First Lady’s Priorities Curriculum, School Design: ; Gayle Manchin to Attend First School Board Meeting Today After Being Named to Panel

By JESSICA M. KARMASEK and BRAD McELHINNY

DAILY MAIL STAFF

The newest member of the state school board isn’t saying whether education policy will come up at the dinner table that she shares with the guy who appointed her.

“I plead the fifth,” first lady Gayle Manchin said.

Gov. Joe Manchin announced Tuesday that he had searched for the best candidate for the state Board of Education and found the right person in his own home.

Gayle Manchin’s passion and background are in education.

“I’m humbled and honored my husband appointed me,” she said. “As one who talks about education a little bit – he thought if I talk so much, I ought to go to work.”

She spoke outside the Governor’s Mansion after planting daffodils in a “Garden of Hope” to honor the state’s cancer survivors.

Gayle Manchin will attend her first school board meeting today. She says curriculum and school design are her top priorities.

“My motivation is my passion for the children of West Virginia and education,” she said. “My hope is that I will be one in a team of nine. I’m just one person able to be in a position of moving West Virginians education forward.”

She said he is unlikely to drop little tidbits about the ins and outs of the school board during casual conversation at home.

“If I talk to Joe (about policy), it’s an announcement or something that needs to be answered,” she said.

State education officials applauded the first lady’s appointment.

“The first lady has added value to education conversations throughout the state,” said State Superintendent of Schools Steve Paine said in a prepared statement. “We look forward to working with her as a state board member.”

Charles Delauder, president of the West Virginia Education Association, the state’s largest teacher union, agreed.

“The state board of education represents all aspects of society,” he said. “I think she will be an asset to the state board.”

Gov. Manchin said of his decision to appoint his wife to the state board:

“I have spent many hours over the last several days and weeks with our state’s teachers,” said Gov. Manchin in a prepared statement. “While we certainly have discussed compensation issues, we have also discussed their concerns about our education system as a whole.

“Therefore, after much thought and consideration, I have decided to appoint Gayle, a former educator herself, to the Board of Education to ensure we are keeping the lines of communication open between my administration and the Department of Education. I sincerely believe everyone involved wants what is best for our children.”

The governor appoints all state school board members. Other school board members appointed by Manchin have included Bob Dunlevy, Jenny Phillips and Priscilla Haden.

The first lady will officially take her position on the board during its regularly scheduled meeting today.

She replaces longtime board member Sheila Hamilton, who stepped down in November, said Liza Cordeiro, state board spokeswoman. Hamilton served more than nine years on the board, she said.

Manchin will voluntarily not receive any compensation for her state school board duties.

Before taking on the role as first lady, she served as a middle and high school teacher in Marion County. For 10 years, she taught at Fairmont State University, where she specialized in developmental education for students who were not yet eligible for English 101, an introductory college English class.

She is a graduate of West Virginia University, earning her undergraduate degree in language arts and education. She has a master’s in education technological leadership and a second master’s in reading.

She also has worked for Regional Education Service Agency VII in Clarksburg, which provides supplementary educational services to 12 member county school systems, including Barbour, Doddridge, Gilmer, Harrison, Lewis, Marion, Monongalia, Preston, Randolph, Taylor, Tucker and Upshur.

“This appointment is a nice bridge between the governor’s office, the state board and higher education to work together and be more efficient and more effective,” Gayle Manchin said.

Contact writer Jessica Karmasek at jessica@dailymail.com or 348- 1796.

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