 |
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
MEZZATESTA FACING TOUGH TIMES? - Consolidation Issues On Burner |
| (05/20/2004) |
| By Dianne Weaver House of Delegates Speaker Bob Kiss says he won't comment on the future of House Education Committee Chairman Jerry Mezzatesta, while Charleston watchers say the Hampshire delegate is on a short leash. Kiss says he will wait for a report from the Ethics Commission. Mezzatesta is under investigation for taking it on himself to change the school funding formula to benefit his home county, where he is also employed by the Hampshire Board of Education. State Education officials have indicated they let Mezzatesta have his way. Opponents say he's notorious for squashing debate, and use words like "outrageous" and "arrogant" to describe the delegates behavior. During a presentation of Challenge WV by Linda Martin in front of the education committee last winter, Mezzatesta called capitol security to have her removed because he felt she threatened him. Mezzatesta became angry after he questioned her what would happen if he disagreed with her. She said voters could make the ultimate decision. Mezzatesta has other ethics charges filed against him, while residents of Hampshire County are expected to re-elect him because he brings home "Mezz Money" to help the county. The delegate reportedly diverted what was to have been education money to other uses in Hampshire County, and some of the ethics charges indicate he may have been "double dipping." The Charleston Newspapers said Mezzatesta was hired as a grant writer by his county school system, but he has not written any grants. Meanwhile, over the weekend, legislators meeting in the interim committees, have expressed displeasure toward the state's School Building Authority for failing to provide an audit that would sustain the movement toward consolidating hundreds of schools and building new facilities. The SBA no longer claims school consolidation saves money, and a recent Marshall University study indicates it has not improved academic achievement. Challenge West Virginia, in an independent study, says children's education in West Virginia has not improved with consolidation. A Kanawha County judge has declined to hear a lawsuit filed by Lincoln County parents to stop the consolidation of several schools and construction of a new $33 million high school at Hamlin. The case is expected to go to the Supreme Court.
|
|
|