On the way out

Letter to the Editor (Graphic Illustration/MetroCreative)

I’m leaving West Virginia.

I love this state. Its beauty, its peacefulness, its relative safety, the everyday kindness (of most) of its residents. But I’ve grown weary of its darker side.

I’m the kind of resident the governor says he wants. White collar professional in a modern industry, above-average income and education, kids, moderate, with a strong sense of family and community. Despite politicians trying to draw people like me to move to and stay in the state, it puts up a lot of barriers to achieving that goal.

The biggest for me is education. In most areas of the state, in particular Parkersburg, educational quality and choice for kids is atrocious. Quality teachers aren’t interested in the pay or lack of program funding and standards are low. My son had a bad semester so decided to take summer school. It was a joke. Online lessons over 6 weeks with no live instruction (despite educators in the room) to make up for 18 weeks of school. If that was equivalent, just give kids laptops and fire all the teachers. Kids are pushed through the system and when they come out, they are woefully unprepared for a successful career. Yet the school district seems to be more interested in new facilities that grab headlines than building strong programs.

Another reason is politics. Jim Justice and Joe Manchin were tolerable but with the governor’s race focused on who was the most anti-trans instead of education, drugs, a broken foster care system, and lack of modern jobs, West Virginia will likely remain at the bottom of rankings of U.S. states.

These candidates’ biggest concern was who was the most Trump-like instead of concrete issues to make residents’ lives better. And voters selected the most extreme of them. With Morrisey the victor and likely next governor, a man in the pocket of the pharmaceutical industry and who wasted precious taxpayer dollars sending a handful of national guard troops on a boondoggle to “protect the southern border” (where border patrol said they weren’t needed), darker days are on the horizon.

There is so much potential for West Virginia. It’s why I moved here. But the state keeps getting in the way of this potential and that’s a terrible shame. If indeed the goal is to modernize the economy and build a stronger tomorrow for everyone, the state continues to get in its own way.

I truly wish it the best and hope that it has a brighter future.

Eric Thacker

Parkersburg