Public education is designed to give every child regardless of socioeconomic status a true chance to improve their lot in life and achieve success. Horace Mann famously called public education the “great equalizer of the conditions of men.” And founding father John Adams said education was so important that “no expense…would be too extravagant.”
West Virginia’s founders seemed to agree with Mann and Adams on the importance of public education to such an extent that they enshrined in our state constitution the responsibility of the Legislature to provide a “thorough and efficient system of free schools.”
The vehicle for this great equalizing force is the public school system, because it serves all students in every corner of the state regardless of disability, religion, socioeconomic status, or family background. Right now, West Virginia’s constitutional promise is falling short, not due to the public school system’s own failure but due to years of neglect from state legislators. For several years, state lawmakers have focused almost exclusively on school choice, or educational options outside of the public school system, to the detriment of the more than 85 percent of children who receive their education in public schools and will continue to do so regardless of choice options.
In recent years, lawmakers have prioritized establishing charter schools and passing the Hope Scholarship voucher program that allows public taxpayer dollars to go to private schools and homeschooling costs. Because the Hope Scholarship was structured as an open-ended entitlement, it has grown automatically and exponentially—doubling in cost year over year since its creation—without any caps or guardrails unless lawmakers choose to intervene this legislative session.
That automatic growth has meant that urgent needs in our public schools have taken a backseat. As more than 70 public schools have closed and teacher pay ranks the lowest in the nation, legislation that would modernize and strengthen the school funding formula to better reflect the costs and priorities of today, like neighborhood schools, has not moved in the Legislature, though not due to a lack of effort from some public education champions.
Last year, legislation to increase the number of school counselors in districts passed, but with the funding removed, essentially undermining its effect. This year, the Senate Education committee under the leadership of Chair Amy Grady has advanced positive bills to increase funding to help school districts better accommodate students with special needs and to increase staffing ratios to better serve students. But at a cost of more than $130 million combined, it is unclear if there is room in the budget for these bills if the Hope Scholarship expands as scheduled or if lawmakers enact additional income tax cuts.
The Hope Scholarship and charter schools are not a substitute for a strong public education system. The private schools that accept vouchers are not required to accept all applicants; provide transportation, books, or meals; or provide special education services. In fact, parents who sign up for the Hope Scholarship are required to acknowledge they are giving up their federal disability protections. Not every household can or wants to home school. Charter schools are not available in every county and are also not required to provide transportation or certified teachers. Public schools, on the other hand, serve all and are subject to numerous accountability and transparency measures.
The Treasurer’s office has conceded that 90 percent of the recipients of the Hope Scholarship were never in the public school system to begin with and would have chosen private schooling or home schooling regardless of the existence of the voucher program. Put another way, the Hope Scholarship is providing choice to very few families, while mostly subsidizing those who already had it. One hundred percent of the program’s expansion in the state budget—which will increase the cost by $150 million or more next year—will go to recipients already attending private school or home school.
Every budget and policy decision represents a tradeoff. Is that $150 million best served subsidizing those who could already afford private schooling? Or ensuring the public education system, accessible to all, is well-funded to serve the vast majority of our state’s children? It is clear that only the latter serves our founders’ vision of education as the great equalizer.
