WV House Democrats ask governor for urgent special session on public school funding

Democrats in the House of Delegates have sent a letter to Gov. Patrick Morrisey requesting that he call the Legislature into a special session to address public school funding as more schools face closure. 

“We have just learned recently that this next school year we can have upwards of 20 schools to close their doors,” said House Minority Leader Sean Hornbuckle, D-Cabell. “As a Legislature and as a state, we’re supposed to be providing for a thorough and efficient school education system, and we have failed to do so.”

“Kids are at stake here,” he continued “Let’s roll our sleeves up, let’s be big girls, big boys, and let’s fight for our students.”

State school officials recently sounded alarm bells about the state of public school funding after lawmakers this year failed to change the decades-old, seven-step public school funding formula. West Virginia’s declining student population has impacted schools’ funding levels, sending districts into millions of dollars of debt. The problem has spurred job cuts and school closures.

West Virginia has lost an additional 5,000 public school students since October, when the official head count occurs to determine the following school year’s funding amounts. 

In the wake of that news, Democratic House members and public school teachers running for office as Democrats held a news conference Thursday at Piedmont Elementary in Charleston, West Virginia.

“I know that right now the governor might be focused on putting on a carnival … once he gets his fair share of funnel cake, and once the tents are packed up and the Ferris wheels packed (up), it’s time for us to get back to work, governor,” said Del. Mike Pushkin, D-Kanawha. “Call us back into special session. This cannot wait until the next session. We are in a crisis mode right now. We’ve got to save our schools, save our communities.”

Kanawha County, the state’s most populous county, had to cut 126 teacher and staff jobs this year due to budget issues. 

Since 2011, 139 public schools have closed in West Virginia.

“In rural areas, that means those students have longer bus rides. It can also mean if their bus stops are moved farther away from homes, parents have a new barrier of transportation trying to get their students to the bus stops,” said Kim Hundley, a public school teacher and Democratic Senate Candidate in Kanawha County. 

Democrats propose 3 bills, including teacher salary increase

House Democrats are proposing three pieces of legislation to be considered in a special session, including an overhaul of the school funding formula. Growing special education needs have outpaced the formula funding since it largely doesn’t account for special education costs. 

In some counties, special education accounts for a quarter of the student population, increasing schools’ budgets due to required services like classroom aids and technology. 

“As public education faces funding cuts, our students are the ones who suffer,” said Matthew Anderson, a special education teacher and Democratic candidate for a House seat in Fayette County. “Many schools do not have enough counselors, mental health professionals or behavioral intervention specialists to meet the increasing needs of our students.”

“Without adequate support, both students and teachers are placed in difficult situations,” he added.

House Democrats are also calling for an increased minimum starting salary for teachers and putting guardrails on the Hope Scholarship, the state’s school voucher program.

Ahead of the session, the Republican-led House paid $114,000 for a study from the RAND Corporation that shared how the state could improve its funding strategy. Study recommendations included increasing overall funding levels for public education, giving more funding to districts with larger numbers of special education students and putting some guardrails on the Hope Scholarship.

Lawmakers’ proposed changes to the Hope Scholarship, including banning its use at out-of- state schools, didn’t move forward this year.   

Lawmakers this year allocated around $277 million to the Hope Scholarship. 

A trio of bills from Senate Education Chair Amy Grady, a public school teacher, would cost around $144 million to make adjustments to the school funding formula, including more money for special education services. A House bill to address the funding formula would have cost around $214 million. The measures didn’t make it to the governor’s desk this year. 

“It’s a matter of priority, not resources,” said Del. Hollis Lewis, D-Kanawha. 

Lawmakers can call themselves into a special session with three-fifths of members in agreement. 

With 11 Democrats in the state 134-member state Legislature, Hornbuckle said they’ve had conversations with Republican House members about the urgency.

“We do have to get more, but it’s going to take all of us to do this, and we stand ready to make that fight,” Hornbuckle said.