State of the State

The children are the future, but the future looks bleak.

Gov. Joe Manchin gave his sixth¬ State of the State address to West Virginia on Wednesday and covered all the basics — taxes, the economy, health care, and the one thing us college students care about — education.

The concentration on young people and children in this year’s state address seemed to gather much more support than other topics, drawing applause for the governor.

The evaluation of the infamous PROMISE scholarship continues – well, sort of.

Manchin asked each person who holds this scholarship to make a “promise” to do everything possible to remain in West Virginia. Honestly, this seems a bit ridiculous. Until there are more jobs in a wider range of fields, everyone holding this scholarship will never be able to keep their “promises.” It’s admirable to ask this and to hope for a better future for our students, but right now, today, this isn’t possible.

As far as jobs go, the battle to create new ones continues. Only 16 of every 100 ninth graders in West Virginia will graduate high school, which doesn’t really suggest a booming economic future. Rather than sending thousands of 18-year-olds to college unprepared, shouldn’t something be done to help them make it through school without dropping out?

Manchin said West Virginia’s greatest challenge is to ensure our students are graduating. Obviously more efforts should be made to improve graduation rates in high school and college students, but what are they going to do once they get out of college? What jobs will be waiting for them?

In 2009, Manchin said, “Since 2005, more than 200 companies have located or expanded here, and together, they have invested $8.6 billion in the Mountain State.”

Wednesday night, that quote shifted to, “Since 2005, 243 companies have located or expanded in West Virginia and they have invested more than $9 billion here.”

How much are we really growing?

It seems difficult to expect our graduates to stick around after graduation when there are no jobs. It seems unfair to ask us to do so. West Virginia is a great place to grow up, but sometimes not the best place to work, and we can only depend on mom and dad for so long. The time, and the money, is running out.


Manchin asked lawmakers to re-introduce the 180-day calendar for public schools and asked colleges, universities and technical schools to freeze tuition for the following school year. For Marshall University students, this is music to our poor little ears, but for the professors and faculty, not so much.

In the interest of the youth of the state, which is the future of its success, Manchin said it is important to attract young and talented professionals, and keep them here, but it is a challenge West Virginia continues to face, which is the reason for the Governor’s Council of Young Talents, which hopefully will help young people find jobs more easily.

Also, our governor has encouraged more investments in our community and technical colleges. Enrollment has increased and new programs have been introduced.

He also discussed the importance of a child’s education and how he plans to fight the struggles West Virginia’s children face in the classroom. Because of the high poverty level in the state, more children struggle to keep up in school. Forty-nine percent of fourth-graders coming from low-income homes read below grade level, and Manchin directed $1 million to the efforts of Save the Children, an organization helping children improve health, education and opportunities.

Charleston, W.Va. native and actress Jennifer Garner was in attendance for the address because of her affiliation and work with Save the Children.

“One in three kids in rural West Virginia is living in poverty, and in those struggling communities we can go in and help life them up and get them started,” Garner said.

Starting off on the right foot is important in a successful education, Garner said, and hopefully this will start West Virginia’s children on the right foot.

It’s obvious that the children and the education of our youth is important in West Virginia, but we need more than just an optimistic outlook to help us succeed.