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There’s been a lot of discussion about West Virginia’s school funding formula. Now lawmakers have a price tag for fixing it.
“One of the things we know is if we want a stronger West Virginia economy in the next 10 to 20 years, then we must properly invest in our public education system today. Education is truly a prevention strategy,” state Superintendent of Schools Michele Blatt said in her opening testimony to the Joint Committee on Education Monday.
“Every child that we prepare for college, a credential, an apprenticeship, the military, or a career has an impact on the future of West Virginia. Therefore, properly funding education is an investment,” Blatt said.
School Finance Operations Officer, Uriah Cummings, told the committee the school funding formula hasn’t changed since the 1980s. Since then, costs have gone up significantly due, in part, he said, to a higher percentage of special education students.
“In 2016, we had 280,000 public education students in the state of West Virginia and roughly about 48,000 special education students,” Cummings said. “This year, we reported enrollment numbers of about 226,000 students and somewhere in the neighborhood of about 51,000 special ed students.”
Since 2016, he said, the proportion of special ed students in the state of West Virginia has risen from just over 14% to over 21%. Cummings said the current formula doesn’t provide for key services to special education students including occupational or physical therapists because those are not instructional positions. It also doesn’t fund a county education treasurer, which is a required position, or director- level positions within the school system including a facilities director, a transportation director, child nutrition director, and an HR personnel director.
“Have you guys looked at what this is anticipated to cost if we passed everything as you just described it?” Sen. Eric Tarr, R-Putnam, asked.
“Yes, sir. So total costs of the proposal is currently set, estimated to be $410 million, of which about $190 million is dedicated towards the special education aspect,” Cummings said.
The department has proposed nine major components to improve public education, some of which could be addressed in the next legislative session.
“We understand that we can’t fund all nine major components in any given year, but we have the language here, we have the proposals, we have the indexes and weights that the other states have used to make a fair and equitable funding system,” Blatt said. “We just are asking for the opportunity for all of us to sit down together. Let’s tear this legislation apart. Let’s determine what we could do this year and maybe what we want to think about for next year.”
The 2027 regular session of the West Virginia Legislature begins on Wednesday, Jan. 13.