|
By One Citizen
Kudos to the students of the two West Virginia schools which earned the 2009 National Blue Ribbon Schools award. And special recognition to the teachers, the parents, and especially to the county school boards of Wirt and Hancock, WV, for their fine support.
Only 50 private schools and 264 public schools across the U.S. earned the 2009 National Blue Ribbon distinction of excellence.
Public schools are judged based on at least one of two criteria: Schools whose students, regardless of background, achieve in the top 10 percent of their state on state standardized tests; and schools with at least 40 percent of their students from disadvantaged backgrounds who demonstrate dramatic improvement and reach high levels on state tests or nationally benchmarked tests. source
Wirt County's leading industries include lumber, petroleum, hay and grain, livestock, poultry, dairying.
Although the US Geological studies show that there are some coal reserves there, they don't mine it.
In Hancock county, the jurisdiction under which Weirton's Liberty Elementary falls, the leading industries include the production of iron and steel including tin plate, chrome plate, hot and cold rolled, galvanized, and structural shapes and piling; chinaware, pottery, brick and fire clay; sheet metal; tin products; apples, dairying, livestock.
They don't choose to mine the coal reserves in that county, either.
Yet the support for their schools has been nationally recognized as EXCELLENT.
In contrast, 4 out of 5 school districts which have had to be seized by the state of WV due to lack of funding have been in counties where coal extraction is by far the top industry. And although the tons of coal produced per man efficiency is at an all time high in Mingo county, that school board has had to be taken over by the state TWICE. In fact, Mingo county's teachers have even had to circulate petitions just to could get paid a decent salary!
FACT: According to last available census data (2007) in coal-rich Mingo 24.9% of all folks living there were below the nationally recognized poverty level. In Wirt County, the rate of poverty was 18.7% and in Hancock county the 2007 poverty rate was 12.7%.
Meanwhile, the aquifer in the Ming communities of Rawl, Sprigg, Merrimac, and Lick Creek have been poisoned by Lead, manganese, arsenic, barium, selenium, iron, and beryllium.
According to a team of corporate lawyers, it is purely coincidental that Massey Energy has been injecting coal slurry in that area since 1977. And nevermind that folks in those communities are getting sick and dying at a far higher rate than non-coal producing towns.
FACT: There are more than 400 coal slurry injection sites across WV. |
