“School Board, a lot of the votes you’ve seen are nine-zero. Well, this is my first choice for school board. I’m going to tell you, Dr. Paul, I hope to see a few more eight-one votes. We’re starting to change,” Morrisey said during a packed appearance in the governor’s conference room.
Paul will take over the seat of former Charleston Catholic High School principal Debra Sullivan, who was outspoken during her tenure that began in 2017.
For several years, Paul served as Executive Director of the West Virginia Professional Charter School Board. He is now the director of state education opportunities for the America First Policy Institute, a conservative think tank founded by former Trump administration officials. He holds a doctorate in education policy from the University of Arkansas.
“James Paul is one of the nation’s leading experts on education policy,” said Adam Kissel, president of the West Virginia Professional Charter School Board.
“The State Board will greatly benefit from his knowledge and experience in facilitating education choices for students and families. Administrative mismanagement and overregulation in West Virginia also requires serious reform.”
In his introduction, Paul described this appointment as a big responsibility and expressed his commitment towards improving the education system of the state.
Paul said policymakers don’t have all the answers, but they must take a clear vision, build a strong foundation for student learning, set high standards and then let teachers do their job. He emphasized that families and parents know their children best, so they should have the power to choose among schooling options.
And Paul described the state board’s constitutional role as enforcing laws passed by the legislature through rulemaking while providing general supervision over the public school system.
“As you mentioned, the State Board of Education has a role here, a very clear constitutional role,” Paul told the governor.
“It enforces the laws that the legislature passes through rule-making and provides general oversight over the public school system, and I intend to take on that responsibility with great humility and great respect for our democratic system, that’s how our democracy is supposed to work here in West Virginia.”
State School Board members are appointed by the Governor to serve 9-year terms and confirmed by the State Senate.
Governor Morrisey and the state board have been at odds on several matters, particularly whether religious exemptions should apply to the school vaccination law. Morrisey has routinely called state board members unelected bureaucrats.
Today, the governor was critical of the board on a number of matters, including overall education attainment, oversight of county board finances, communication gaps and the overall cost of education in West Virginia, which he described as incompetent.
Morrissey said, “Our State Board of Education is unelected and independent from the rest of the government. They have very long terms that are set under the Constitution, nine years.” “I think it becomes harder for that body to be accountable when our students start falling apart. We need to reform and change the system if we ever hope to improve.”
All members of the current state board were appointed or reappointed by Jim Justice during his two terms as governor, including his wife, Kathy.
Asked whether his criticism indicated some underlying problem with the justice’s appointment philosophy, Morrisey said he would not respond to that framing.
“I can only talk about our choices and our choices. This is the first of many choices, right?” Morrissey said.
“And I want to make sure that I have people like Dr. Paul, who has a lot of expertise in this area, I think his values are really focused on holding accountability and making sure that we’re stretching dollars as far as possible, and at the same time he would be willing to look at creative programs.”
Additionally, Morrissey said, “I think we’re going to be focused moving forward. I’m not going to take the bait and go back and make pot shots. So I’m looking full speed ahead, and I think we’ve got a home run pick in Dr. Paul, and I’m excited to see what he does, because I think that’s going to help strengthen the schools.”
State School Board Chairman Paul Hardesty, who has a long and close relationship with former Governor Justice, acknowledged in public remarks during a meeting today that West Virginia’s education system has had decades-long problems.
Hardesty said the state board has had to make tough calls in handling local school systems throughout West Virginia due to mismanagement, financial emergencies or both.
Using the phrase in reference to the current governor, Hardesty said, “This board of unelected bureaucrats – we have to make tough decisions when elected bureaucrats choose not to do so. Very simple. It’s not really hard to digest.
“And the problem is that social media has become so important over the last 10 years, people who are brave, keyboard commando, run on social media and talk about something they know 10 percent about and 90 percent of it is a lie. And the sad part is that the public eats it up.”
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