In this Charleston Daily Mail story on West Virginia’s stereotypes — and alongside West Virginia luminaries like WVU President, Gordon Gee, and US Senator, Shelly Moore Capito — Cardinal’s communications associate, Amanda Kieffer, busts open the widely-held conception that West Virginia’s schools are doing just fine. A sample below (full story can be found here):

During the debate over teacher pay and changes to education, there’s been a common refrain from some to say: “Don’t mess with a system that’s not broke.”

But this notion that the education system in West Virginia is performing adequately is not accurate. Some reform advocates argue the system is not only broken, it’s in shambles.

In September of this past year, the Cardinal Institute for WV Policy, a public policy think tank, commissioned its inaugural “State of the Mountain State” polling series; among other things, it surveyed public opinion on the public K-12 education system. It found that only 2 percent of West Virginians believe the education system is excellent. And not only that, but 80 percent believe it is either fair or poor.