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If you want an idea of what might have motivated a person to try to get elected into a position of power and influence, take a look at the bills he or she introduces.
For example, one Republican delegate from Greenbrier County has introduced House Bill 2009: Requiring local entities to enforce immigration laws; HB 2386: Ban sanctuary cities in West Virginia; and HB 2622: Relating to no child in the State of West Virginia should be admitted into the general classroom of a public school unless they can speak basic English.
One can't help but wonder what the Italian, Hungarian, Polish, Austrian, Russian, German, Ukrainian (and many more) immigrants who were building this state just 100 years ago would think of a bill that would have kept their children out of public school.
But astute readers will have grasped the general theme.
Another theme is lawmakers thumbing their noses at legislative leadership who practically pleaded with them to get out of teachers' way this year. Consider HB 2580: Requiring an annual test for students to advance to the next grade level.
That joins Senate Bill 93: Prohibiting teaching of divisive acts and critical race theory in public schools; HB 2108: Prohibit parents from being restricted from monitoring virtual public education classrooms; HB 2157: Discontinuing the use of common core standards and assessments in the state; HB 2216: Remove standardized testing in public and private schools; and HB 2494: Requiring high school students to pass a test on the US Constitution to graduate from high school, among others.
In an era during which report after report lists West Virginia as one of the worst places in the country to acquire a good education, some lawmakers can't stop themselves from trying to make educators' jobs even harder. This will only serve to drive teachers away in droves -- just as we are in desperate need of attracting and retaining more of them.
Legislators should be working to better our tax policy and addressing real issues instead of meddling in education. Let's hope that happens in the coming month.