How much should West Virginia spend to give every child in every holler and hometown a fair shot at a good education? State lawmakers got their first real look at one possible answer Monday, and the price tag could reach about $410 million a year in new money.
Leaders from the West Virginia Department of Education, including state schools Superintendent Michele Blatt, walked members of the Legislature's Joint Standing Committee on Education through a draft framework for overhauling how the state funds its public schools. Right now, the state puts roughly $1.406 billion into school funding. If every piece of the draft were adopted, that figure would climb to about $1.816 billion.
The draft has several moving parts. It would add extra funding weights for students who cost more to serve, including students in special education, students from low-income families, English learners, gifted students and those in career and technical education. It would let counties use a three-year enrollment average so a sudden drop in students doesn't knock their budgets off a cliff. It also revisits how facilities and substitute teachers are funded and adds support for more operational positions in schools.
The biggest single piece is special education, at roughly $190 million. Adjustments for students from lower-income households come to about $63.9 million, the enrollment-averaging cushion about $50.7 million, and the facilities changes about $42.8 million.
Blatt made the case that investing in students and teachers matters just as much to the state's future as roads, broadband and new industrial sites. She also stressed that the framework is a starting point, not a finished bill. Once the regular legislative session opens in January, lawmakers can pick it apart, keep what has support and can be done now, and set aside what can't.
Committee members came with plenty of questions, pressing on whether the plan is justified, whether the state can afford it, whether it would actually work, and how anyone would measure whether the extra money is paying off.
The conversation isn't happening in a vacuum. Lawmakers have been wrestling with school funding for months as more schools around the state close or consolidate. A lawsuit now in front of the state Supreme Court argues that West Virginia's school funding falls short of what the state constitution requires and asks the justices to order the executive and legislative branches to fix it. Attorneys for state officials have asked the court to hold off on any action until spring, after next year's regular session.
For families in small towns watching their community schools shrink or shut their doors, the coming session could be one of the most important in years.