Legislature 2009: Education (Updated)

As The Associated Press reported earlier, the state's major teacher union don't see much need for Gov. Joe Manchin's proposal to lengthen the range of the annual school calendar.

MetroNews fields a similar reaction from teacher groups. Senators are giving it mixed reviews, according to The Register-Herald of Beckley.

Teachers have reacted more favorably to Manchin's proposal targeting third and eighth graders who don't meet educational standards, the Herald-Dispatch of Huntington reports. But educators also say "it could face a lot of resistance from students and some parents."

The Charleston Daily Mail, meanwhile, finds a critic of the pending recommendation that West Virginia cap the size of the annual PROMISE college scholarship: former Gov. Bob Wise, who found the needed funding for the program during his term.

And WOWK-TV reports that Manchin plans a Monday announcement regarding Bucks for Brains, the program he secured during last year's session that aims to spur endowment funding for research at the state's two largest universities.

Update: the Daily Mail reports that "extending the school calendar by five days to give counties a little breathing room for snow days could cost the state more than $45 million in employee salaries." WOWK-TV, meanwhile, has details from the $500,000 pledged by Verizon for the Bucks for Brains program.