West Virginia Legislative Outlook, 2007
The Mountain State is one of several around the country that will consider raising the compulsory school age to 18 this legislative session. Other bills that will likely be taken up this session including setting a cap of 25 students in classrooms in grades seven through twelve, and providing the state’s PROMISE scholarship to students who live in West Virginia but commute to school in another state. Teachers rallied at the capitol for a 6% pay raise; governor Joe Manchin proposed a 2.5% raise, while the Chair of the Senate Finance Committee and the senate Majority Leader have both made statements supporting the teachers’ request. Another bill would prohibit local (county) Board of Education members from acting on their own behalf as school board members unless authorized by law.