State Democrats Renew Calls For Special Session To Address Education Crisis

West Virginia House Democrats have renewed their request for Governor Patrick Morrisey to call a special session to alleviate the financial crisis facing the state’s public school system. They first called for a special session in July. 

In a press conference Monday morning, they said public schools in West Virginia are underfunded by an out-dated school aid formula.  

Del. Sean Hornbuckle, D-Cabell, pointed to the increase of special education students in the state’s schools.   

“That population has risen 25% -- 25%,” he repeated. “We are part of an uber small minority in the whole country that has $0 of funding specifically for that population. That is unacceptable. We cannot continue along like this.” 

They argued the state -- and therefore the legislature -- is constitutionally required to provide for a thorough and efficient system of free schools.  However, the Democrats pointed to dozens of school closures and consolidations in recent years as an indication of the state’s crisis. 

Del. Anitra Hamilton, D-Monongalia, called on the entire House to come together to produce a comprehensive plan that will strengthen public education. 

“Our goal is inclusive of addressing teacher recruitment and retention. That is inclusive of improving student achievement, because one thing we have not addressed is some of our gifted program,” she said. “That is a part of special education as well. We want our children to thrive in public education, not just meet the minimum goals.” 

Hamilton said she was tired of being last in education, and other aspects of the state’s education system needed to be addressed including supporting students’ mental health and school safety in a comprehensive overhaul to ensure all West Virginia students had adequate educational opportunity. 

Del. Mike Pushkin, D-Kanawha, renewed his criticism of the governor’s office for a short and generalized presentation during Sunday’s Joint Standing Committee on Education meeting. 

“I was excited to see that the governor was going to send a representative from his office to come in and talk about his thoughts on school reform, but all we got was some platitudes, we got some philosophizing, some pontification. What we didn’t get was a plan,” Pushkin said. “The governor’s been in office for over a year and a half. Our schools are failing. We saw 14 schools close in the last school year, we’re set to see 20 more possibly close. We are in a crisis mode, and what we got from the governor was a bunch of BS.”