Christian Science Monitor - When public school teachers in West Virginia heard last winter that their health insurance premiums would skyrocket, Brianne Solomon wasn’t sure anything could be done about it. Educators like her were grumbling, to be sure, but their union’s clout in this right-to-work state was questionable. Read.
Education & Human Services
A decade since the Great Recession, state spending on higher education has yet to recover from years of deep cuts, including in West Virginia, according to a new report released today from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. West Virginia was one of 45 states that spent less per student in the 2018 school year than in 2008.…
The West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission has been developing a model of performance-based funding for West Virginias higher education institutions, as mandated by the legislature. While 37 states have adopted some form of performance-based funding models for higher education, they have not all been successful, and have led to some unintended consequences.
Last week, the West Virginia Public Employees Insurance Agency (PEIA) Task Force held its first meeting to address the growing costs of health care coverage for public workers in West Virginia. The growing costs of health care for teachers and other public employees was a central reason why teachers went on strike for nine school…
West Virginia joins states around the country in moving towards free higher education, with SB 284, the free community college bill supported by Governor Justice and Senate President Carmichael. The "WV Invest Grant" program would provide a grant offsetting tuition for eligible students who enroll in one of the state's two year colleges.
Today the Governor officially ordered Workforce WV to begin drug testing those enrolled in job training programs (see below press release). What was not mentioned was that these programs are completely funded by federal dollars and that they mostly go to the "disadvantaged and at-risk youth, adults, and dislocated workers." However, the big question is…
Here is an interesting, if troubling blog post from the Center for Economic and Policy Research. The post shows that low-wage workers (those making less than $10.00 an hour in 2011 dollars) are becoming more educated. In every state across the country, low wage workers are more educated than they were thirty years ago, meaning that…
The most important asset to a firm is the presence of a well-trained and productive workforce. One effective way the state achieves this goal is through the Governor's Guaranteed Workforce Training Program, which provides businesses and workers with customized job training. Customized, state-funded job training funding is a vital piece in providing the resources…