In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

• West Virginia
• Rick Ferris and Randy Vesely

overview

The COVID crisis has highlighted the disparities and challenges that are faced by so many students in West Virginia (WV). Access to reliable broadband and food insecurity exacerbated by schools moving online are identified as acute challenges. In addition to poverty, geography also hinders access due to WV's mountainous terrain. As students left school during the spring and educators ramped up online education programs to take the place of classroom instruction, it became apparent to many in the state that WV was underprepared for most of its education system to function online. Officially, WV is listed as having the 44th worst high-speed internet state with 82.2 percent of the population having access (WVBBEC, 2018) and is number one in school breakfast participation (WVDE, 2019).

funding priority for p-12

In 2018 West Virginia teacher pay ranked 50^th (NEA, 2020) among the states and Washington D.C. In 2019, teachers received a five percent salary increase, on average, due in part to an increased willingness of the republican controlled legislature to negotiate salary, in light of proposed charter school legislation that passed in an extraordinary summer legislative session (Ferris, 2019). As a result, teacher salaries have risen above an average $50,000 per year for the first time. The National average salary exceeds $60,000 per year, negatively impacting teacher recruitment (Kercheval, 2020).

Social and emotional support were identified as priorities. In response, the Department of Education published a report on social and emotional support that outlines the state's resources and highlights programs that are showing progress. The report suggests WV is making strides with its Communities In Schools initiative (CIS). Through increased support from the legislature, the CIS "model recognizes that traditional education reform strategies fail to address what kids are dealing with every day: poverty, lack of adult role models, and the absence of such basic needs as food, shelter and health care." (WVDE, 2020b, p.7).

changes to funding formula for p-12

The 2021 fiscal year budget that was enacted by the legislature during the 2020 legislative session contained very few changes to West Virginia's education budget. The FY 2020 education appropriation was 2.02 billion dollars, or 46 percent, of the state budget, and the number remains essentially unchanged for the FY 2021 budget [End Page 377] (WVSBO, 2019; 2020). There were two notable exceptions: the state increased the CIS initiative to address, in-part, the need for additional social and emotional support by $500,000; and the legislature also increased the State Aid to Schools by $36,000,000; about $654 thousand dollars per county (WVSBO, 2019).

pressing state issues affecting p-12

Pressing state issues include broadband and nutritional access to children during the pandemic. As the COVID crisis took hold and many students were forced from the classroom to online education it became increasingly apparent that WV did not have the broadband infrastructure to support students in this transition. Many students simply did not have internet access at home, due to financial issues, as well as physical access issues. American Community Survey (2020) data documented that only 81.8 percent of residents have access to a computer in the home and that just 72.9 percent have a broadband internet subscription. Furthermore, data (WVBBEC, 2018) show only slightly more have physical access suggesting that almost all rural access points are subscribed to.

In WV, 40 counties provide free breakfast and lunch (WVDE, 2019). When the pandemic hit, food insecurity became a major problem within the state. The department of education reports that "County boards of education have worked hard to make plans to distribute meals in new ways." (WVDE, 2020a, para. 3). 27 percent of WV's children live in poverty and more than 72 percent of counties provide free breakfast and lunch at school (WVDE, 2019). When children do not go to school their food supply is interrupted. The state is creatively trying to fill the void, but it remains to be seen what the effects of this disruption in basic needs will be.

diversion of state funds

Public charter school legislation was enacted by the West Virginia...

中文翻译：

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西弗吉尼亚

代替摘要，这里是内容的简要摘录：

• 西弗吉尼亚
• 里克·费里斯（Rick Ferris）和兰迪·维斯利（Randy Vesely）

概述

COVID危机凸显了西弗吉尼亚州（WV）众多学生所面临的差距和挑战。上网学校加剧了获得可靠的宽带和粮食不安全的机会，这被认为是严峻的挑战。除贫困外，由于西弗吉尼亚州的山地地形，地理条件也阻碍了人们的出入。随着春季学生离开学校，并且教育者增加了在线教育计划来代替课堂教学，在该州，对于许多人来说，显而易见的是，西弗吉尼亚州对其大多数教育系统无法在线运行的准备不足。官方将WV列为高速上网状态排名第44的州，有82.2％的人口可以访问（WVBBEC，2018），并且是学校早餐参与人数的第一名（WVDE，2019）。

P-12的供资重点

2018年西弗吉尼亚州的教师工资排名50^日（NEA，2020年）的州和华盛顿特区2019年间，教师获得了百分之五加薪，平均而言，部分原因是由于共和党控制的立法机构的增加愿意谈判工资，鉴于在夏季特别立法会议上通过的拟议特许学校立法（Ferris，2019）。结果，教师的薪水首次平均每年超过50,000美元。全国平均薪水每年超过60,000美元，这对教师招聘产生了负面影响（Kercheval，2020）。

社会和情感支持被确定为优先事项。作为回应，教育部发布了一份有关社会和情感支持的报告，概述了该州的资源，并重点介绍了正在取得进展的计划。该报告表明WV正在其“学校社区倡议”（CIS）中取得长足进步。通过立法机关的更多支持，“独联体国家”模式认识到传统的教育改革战略无法解决孩子们每天所要处理的问题：贫困，缺乏成人榜样以及缺乏诸如食品，住房和医疗保健等基本需求。” （WVDE，2020b，第7页）。

更改p-12的供资公式

立法机关在2020年立法会议上制定的2021财政年度预算几乎没有对西弗吉尼亚州的教育预算进行任何更改。2020财年的教育拨款为20.2亿美元，占州预算的46％，这一数字在2021财年的预算中仍保持不变[End Page 377]（WVSBO，2019； 2020）。有两个值得注意的例外：该州增加了CIS倡议，以部分解决额外的社会和情感支持的需求50万美元；立法机关还增加了对学校的国家援助，金额为$ 36,000,000；每个县约65.4万美元（WVSBO，2019）。

紧迫的国家问题影响着p-12

紧迫的国家问题包括大流行期间宽带和儿童获得营养的途径。随着COVID危机的爆发和许多学生被迫从教室接受在线教育，越来越明显的是，WV没有宽带基础设施来支持学生过渡。由于财务问题和物理访问问题，许多学生根本没有在家上网。美国社区调查（2020）数据记录说，只有81.8％的居民可以在家中使用计算机，而只有72.9％的居民可以使用宽带互联网。此外，数据（WVBBEC，2018年）显示，只有很少一部分人具有物理访问权限，这表明几乎所有农村访问点都已订阅。

在西弗吉尼亚州，有40个县提供免费早餐和午餐（WVDE，2019）。大流行爆发时，粮食不安全成为该州的主要问题。教育部报告说：“县教育委员会为制定以新方式分配饭菜的计划而努力工作。” （WVDE，2020a，第3段）。西弗吉尼亚州27％的儿童生活在贫困中，超过72％的县在学校提供免费早餐和午餐（WVDE，2019）。当孩子不上学时，他们的食物供应会中断。国家正在创造性地尝试填补空白，但是仍有待观察这种基本需求中断的后果。

挪用国家资金

西弗吉尼亚州颁布了公共特许学校立法。