and more children who are in foster and kinship care who are homeless or housed in juvenile facilities,” Sullivan says.“ Our public schools are on the frontline in dealing with these issues each day as they welcome every child who walks through the schoolhouse doors. These children, regardless of ZIP code or circumstance, depend on our schools to do their best by them and fulfill the promise of a thorough and efficient education included in the state constitution.”
One of the biggest issues linked to these challenges is adequate school funding. West Virginia spends around $ 2.5 billion on education each year, which is the largest portion of the state budget, but there are concerns about how these dollars are allocated.
“ We should find ways to increase the compensation for our educators,” says West Virginia State Treasurer Larry Pack.“ As much money as possible should be flowing to classrooms and supporting teachers so they can provide individualized learning for their students. We know this is the way to increase educational outcomes for students, but too many dollars get tied up in bureaucracy or non-educational projects.”
Pack explains that funding is part
of the broader scope of education in the state.
“ Most of West Virginia’ s problems can be tied to two things: lack of jobs and population decline,” he says.“ We must focus on attracting young families to West Virginia. This means we
Lee speaks at Oklahoma Education Association event.
Photo by Roy Bishop.
need robust, quality educational options and good-paying jobs. These are always the top quality of life factors that determine where families move.”
Teacher attraction and retention remains one of the biggest challenges in the current sphere of education.
“ We need certified teachers and other skilled employees to deliver the highest quality education possible to our children,” says Dale Lee, co-president of Education West Virginia( EWV).“ It’ s pretty simple: in order to attract and retain these people, West Virginia has to offer a competitive salary and quality benefits to compete with neighboring states.”
Education funding is a very complex topic, and one prevailing example of this is the discussion over the Hope Scholarship, which offers qualifying West Virginians in K-12 an opportunity to receive financial assistance that can be used for a number of things, such as tuition and homeschool curriculum. Many leaders are worried the scholarship is misallocating necessary resources and, in turn, accentuating the funding issue in public education.
“ West Virginia public schools are being severely affected by the expansion of the Hope Scholarship program,” Lee says.“ This program drains resources from our public schools and leads to cuts in programs and services for public school students.”
Sullivan reinforces that the Hope Scholarship has led to staff cuts.
“ As counties are expected to do more with less, losing students and funds to Hope Scholarships and charter schools, they are forced to cut staff in their schools,” she says.“ At the same
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WEST VIRGINIA EXECUTIVE