With a special session on education reform looming, the Chamber of Commerce has weighed in with a "comprehensive" report on education outcomes in West Virginia. Like their previous report on the subject, the Chamber analysis focuses solely on education spending, concluding that West Virginia educational outcomes are too low despite the amount the state is…
Education
With this month's Special Session on education reform looming, Speaker Hanshaw has floated the idea of replacing one controversial policy proposal, Education Savings Accounts (ESA), with another, tax credit scholarships. Like ESA's, tax credit scholarships are another voucher-like policy that create financial incentives for students to leave the public school system and enter into the…
West Virginia legislators are considering enacting voucher-like programs to transfer tax-payer money to private schools. This week they introduced a proposal to create Education Savings Accounts (ESAs) as part of the omnibus education reform bill, SB 451, which would set public money aside for educational services, including private school tuition, textbooks and curriculum materials, private…
West Virginia's inadequate public investment in higher education over the last decade has contributed to rising tuition prices, often leaving students with little choice but to take on more debt or give up on their dreams of going to college, according to a Center on Budget and Policy Priorities report released today. The problem is especially serious…
A decade since the Great Recession, state spending on higher education has yet to recover from years of deep cuts, including in West Virginia, according to a new report released today from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. West Virginia was one of 45 states that spent less per student in the 2018 school year than in 2008.…
Among our West Virginia hills, it's likely the most common questions heard upon entering someone's home are: "are you hungry?" and "would you like something to eat." Food bonds us and fuels us. It's engrained in our culture - from garden canning to church meals - making sure our neighbors have enough to eat is…
Julia Hamilton, Extended Day Director for Monongalia County Schools, penned this guest blog on how the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program helps her students and why they can't afford cuts to the program. Congress returns to Washington this week, and members of the conference committee will debate the Senate and House versions to finalize the Farm Bill. One…
West Virginia Community Engagement Program Manager Caitlin Sussman MSW, LGSW penned this guest blog for the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy as part of its coalition efforts to protect and strengthen food assistance that is being threatened by the U.S. House Farm Bill. As a Social Worker at a free health clinic, I…
The West Virginia State Chamber of Commerce released an analysis of education spending in West Virginia, in light of the recent teacher strike over low pay and benefits. The report, subtitled "An Overview of Teacher Pay and Benefits, and Student Achievement," contends that West Virginia is one of the top spenders per pupil on education, with an…
The West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission has been developing a model of performance-based funding for West Virginias higher education institutions, as mandated by the legislature. While 37 states have adopted some form of performance-based funding models for higher education, they have not all been successful, and have led to some unintended consequences. Performance-based funding models for…