West Va. Education Audit Finds Millions in Inefficiencies, Recommends Restructuring

Submitted by Marion Herbert on Tue, 01/10/2012 - 11:45pm

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

West Virginia state education officials, teachers, lawmakers and others continue to wade through an expansive public education audit released by the Governor’s office.

West Virginia has one of the most highly centralized and impermeable education systems in the country according to theEducation Efficiency Audit of West Virginia’s Primary and Secondary School System conducted by the Pennsylvania consulting firm Public Works.

President Eric Schnurer says no other state education system is so highly regulated in code.

“We think you’re the only state where the ed system is essentially set up as a fourth branch of government,” said Schnurer.

Schnurer says the West Virginia Department of Education is “constitutionally enshrined” as independent from the Executive and Legislative branches, obviously designed to keep it free and independent of political influence, but he says there are some costs by doing that.