Increasing Special Education Costs Require Legislative Attention 

State lawmakers are taking a hard look at the sustainability of statewide spending on special education.  

In Fiscal Year 2025, $560 million dollars were spent on special education in West Virginia. That was almost a quarter of the state’s appropriation for public education that year.  

Uriah Cummings, school financial officer for the West Virginia Department of Education, said state and federal funds only covered $380 million – about two thirds of that amount – leaving a $180 million shortfall for local districts to cover.  

He told the House Education Committee Monday that the number of students in special education has risen 16% over the past 10 years even as overall enrollment has declined 14%.  

“What that means is the cost to educate a student in the state has shifted dramatically upward, because again, these are more costly students,” he said. “That in itself is reason to be able to put more support towards our public education system, to be able to educate these students.”  

House Education Committee chair Joe Statler, R-Monongalia, said the special education funding issue is a key priority for House leadership moving forward. 

“We’re far from the end of this. We’re just starting this race, and we are committed,” he said.  

Statler said he wants to have a plan to address this funding ready for the 2027 regular session of the West Virginia Legislature.