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.
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