WV lawmakers must fulfill constitutional mandate to provide thorough system of free schools
Lockers in a Kanawha County school in West Virginia. (Lexi Browning | West Virginia Watch)
As an educator and parent, I have seen firsthand the power of public schools to help our students achieve brighter futures and bring our communities together. But I have also watched the underfunding and politicization of public education in West Virginia over the past decade and the consequences for our state's students.
While it is certainly true that schools and funding must adapt to meet the changing needs of students and communities, I've never seen any program improve by starving it of funding. Unless policymakers and the public take action now to re-envision school funding and protect community schools, more closures will be on the horizon.
The vast majority of children in West Virginia receive and will continue to receive their education through the public school system, which needs to be equipped and well-resourced to serve them well. School staff work hard every day to meet their students' needs, but the diversion of public taxpayer dollars to school vouchers (Hope Scholarship), the expansion of charter schools, population decline and deep revenue losses from tax cuts are exacerbating long-existing challenges. Nowhere is this situation more dire than in rural and low-income areas, where county school boards and communities are having to make impossible decisions with limited funding increasingly across the state.
According to KIDS COUNT data, in West Virginia one in five children are food insecure and 25% live in poverty. In the counties I've taught in, like Mingo and Roane, those percentages rise to 37% of kids living in poverty and one in three being food insecure. Our schools are not just teaching reading and math — they are providing essential services to these kids like breakfast and lunch, and some even offer health clinics.
Public schools offer a gathering place for athletic events, dance recitals, and more. And notably, they are often among the largest employers and economic drivers within their communities. That means the result of a school closure is not just long bus rides for students—it is also the loss of the heart of the community and one of the most important factors families look at when considering moving to this state.
Legislators and the public must consider whether the expansion of the Hope Scholarship vouchers program is fiscally responsible at a time when our public schools are already under-resourced. Should we spend public tax money on a program that has practically no reporting requirements and that allows parents of any income level the option to purchase private music lessons or Clay Center memberships as public schools across the state are closing their doors, reducing extracurricular options, and laying off arts and music teachers, counselors, nurses, and custodians? Should students be forced to sit on buses for over 3 hours a day to simply access their education?
If we do have the capacity to increase funding for education, wouldn't it be better spent supporting the public school districts that are struggling to keep their community schools staffed and open — public schools that almost 90% of the families in West Virginia have selected as their school choice?
This is a critical moment for state lawmakers to fulfill their constitutional mandate: 'the Legislature shall provide, by general law, for a thorough and efficient system of free schools.' To me and to most West Virginia families, that means investing in community schools and giving all students the opportunity to receive a quality education — especially those who live in rural areas with poor internet, have special education needs, live in poverty or that have other circumstances that make public school their only viable 'choice.'
I hope that our legislators will halt any plans to expand the Hope Scholarship voucher program, which is expected to balloon to over $100 million in costs this coming year and then up to $300 million the following year. I urge them to strengthen reporting requirements for this program so taxpayers can see who is benefitting, as well as direct available funding into the public school system that so many students and families in the Mountain State rely upon.
Not adequately funding public schools is simply shirking responsibility and giving away $5,000 coupons does not abdicate West Virginia from its constitutional responsibility. We are approaching a point of no return — if state legislators do nothing, there will be an even greater wave of school closures over the next one to two years. And once a school closes, it rarely reopens. I fear what that means for the future of our state's students.
SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Yahoo
WV Legislature may be called for PEIA special session in July
The Public Employees Insurance Agency is proposing increasing premiums by 14% for state employees and by 16% for local government employees during the 2026 fiscal year. (Lori Kersey | West Virginia Watch) While West Virginia employees prepare for their health insurance to take up more of their paychecks this summer, a special session may be coming in July — the same month those increases take effect — to deal with ongoing cost and sustainability challenges at the Public Employees Insurance Agency. At the finance board's regular meeting Thursday, Chairman Eric Householder said the agency has been working with Gov. Patrick Morrisey's office as he prepares to call the special legislative session. 'I know currently … we are working providing data to the governor,' Householder said. 'There's been no decision on what to do, just providing data, having roundtable discussions. That's all we're doing right now.' Householder said Morrisey tentatively intends to call a special session for PEIA in mid July. Beginning in July, PEIA premiums are increasing by 14% for state employees and by 16% for local government employees. Out-of-pocket and copay costs will also go up. The agency will also raise premiums by 12% for retirees. PEIA leaders have said that the rising cost of health care — particularly inflation on prescription GLP-1 drugs that treat obesity and diabetes — are a major driver of the rate increases. Union leaders and state employees have repeatedly called on the Legislature to come up with a solution to PEIA's rising costs, but the issue largely went unaddressed during the 2025 regular session. Morrisey said in April that he plans to call a special session for PEIA, but he has not said how exactly the issue of increasing costs will be addressed.. 'That was kicked down the road for many, many years,' the governor said in April. 'I don't intend to kick it down the road. We have to bring everyone together, all the stakeholders: listen, learn and then you'll be seeing some activity.' In a news release Thursday, leadership from the West Virginia Democratic Party blamed Morrisey for 'falling to act' and letting 'devastating' PEIA increases go into effect. 'Pay-Cut Patrick failed to take action to stabilize PEIA premiums,' Democratic Party Chair Mike Pushkin said in the statement. 'So now, state employees, including law enforcement officers, school teachers, school service personnel, CPS workers, and retirees will soon be paying a price for his inaction. Morrisey had a choice — he could have fought to protect working West Virginians. Instead, he did what he always does: protect his political donors and let working families bear the burden.' In an email Thursday, Morrisey spokesman Drew Galang said the governor has emphasized that the state 'must address the inherited challenges facing PEIA and its long term sustainability.' He said Morrisey had 'already indicated' that a special session to do so would occur in 'mid to late July.' Galang did not respond to an email asking to clarify when, publicly, the July timeframe had been set by Morrisey and no such references to it have been made clear in previous PEIA meetings or announcements prior to Thursday. A spokeswoman for the House of Delegates and one for the state Senate said the governor has not formally told lawmakers the special session will be in July. Dale Lee, president of the West Virginia Education Association, told Householder the discussions about PEIA solutions should include public employees and their representatives. 'The employees can't be the ones providing all of this,' Lee said of the cost increases. 'We have to have the Legislature. There has to be not only the Legislature but also the providers. That's why I continue to ask that we all go back to the table and that we come up with a plan that people can agree on.' Lee, who has repeatedly criticized state leaders for failing to act on the recommendations of a task force called by former Gov. Jim Justice after statewide teacher strikes in 2018 and 2019, said it's important that the Legislature act upon a plan for PEIA this time. '[It] never even got on a committee agenda,' he said of the recommendations. 'That's just disingenuous.'
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Yahoo
Notre Dame High School in Clarksburg offering bus from Fairmont
CLARKSBURG, (WBOY) — Notre Dame, the private Catholic high school in Clarksburg, announced that it will now offer daily bus transportation for students from Fairmont. The new transportation option will pick up and drop off students at Fairmont Catholic School in downtown Fairmont, which only offers education up to grade 8. The transportation will serve both Notre Dame High School and Saint Mary's School in Harrison County. Pickup in Fairmont will be at 7 a.m., the bus will depart from the campus in Clarksburg at 3:15 p.m. daily. According to Notre Dame, the bus will be offered through a partnership with Marion County Transit Authority. Marion County does not have a Catholic high school or a substantial private school option for high school students. Arcade games, weapons, crystals on new 'unallowable' expense list for West Virginia's Hope Scholarship Private education is expected to expand in West Virginia in the coming years because of the Hope Scholarship, a program that lets parents choose to invest their tax dollars into alternative education for their family instead of public education. Qualifying students can get up to $5,000 for private, homeschool or alternative education tuition and expenses. A new charter school, Clarksburg Classical Academy, opened in Harrison County at the start of the 2024-2025 school year after the scholarship met the required number of participants to expand starting in 2026. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Yahoo
West Virginia: Stop trying to make data centers happen
A giant data center has been proposed to be located between Thomas and Davis, West Virginia, near tourist destinations like Blackwater Falls State Park. (Lori Kersey | West Virginia Watch) When people refer to West Virginia as 'Almost Heaven,' we think of the beautiful, quiet scenic areas like Black Water Falls, Canaan Valley and Dolly Sods, all in Tucker County. However, our lawmakers just see money signs — and not very many of them. Gov. Patrick Morrisey recently signed into law House Bill 2014 — one of his key priorities — which created the state's microgrid program to encourage data centers to come to the Mountain State. Residents in Tucker County are already fighting a proposed data center. A Virginia company, Fundamental Data, has applied for an air permit from the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection for the 'Ridgeline Facility.' It includes an off-the-grid natural gas power plant between Thomas and Davis, which will likely power the giant data center proposed for a site just a mile away from the county's most heavily populated and tourist-attracting areas. A microgrid is a small power plant that is usually attached to a larger national grid, but runs independently to power things like a college campus, hospital complex or, in this case, a data center. West Virginia's new law allows 'high impact data centers' to curtail local zoning ordinances, meaning their microgrids don't have to attach to existing utilities. HB 2014, as requested by Morrisey, originally included provisions that would have required electric utilities with coal fired plants to operate at a higher capacity — 69% compared to 40% — and hold a 45-day supply of coal on hand at all times, while most only stockpile a 30-day supply. Lawmakers saw this bill as an opportunity to boost the state's coal industry, but power companies said it would be difficult to meet those standards. Not only that, but meeting those standards would have raised electricity rates for customers. The bill was amended dozens of times and passed without those standards, and Morrisey signed it into law. Now residents of Tucker County are worried about a proposed data center taking away from the serene beauty of their home. As someone who grew up in Poca just across the river from the coal-powered John E. Amos Power Plant, I understand why you wouldn't want a new one to pop up near your home. It's never quiet — you can hear the beep beep beep of equipment backing up all night and the banging of construction, and when the towers release steam, it sounds like the end of the world (at least it did when I first heard it as a child). And coal definitely keeps the lights on at the plant 24/7. In Virginia, which has the largest data center market in the world, there are local noise and lighting ordinances to protect residents. West Virginia residents won't have the same protections. My dad said during the 1970s, before air pollution was taken more seriously, ash from the John Amos plant would be all over the place in the mornings. Sometime in the 1990s, everyone on our street noticed spots on their cars that messed up the paint. My dad said the air pollution commission ran some tests on the spots that indicated they came from the power plant. It only happened that one time, dad said, but it was worrisome then and it's something to think about now as the Trump administration rolls back environmental regulations. For instance, the Department of Justice has been told to block states from enforcing their own regulations on coal — because President Donald Trump wants to revive 'beautiful, clean coal.' Not only are power plants loud, but data centers are as well. They create noise pollution, typically a low humming sound, which is the cooling system that must run constantly to keep the temperatures down. Many data centers also use a diesel powered back-up system in case they lose power, and those must be tested monthly. These generators can run between 85 and 100 dBA — 85 dBA is when hearing can be harmed. So why are we putting up with this noise? It must be because it'll bring lots of jobs to the state, right? Not likely. Data centers are just buildings full of computers, and are largely automated. You ever wonder where the stuff you save on the cloud is stored, where the computers that make AI art are or where bitcoin is mined? In a data center. Some facilities employ only 50 people. Most data center jobs come from the construction of the facilities, and are often contracted from out-of-state. Aside from data centers not bringing jobs, they could cost ratepayers more money. Virginia has proposed two transmission lines for their data centers, and the lines could cost West Virginians more than $440 million, according to the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis The two transmission lines, both of which cut through West Virginia, were proposed to help with growing demand for electricity from data centers. PJM's transmission cost allocation methodology charges all ratepayers for the transmission infrastructure because it assumes that the 'regional transmission costs could not be attributed to a single new user or class of users.' However the most recent Regional Transmission Expansion Plan processes shows that's not the case. While West Virginia is trying to use Virginia as an example on data centers, the state isn't doing it the same way with regulations and protections. 'What you're going to get if you do it this way is the worst players, the ones that didn't need to be in Northern Virginia,' said Julie Bolthouse, director of land use at Piedmont Environmental Council in Virginia. '… the players that are wanting that lack of regulations because they didn't want to abide by rules and didn't want to or need to protect communities, which is worse for West Virginia and the communities. What West Virginia is doing is not what Virginia is doing.' If lawmakers are serious about bringing data centers to the state, then they need to be serious about the consequences and set better regulations to protect residents who want to enjoy wild, wonderful West Virginia without noise cancelling headphones. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX