same political party.

The West Virginia Board of Education meets monthly to determine the educational policies of the elementary and secondary schools and to establish the rules that carry into effect state law regarding education. The State Board of Education also has general control, supervision, and management of the business and educational affairs of the West Virginia Schools for the Deaf and Blind in Romney.

County Boards of Education For each K-12 school district there is a board of education with at least five members who are chosen by election in non-partisan races. Though no more than two members may reside in the same magisterial district, members are elected by residents of the entire county. Active teachers and service personnel are not eligible for election to the county Board of Education. Members are elected to four-year terms in which the election occurs during the regular primary election in even years.

In addition to the Boards of Education, each district also has an appointed Superintendent. He typically serves as the executive officer of the county school district and is responsible for enforcing policies of the West Virginia Board of Education. Assignments, transfers, suspensions, and promotions made by the County Superintendent are subject to approval by the county Board of Education. The Superintendent must be a resident of the county in which he serves or in a contiguous West Virginia county.

Each county school district falls within one of eight Regional Education Service Agencies (RESAs).

History Article X of the 1863 state constitution provided for free and universal system of schools. The 1872 constitution clarified that "White and colored persons shall not be taught in the same school."

In 1990, teachers in 47 of the 55 counties went on strike for eleven days. On February 22, 2018, teachers and support staff in all the state's counties struck the schools over pay and other issues shutting down all the public schools in the state. After nine days, the Legislature granted pay raises.

Comparison West Virginia ranks as one of the lowest scoring states for education in the United States. According to The National Assessment of Educational Progress, the state ranks significantly below the national average in mathematics, reading, writing, and science. This is compared to its surrounding states of Virginia, Maryland, Kentucky, Ohio and Pennsylvania who on average score higher than or equal to the national average.

Schools

Colleges and universities

Alderson-Broaddus College Appalachian Bible College Bethany College Bluefield State College Concord University Davis and Elkins College Eastern West Virginia Community & Technical College Fairmont State University Glenville State College Marshall University Ohio Valley UniversityPotomac State College of West Virginia University Salem International University Shepherd University University of Charleston West Liberty University West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine West Virginia State University West Virginia University West Virginia University Institute of Technology West Virginia University at Parkersburg West Virginia Wesleyan College Wheeling University

High schools

Berkeley Springs High School, Berkeley Springs Bluefield High School, Bluefield Braxton County High School, Sutton Bridgeport High School, Bridgeport Brooke High School, Wellsburg Buckhannon-Upshur High School, Buckhannon Buffalo High School, Buffalo Cabell Midland High School, Ona Calhoun High School, Mount Zion Cameron High School, Cameron Capital High School, Charleston Chapmanville Regional High School, Chapmanville Charleston Catholic High School, Charleston Clay County High School, Clay Clay-Battelle High School, Blacksville Cross Lanes Christian School, Cross Lanes Doddridge County High School, West Union East Fairmont High School, Fairmont East Hardy High School, Baker Elkins High School, Elkins Fairmont Senior High School, Fairmont Frankfort High School, Ridgeley George Washington High School, Charleston Gilmer County High School, Glenville Grafton High School, Grafton Greenbrier East High School, Lewisburg Greenbrier West High School, Charmco Hampshire High School, Romney Hannan High School, Ashton Harman High School, Harman Hedgesville High School, Hedgesville Herbert Hoover High School, Clendenin Hundred High School, Hundred Huntington High School, Huntington Hurricane High School, Hurricane Independence High School, Coal City James Monroe High School, Lindside Jefferson High School, Shenandoah Junction John Marshall High School, Glen Dale Keyser High School, Keyser Lewis County High School, Weston Liberty High School (Harrison), Clarksburg Liberty High School (Raleigh), Glen Daniel Lincoln High School, Shinnston Lincoln County High School, Hamlin Logan High School, Logan Madonna High School, Weirton Magnolia High School, New Martinsville Man High School, Man Martinsburg High School, Martinsburg Meadow Bridge High School, Meadow Bridge Mercer Christian Academy, Princeton Midland Trail High School, Hico Mingo Central Comprehensive High School, Delbarton Montcalm High School, Montcalm Moorefield High School, Moorefield Morgantown High School, Morgantown Mount View High School, Welch Musselman High School, InwoodNicholas County High School, Summersville Nitro High School, Nitro North Marion High School, Farmington Notre Dame High School, Clarksburg Oak Glen High School, New Cumberland Oak Hill High School, Oak Hill Paden City High School, Paden City Parkersburg Catholic High School, Parkersburg Parkersburg High School, Parkersburg Parkersburg South High School, Parkersburg Paw Paw High School, Paw Paw Pendleton County High School, Franklin Petersburg High School, Petersburg Philip Barbour High School, Philippi Pickens School, Pickens PikeView High School, Princeton Poca High School, Poca Pocahontas County High School, Dunmore Point Pleasant High School, Point Pleasant Preston High School, Kingwood Princeton High School, Princeton Ravenswood High School, Ravenswood Richwood High School, Richwood Ripley High School, Ripley Ritchie County High School, Ellenboro Riverside High School, Belle Riverview High School, Bradshaw Roane County High School, Spencer Robert C. Byrd High School, Clarksburg Saint Albans High School, Saint Albans Saint Joseph Central Catholic High School, Huntington Saint Marys High School, Saint Marys Scott High School, Madison Shady Spring High School, Shady Spring Sherman High School, Seth Sissonville High School, Sissonville South Charleston High School, South Charleston South Harrison High School, Lost Creek Spring Mills High School, Martinsburg Spring Valley High School, Huntington Summers County Comprehensive High School, Hinton Teays Valley Christian School, Scott Depot Tolsia High School, Fort Gay Trinity High School, Morgantown Tucker County High School, Hambleton Tug Valley High School, Williamson Tygarts Valley High School, Mill Creek Tyler Consolidated High School, Sistersville Union High School, Mount Storm University High School, Morgantown Valley High School, Pine Grove Van Junior-Senior High School, Van Wahama High School, Mason Washington High School, Charles Town Wayne High School, Wayne Webster County High School, Upperglade Weir High School, Weirton Westside High School, Clear Fork Wheeling Central Catholic High School, Wheeling Wheeling Park High School, Wheeling Williamstown High School, Williamstown Winfield High School, Winfield Wirt County High School, Elizabeth Woodrow Wilson High School, Beckley Wyoming County East High School, New Richmond

See also List of school districts in West Virginia

References Education, W. V. (June 10, 2013). Graduation Rates Increasing But West Virginia Still Faces Problem Areas. Retrieved March 4, 2014, from West Virginia Department of Education: http://wvde.state.wv.us/news/2794/

West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission. (2011). West Virginia College Going Rates By County and High School Fall 2011. Charleston: West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission.

Further reading Ambler, Charles K. A history of education in West Virginia; from early Colonial times to 1949 (1951) online

Ambler, Charles K., and Festus P. Summers. West Virginia: The Mountain State (Prentice-Hall, 1956), Chapters 12, 13, 23, 29 and 34. Jackameit, William Preston. " The political, social, and economic factors in the shaping of the structure of public higher education in West Virginia: a history 1863 –1969." (Ph D. Dissertation The College of William and Mary;  ProQuest Dissertations & Theses,  1973. 7400085). Judd. Charles H., and L.V. Havens. Survey of Education in West Virginia (4 volumes 1929). Morrison, A. J. The Beginnings of Public Education in Virginia, 1776-1860 (1917) online Rice, Otis K. West Virginia, a history (1985). Chapters 8 and 21.

External links

West Virginia Department of Education College for West Virginians WESTEST: West Virginia Educational Standards Test West Virginia Commission for Professional Teaching Standards West Virginia Education Information System List of West Virginia County Board Offices and RESA Offices