By Joselyn King
For The Intelligencer. Wheeling News-Register
WHEELING – He is not providing details yet, but West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey confirmed there is work happening behind the scenes to reform the state’s public school funding formula.
He expects there could be some announcements on the subject coming in the weeks and months before state lawmakers convene for their regular session in January.
“We’ve been digging in and looking at those issues. We have already taken some actions we think will help for next year and we will announce those at the appropriate time. We are trying to help,” he said.
“We have talked about the principles that have been undergirding our actions.”
Morrisey noted there have been discussions “to bring efficiencies into the system.”
“We know that in terms of aggregate spending, nationally we’re in the middle of the pack. It’s not like we’re behind,” he said. “The question is how do we allocate resources – not necessarily the aggregate amount of dollars (being allocated).
“There will be some new dollars in play, so we’ll talk about that. I think it’s important that we put our resources into directly educating our kids, and making sure we pay teachers the right amount. Any effort to reduce administrative bloat and gain efficiencies through the school systems, we need to be looking at.”
The West Virginia Legislature will be looking into these matters in their next regular session, but Morrisey hopes they can get started before then.
“In the next few months before the session, we’ll probably have some more announcements on that,” he said. “We have been working at ways for some communities to access additional monies. We’ll announce that in the coming weeks or the next two months.”
The West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy has released information showing that West Virginia allocates a smaller share toward administration in its public school than all neighboring states and the national average.
About 6.6% of West Virginia’s education budget goes toward funding administration, according to the agency. Maryland and Virginia are both at 7.2%, while Pennsylvania is at 7.3%.
Leading the local list are Kentucky at 7.9%, and Ohio at 8.6%.
The national rate is 7.5%, according to the agency.
Public schools in West Virginia receive about $19,600 per student, funded primarily through state allocations, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.
Of that amount, about $9,170 per student comes from the state, while local funding – mostly through property taxes – contributes another $6,820 per student. Federal funding kicks in the final $3,591 per student, mostly in the form of special education grants, according to the center.
Those pushing for more funding for public schools cite the growing cost of inflation as a factor, as well as new financial constraints on school district resulting from the loss of students attending non-public schools through the availability of the Hope Scholarship.
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