CAMPAIGN NEWS

Safe, orderly schools are essential for both learning and teaching. Today, despite the best efforts of educators and administrators, student behavior remains one of the most serious challenges facing our public schools. Assaults on school employees and repeated classroom disruptions are occurring at unacceptable levels across all grade spans, undermining student achievement and threatening employee safety. Discipline problems of this magnitude cannot be solved through punis

I stand with Education West Virginia in calling for long‑term stability and fairness in PEIA. I support legislation that would establish a clear and predictable cost‑sharing structure requiring the state to pay no less than 80 percent of PEIA costs, with employees paying no more than 20 percent.

I believe West Virginia must make a sustained, long‑term commitment to improving education employee salaries if we are serious about strengthening our public school system. While recent salary increases are appreciated, they have not made West Virginia competitive with surrounding states or the national average. According to 2025 data, teachers in Maryland earn an average salary of $84,338, Pennsylvania $76,961, Ohio $68,236, Virginia $66,327, and Kentucky $58,325. West Virgi

My campaign is rooted in a simple belief: West Virginia must honor the promises made to those who dedicated their lives to educating our children. Our retired school employees built the foundation of our public education system, yet too many are now struggling to make ends meet. The fact that in West Virginia, education retirees do not receive automatic cost‑of‑living adjustments (COLAs) is appalling, and that for many retirees, their pension has never increased, even as infl

West Virginia Department Education-- 2024–2025 Data Means for Jefferson County School choice and the Hope Scholarship Program sit at the center of one of Jefferson County’s most consequential education debates. The conversation isn’t abstract—Jefferson County’s public schools are already navigating enrollment decline, staffing shortages, and budget pressures. According to the West Virginia Department of Education’s Education Data 2024–2025 report, statewide public-school enr