When West Virginia's students enter the job market, they will be competing in an increasingly complex global economy against the best that New York, California, Europe, and Asia have to offer. Recognizing this, State Superintendent of Schools Steven L. Paine has promised parents and taxpayers that West Virginia schools will "bridge the gap between what students learn today and what they need to know to be successful in the 21st-century world."

And how is the West Virginia Legislature supporting this forward-looking philosophy?

By passing a law requiring that public schools teach middle and high school students how to hunt. Hunt animals, that is, not hunt secure, well-paying jobs, or acquire the skills that will lead to them. Whatever the Legislature had in mind when they enacted this exercise in irrelevance, it was clearly not the welfare of West Virginia's young people or the success of Superintendent Paine's efforts to equip his young charges to succeed in the world they will enter when they graduate.

Sport hunting has been in serious decline across the United States for more than three decades. In West Virginia, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the number of hunters has fallen by 25 percent since 1991.

Since the Division of Natural Resources is funded mainly from the sale of hunting and fishing licenses, the decline in hunters has put a severe strain on their budget. 

Press reports have estimated last year's shortfall at between $1.5 and $1.8 million due to the loss of license revenues. This law is a blatant attempt to make up a large part of that shortfall by shifting the cost onto the school system instead of raising fees for hunting licenses.

And so, what the Legislature has done is give a handout to the hunting industry. After all, this is an election year, and the National Rifle Association can deliver more votes than the National Science Foundation. Stripped of the pious rhetoric, what we are seeing here is a maneuver to put the public school system, which is supposed to be about educating children and young people, into the business of recruiting new hunters, while at the same time shifting a big chunk of the cost for hunter recruitment onto the backs of West Virginia taxpayers.

The Legislature's action is a slap in the face to Superintendent Paine and everyone who is working to improve the quality of public education in West Virginia.

The last thing that our public schools should be asked to do is divert precious resources from the real work of education.

At the same time, the last thing that hunters need - or deserve - is a public subsidy. Welfare payments to sport hunters - diverted from the public schools' budget - are a drain on taxpayer resources with no corresponding benefit. One of the bill's sponsors described hunting as "a way of life in West Virginia."

Hunting may be popular and enjoyable for some residents, but if it were an all-encompassing way of life, hunters would not be looking for a handout from taxpayers. There should be a balance of interests, and hunter recruitment is no substitute for a forward-looking educational policy.

The Legislature knows - or ought to know - that our future depends on our youth, and our youth depend on us to finance an education that prepares them to compete with citizens of the 21st-century world, not to compete with the memory of Daniel Boone. Ole Dan'l had the right skills to succeed in the 18th century. But he would have been lost today, and that's no fate for our youth.

Page is the director of the wildlife abuse campaign at the Humane Society of the United States.

When West Virginia's students enter the job market, they will be competing in an increasingly complex global economy against the best that New York, California, Europe, and Asia have to offer. Recognizing this, State Superintendent of Schools Steven L. Paine has promised parents and taxpayers that West Virginia schools will "bridge the gap between what students learn today and what they need to know to be successful in the 21st-century world."

And how is the West Virginia Legislature supporting this forward-looking philosophy?

By passing a law requiring that public schools teach middle and high school students how to hunt. Hunt animals, that is, not hunt secure, well-paying jobs, or acquire the skills that will lead to them. Whatever the Legislature had in mind when they enacted this exercise in irrelevance, it was clearly not the welfare of West Virginia's young people or the success of Superintendent Paine's efforts to equip his young charges to succeed in the world they will enter when they graduate.

Sport hunting has been in serious decline across the United States for more than three decades. In West Virginia, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the number of hunters has fallen by 25 percent since 1991.

Since the Division of Natural Resources is funded mainly from the sale of hunting and fishing licenses, the decline in hunters has put a severe strain on their budget. 

Press reports have estimated last year's shortfall at between $1.5 and $1.8 million due to the loss of license revenues. This law is a blatant attempt to make up a large part of that shortfall by shifting the cost onto the school system instead of raising fees for hunting licenses.

And so, what the Legislature has done is give a handout to the hunting industry. After all, this is an election year, and the National Rifle Association can deliver more votes than the National Science Foundation. Stripped of the pious rhetoric, what we are seeing here is a maneuver to put the public school system, which is supposed to be about educating children and young people, into the business of recruiting new hunters, while at the same time shifting a big chunk of the cost for hunter recruitment onto the backs of West Virginia taxpayers.

The Legislature's action is a slap in the face to Superintendent Paine and everyone who is working to improve the quality of public education in West Virginia.

The last thing that our public schools should be asked to do is divert precious resources from the real work of education.

At the same time, the last thing that hunters need - or deserve - is a public subsidy. Welfare payments to sport hunters - diverted from the public schools' budget - are a drain on taxpayer resources with no corresponding benefit. One of the bill's sponsors described hunting as "a way of life in West Virginia."

Hunting may be popular and enjoyable for some residents, but if it were an all-encompassing way of life, hunters would not be looking for a handout from taxpayers. There should be a balance of interests, and hunter recruitment is no substitute for a forward-looking educational policy.

The Legislature knows - or ought to know - that our future depends on our youth, and our youth depend on us to finance an education that prepares them to compete with citizens of the 21st-century world, not to compete with the memory of Daniel Boone. Ole Dan'l had the right skills to succeed in the 18th century. But he would have been lost today, and that's no fate for our youth.

Page is the director of the wildlife abuse campaign at the Humane Society of the United States.