The children of West Virginia are guaranteed a thorough and efficient system of free schools by our state constitution. However, due to the growing Hope Scholarship, declining state revenues, and disruptions to federal funding and support, this guarantee is at risk for the nearly 90 percent of school-aged children in the Mountain State that are educated in public schools.
The Hope Scholarship is a school voucher-style program that diverts taxpayer funds to families to cover private school or homeschool-related costs. Research shows that these types of programs harm public schools by siphoning public funds that could otherwise be used for supporting and improving public schools while simultaneously benefiting wealthy families and those whose children already attend private schools or homeschool. Voucher programs often begin with limited restrictions that broaden over time leading to ballooning costs, increased diversion of public funds, and reduced investments into public education and other public services.
The Hope Scholarship started with almost no restrictions, no public accountability mechanisms, and broad allowances for spending and overall program costs. This has allowed for more than $80 million in public funds to go to private schools and homeschool settings both within and outside of the state. Notably, many of these schools are not accredited and are not required to admit students of all backgrounds or to ensure that all students receive the accommodations and support necessary for their well-being and success.
Now, in the fourth year of this expanding program, costs have risen from just under $10 million in the first year to over $100 million. How did we get here? What’s in store for public schools? What can lawmakers do to support them?
View the full timeline below to learn further details about the growth of the Hope Scholarship, its impact on public schools in our state, and opportunities for lawmakers to take action.
The West Virginia Chamber of Commerce has garnered much media and lawmaker attention recently with a press release decrying the state’s jobs numbers. While they are right that the numbers are lackluster, West Virginia’s flagging economic landscape is not a recent phenomenon.
West Virginia had the ninth worst job growth of any state coming out of the pandemic with 1.1% growth between February 2020 and July 2025 (the nation has seen a 4.8% increase over that period). West Virginia’s disappointing economic and jobs numbers over the last several years should be seen as a final nail in the coffin for corporate-first policies that fail to prioritize workers, small businesses, and infrastructure investments statewide. West Virginia needs to invest in a 55-county strategy to spur opportunity from Weirton to War.
In recent years, much of the state’s economic development strategy has focused on offering business tax incentives to big corporations to locate in West Virginia alongside enacting deep tax cuts to make the state more “appealing” to businesses. These efforts have yet to move the needle on economic and jobs’ growth while coming with great opportunity costs.
West Virginia has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on business tax incentives in recent years through tax abatements, tax credits and cash handouts. A leading researcher on tax incentives, Tim Bartik, has identified why they are a costly and ineffective approach, particularly in places like West Virginia with large parts of the state made up of economically distressed areas.
First, the big corporations lured by business tax incentives are unlikely to locate in the places that need them most. Of the “top investments” touted by the West Virginia Development Office in their 2022 and 2023 annual reports, 71% located in a border county and 80% in a county with a higher median household income than the statewide average.
Second, business tax incentives have the highest cost-per-job of any economic development strategy, coming in at a whopping $436,000 per job on average. And these high costs for taxpayers result in little benefit for West Virginia workers, as state officials have failed to include local hiring provisions and strong wage requirements in the agreements.
To summarize, business tax incentives largely help big corporations subsidize out-of-state workers, cost much more than other economic development strategies and concentrate economic growth in places that are already doing well.
Since 2023, West Virginia has also enacted $1 billion in tax cuts, two-thirds of which benefited the top 20% of earners in the state. While the promised jobs boom and sales tax growth have failed to materialize, the state has significantly reduced its spending on Medicaid, child care assistance, education and PEIA. This has undoubtedly cost residents jobs, as it has resulted in fewer child care slots, the lowest teacher pay in the country and shuttered community schools with the impacts most concentrated in rural places. Moreover, the foregone revenue from those tax cuts could have helped the state invest in infrastructure and other necessities in struggling parts of our state.
Instead of continuing to give away our tax dollars to corporations and the state’s wealthiest households, West Virginia can invest in an economic strategy that strengthens supports for workers, invests in our communities, and spurs job opportunities even in economically distressed places. West Virginia policymakers can take a people-first approach that prioritizes more cost-effective business development strategies alongside a commitment to public investments and infrastructure improvements in all corners of the state.
Targeted job creation programs like those operated by the Coalfield Development Corporation and the Small Business Development Center can be scaled up along with investments in place-based customized job training, union apprenticeship programs, business incubators and site-ready infrastructure development whose cost-per-job is a fraction of that of business tax incentives and can be targeted to distressed areas.
And those targeted efforts on the business side must be paired with robust investments in the communities that need it most. Prioritizing taxpayer dollars into public transportation, affordable child care, high quality community schools and on-the-job training programs can help increase employment rates at a reasonable cost-per-job while making our residents more workforce ready.
Basic infrastructure needs must be met to ensure all West Virginians have safe roads and bridges, clean drinking water and resilient infrastructure. In 2025, it’s unconscionable for any community to lack these basics. Combined, these efforts can effectively target distressed places by creating jobs in addition to providing the supports people need to be successful in the workforce while remaining in the communities they love. If we continue to let corporations decide where our investments should go, too many West Virginians will be left behind and our jobs numbers in vast swaths of the state will remain disappointing.
Read Kelly’s full op-ed.
Back to school season always brings excitement and hope. This month as West Virginia’s students head back to school, many families and school staff will also have to navigate the effects of shrinking state K-12 funds, which are falling well below past levels this year. Inadequate state K-12 education funding is having clear impacts including community school closures and consolidations, vacant positions due to uncompetitive pay, and dwindling course offerings and extracurricular activities in some parts of the state. Amid proposed federal funding changes and state legislation to seize some local property tax revenue from some school districts, policymakers must affirm their commitment to the state’s constitutionally guaranteed system of free schools.
According to the most recent comparison data available, in school year 2023, West Virginia’s per pupil K-12 education spending ranked worst among the states in our region, slipping to 32nd among all states and the District of Columbia (from 29th in 2022). West Virginia’s total per pupil spending of $14,575 is worse than any of our neighboring states and is nearly $2,000 less per student than the national average of $16,526.
The key determinant of education spending in West Virginia is the Public School Support Plan (PSSP), the state’s resource-based school funding formula, which allocates funding to school districts for the costs of operating schools. The PSSP involves a multi-step formula that determines a school district’s total “basic foundation allowance” based on student enrollment.
Compared with 2009, total PSSP funding has declined by 11 percent once adjusted for inflation.
Within the PSSP’s basic foundation allowance, each school district’s local share (or property taxes for the school system) is subtracted and the difference is funded by state dollars, known as the “state aid allowance.” The state’s share of PSSP funding is 17 percent below 2009 levels for fiscal year 2026.
While state PSSP funding did see a slight increase from 2023 to 2025, that is largely the result of the Third Grade Success Act, which seeks to address early literacy and numeracy development in early grades by placing aides in classrooms. If not for the new funding associated with the Third Grade Success Act, state PSSP funding in FY 2026 would be down by 22.9 percent compared with 2009 (WVCBP calculation).
While student enrollment did drop between 2009 and 2026, the decline in state PSSP funding (17 percent) outpaced the enrollment decline (14.7 percent), meaning the state’s per pupil spending is also falling behind compared with past years, as further evidenced when comparing total per pupil spending with our region and the national average.
School districts are also facing additional funding challenges due to disruptions to federal funding. The last of federal pandemic-era support through the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) Fund expired last year, leaving a major budgetary gap. Statewide, the loss of these funds amounts to about $246 million annually. Several school districts including those in Mingo County, McDowell County, Mercer County, Summers County, Webster County, and Barbour County were particularly impacted by the expiration of this support.
Additionally, earlier this summer, the Trump administration froze $25 million in essential funding for afterschool and summer programs, literacy instruction, and English language instruction. While the funding was later released, it served as a reminder of the uncertain budgetary landscape for public schools in our state. The federal budget for K-12 education in FY 2026 still remains to be seen, with the Trump administration’s budget request calling for significant cuts to public education funding.
West Virginia’s public schools are doing their best to meet the needs of their students and communities amid historic uncertainty and fiscal challenges. Due to budgetary challenges, school districts across the state have terminated staff, cut programs, and closed or consolidated schools. While these actions may seem like a solution by offsetting or deferring costs, for many districts the challenges persist and these cuts could have the consequence of stalling or reversing post-pandemic learning and attendance gains. Randolph County, which terminated more than 30 school staff last year, is now under a state of emergency, and still faces a budget deficit and potential school closures.
Public schools serve the vast majority of school-aged children in West Virginia and will continue to do so regardless of the expansion of alternative education options. Policymakers must prioritize the funding needed to ensure all students have well-funded, well-resourced community public schools available to them, which serve all students regardless of religion, learning or behavioral needs, and background.
Read Kelly and Tamaya’s full blog post.
After years of flat budgets that fail to account for the cost of inflation on public services, West Virginia’s state spending on Medicaid, child care assistance, public education, and higher education have all declined. Meanwhile, other areas of the budget, namely spending on jails, prisons, and foster care, have increased dramatically. This is an expected result of disinvestment from what is often referred to in child welfare and prevention spaces as “primary supports” or economic and concrete resources available to support families within their homes and communities before they are in crisis.
Primary supports include health care programs, cash and housing assistance, child care subsidies, and food stamps, among other public benefits programs. Plenty of research is available that shows how primary supports improve outcomes, including the role of Medicaid in reducing future levels of incarceration and the strong relationship between programs like SNAP and child care assistance and improved child well-being. Research also shows an inverse relationship between state spending on primary benefit programs and rates of child maltreatment—put simply, states that spend more through their state budgets on these programs have fewer children in the foster care system.
West Virginia policymakers and residents must recognize that cuts to social safety net programs and education will inevitably result in poorer child welfare outcomes and higher spending on the harmful downstream effects of their disinvestment.
Since 2019, inflation-adjusted state spending has declined significantly for primary supports including:
Those inflation-adjusted spending declines demonstrate that West Virginia is providing less fiscal support to those programs than it did just six years ago, resulting in less robust services available to fewer people.
Inflation-adjusted base budget spending for Medicaid is down 27 percent, although overall state spending is down just 10 percent as some of those reductions have been offset by increases in the provider tax.
These reductions in state spending have serious consequences for families and the economy, as they have resulted in increased family health care and child care costs, less access to care for those who can no longer afford it, and considerable impacts on community schools, including closures and consolidations, staffing shortages, and reduced course offerings.
In addition to these specific programs, the state budget has also shrunk overall by nine percent since 2019. Given this declining budget, there has been little room for expanding or enacting programs that support families. As such, West Virginia continues to lack resources to invest in cash assistance programs like a state-level Child Tax Credit or Earned Income Tax Credit, both of which help strengthen child welfare outcomes, while programs like child care assistance have experienced outright cuts—even before accounting for inflation—rather than expansions.
Despite the state’s shrinking overall budget, some programs have seen significant budget increases over that period. State spending on public education outside of the school aid formula is up by six percent, though all of the increase (and then some) is due to spending on the Hope Scholarship, which did not exist in 2019. If not for the Hope Scholarship, non-school aid formula education spending would also be down.
State base budget spending on correctional facilities, which includes both youth and adult jails and prisons, is up by 38 percent since 2019—a shocking budget increase compared with austerity in most other areas of the budget. Similarly, state spending on non-Medicaid Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR) services—which are primarily foster care and adoption services—is up by 18 percent.
As highlighted earlier, there is a clear connection between disinvestment in public services and increased economic costs in reactive, downstream programs like the child welfare and carceral systems. It’s also essential to note the immense human cost associated with the trauma that comes along with being placed in those systems. Prior research from the WVCBP has noted the dramatically worse health outcomes for those who have been incarcerated, as well as maltreatment and abuse of both incarcerated youth and adults. Similarly, the WVCBP has documented the harms to children and families separated by the child welfare system. Among other adverse impacts, youth who have been in foster care are more likely to have a major depressive disorder and alcohol or drug dependence and are at a higher risk of suicide. They also often experience negative outcomes in education and employment.
Cuts to health and education programs combined with increases in carceral spending have an exponentially dangerous effect on our children and families and they end up costing West Virginians—both fiscally and societally. As a result of less proactive, primary investments, we end up spending more on the backend through punitive, often harmful carceral systems.
Read Kelly’s full blog post.
The Trump administration’s Fiscal Year 2026 proposed budget calls for $4.5 billion in cuts to K-12 programs and $12 billion in total cuts to public education, including higher education programs. This is yet another effort to undermine public education following over $6 billion in withheld and delayed funding to public schools this summer, efforts to dismantle the Department of Education, and the recently approved federal tax credit voucher program.
The proposed budget aims to consolidate numerous programs including those for literacy instruction, support for vulnerable students, support for rural education, academic enrichment, art, school safety, student assessment, family engagement, before- and after-school programs, and summer programs into a single program with significant cuts to funding. The proposed budget also aims to eliminate support for community schools which provide comprehensive academic, social, and health services to students, families, and communities. Programs for educator development and support, adult education, and support for migrant students will also be eliminated.
West Virginia public schools will lose over $73 million in federal funding. Comparatively, the funding for the Hope Scholarship for this school year alone amounts to $110 million. If this funding was delegated for public schools rather than the Hope Scholarship, West Virginia could have had the capacity to fill the gap that will be left by the federal funding cuts. As it stands, our state does not have the ability to fill that gap. West Virginia is more reliant on federal funding than most other states. Federal funding made up half of the state’s budget for the current fiscal year, compared to about one-third of other states’.
The loss of these funds could mean the end of essential support for students, additional costs for families, and the loss of teachers and other school staff at a time when many public schools in our state are already struggling to meet the needs of their students. Public schools’ current hardships have resulted in numerous staff terminations, cuts to student programs and services, and school closures and consolidations across the state. More than 20 schools were closed or consolidated last school year–following over 50 in the previous five years–and there are even more closures on the horizon. In July, Roane County was placed under a state of emergency by the West Virginia Board of Education due to financial deficits that amount to about $2.5 million in FY 2025 and $2.9 million in FY 2026. In the attempt to close this deficit, Roane County proposed closing two schools at the end of the school year. Roane County will lose about $250,000 in federal funding under the proposed FY 2026 budget.
View this interactive tool to see the federal funds that your school district will lose if this budget is approved. Congress can still take action to maintain essential funding and protect public schools for children across the nation.
Read Tamaya’s full blog post.
West Virginia’s and Louisiana’s governors have each committed and sent hundreds of National Guard members to deploy to Washington D.C. in an act of federal overreach that has not been requested by D.C.’s elected leaders and leaves their own states’ residents less safe.
The West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy and Invest in Louisiana stand with D.C. residents and organizations calling for the immediate recall of our states’ National Guard troops. D.C.’s elected leaders have not asked for our states’ assistance—and have been clear in their opposition to the overt federal presence in their city.
In each of our states, the National Guard has a long and proud tradition of service. In addition to protecting our states, they are among the first on the ground when disaster strikes—from deadly flooding to hurricanes—helping our people recover and rebuild. Using them as political props for a vague, ill-defined, and unwanted deployment in D.C. puts them and the residents of D.C. in harm’s way and sets a blueprint for military takeovers of cities across the country. Deploying our troops as political props also pulls them away from their families and jobs, leaving our states less prepared when real emergencies happen at home.
“It’s currently the height of hurricane season in Louisiana, and our National Guard soldiers are needed at home—not deployed as political props in a city where they aren’t wanted,” said Jan Moller, executive director of Invest in Louisiana. “This week Louisiana remembers the devastation from Hurricane Katrina, which struck the Gulf Coast 20 years ago. Following that tragic storm, Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco refused a request from then-President George W. Bush to federalize the National Guard. She understood how important it was for the Guard to remain under local control, not used for federal law enforcement. Gov. Jeff Landry should remember that important lesson, listen to D.C.’s elected leaders, and bring our troops home.”
“Governor Morrisey should immediately recall and bring our National Guard members home to West Virginia. The people of our state are proud, independent, and fiercely protective of our local control. It’s easy to imagine what the response would be if the federal government deployed another state’s National Guard in one of our cities over the vehement opposition of our elected leadership. Deploying our National Guard to Washington D.C. when the city’s elected leaders have made clear their opposition to federal presence in their city is in conflict with our West Virginia values,” said Kelly Allen, executive director of the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy.
This Administration is using D.C. as a testing ground to normalize military force—without the presence of any real crisis—setting a dangerous precedent for how it may respond to states and localities that assert their independence.
The people of Washington D.C. deserve the same autonomy and representation in Congress that each of our states’ residents enjoy. They go to work, raise their families, and try to live as best they can just like everybody else in this country.
We call on Governors Landry (LA) and Morrisey (WV) to immediately recall all members of our states’ National Guard from D.C. in order to better support our safety at home, as well as to respect the autonomy and dignity of the residents of D.C. Our governors should be focused on what’s happening at home—rising costs, a weakening labor market, and federal slashing of our public safety net—instead of scoring political points off the backs of D.C. residents.
We further call on all of our members of Congress to support Washington D.C.’s fiscal autonomy by passing a fix to restore the $1 billion funding cut forced on them earlier this year and rejecting anti-Home Rule riders that exert control over D.C. local decision-making.
Read our full statement.
President Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill passed in July cements the largest cuts to Medicaid in US history. Tens of thousands of West Virginians are at risk of losing their health insurance as a result. Various elements of the legislation take effect at different times over the next several years. A recent article, including insight from WVCBP executive director Kelly Allen, provides further details. Excerpt below:
Nearly 55,000 West Virginians will lose Medicaid health insurance over the next decade, according to an estimate by KFF, a health analysis and news nonprofit.
Congress passed the “Big Beautiful Bill” last month, but your ability to get treatment won’t end right away. People will lose care more gradually – here is how and when the changes are expected to affect you.
Who relies on Medicaid in West Virginia?
Say you work a low-paying job and your employer doesn’t offer health insurance.
Or maybe you live in an isolated part of the state to be close to family, so you work odd jobs to get by.
You may be someone who uses Medicaid because you’re too disabled to work, someone who spends all your time caring for a family member or someone in active addiction.
One in ten West Virginians who receive Medicaid is likely to lose coverage over the next decade.
Just over 500,000 state residents have Medicaid as of this month, according to the state Department of Human Services.
How did the new law change Medicaid?
Congress made the biggest cuts to Medicaid in two ways.
Medicaid is a matching government program, meaning it’s partially funded by the state and partially by the federal government.
When President Donald Trump signed the bill into law last month, the federal government restricted how much it will give states for Medicaid.
As states receive less money, they will be forced to stop paying for some of your care.
In addition, the law requires you to prove that you are working to qualify for Medicaid based on income.
Medicaid historically covered people for reasons like old age, illness or pregnancy. In 2014, officials expanded the programs to cover people based on income alone.
In West Virginia, about one third of Medicaid recipients, 165,000 people, are covered because they’re considered low-income.
Kelly Allen, executive director of the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy, noted state health officials will ultimately determine how you’ll demonstrate you’re eligible, such as by providing a W2 or paystub.
You could lose coverage if you are working but aren’t able to prove it.
The law states that you don’t have to meet this work requirement if you’re:
But you could lose coverage if you can’t prove you meet those exceptions, and states are given discretion to refine the definitions of terms like “medically frail” and “complex medical conditions.”
“We don’t know what that’s going to look like yet, whether that’s a doctor’s visit, a doctor’s note, or proof of being in regular treatment,” Allen said.
2026
Next year, the state will receive less money for Medicaid, and cuts incrementally increase until 2034.
Health analysts predict state officials may first cut some of your Medicaid services.
For example, other states frequently cut dental benefits when facing tough budget years.
West Virginia officials could choose to cut some other state services to divert money to Medicaid.
But in January, your representatives in the state Legislature won’t have as much money to allocate due to other costs, including tax cuts, the Hope Scholarship and the rising cost of the state health insurance program, PEIA.
And if you or someone you love experience addiction, you should know West Virginia lawmakers discuss ending coverage of medication for fentanyl and other drug cravings.
2027
The biggest coverage losses begin in 2027, when Medicaid work requirements begin. But states can start work requirements a year sooner or a year later with federal permission.
If you’re 19-64 years old and enrolled in Medicaid for low income, you must prove you work, volunteer, participate in a work training program or perform some combination of those activities for at least 80 hours per month. You may also go to school half-time.
You might lose coverage because you can’t find a job or can’t pay for a vehicle to get to work.
If you’re on Medicaid based on your low income, you’ll also face two additional challenges in 2027.
The state will require you to prove you’re eligible for coverage every six months instead of every year, which current law requires. So if you move, or you’re evicted and become homeless, you could lose care if the state can’t contact you.
Medicaid currently pays for health care costs you had up to three months before you enrolled. In 2027, pre-enrollment coverage will decrease to one month.
2028
The state may start charging you up to $35 for some services and would be permitted to deny care if you can’t pay.
So you might not be able to pay for a visit when you’re behind on bills or need groceries.
2029-2034
As states lose more and more Medicaid funding over the next decade, the Georgetown Center for Children and Families estimates that by 2034, 7.5 million Americans will have lost Medicaid.
Read the full article.
Check out our recent explainer videos here and here to learn about upcoming changes to the ACA Marketplace.
Read this article to learn more about the impacts for West Virginians if health insurance tax credits are allowed to expire at the end of the year.
Labor Day celebrates the contributions of workers across the country is coming up next Monday, September 1. We hope you enjoy the holiday weekend!
At the WVCBP, we’re committed to fighting for workers’ rights and a prosperous Mountain State where everyone has meaningful and equitable access to jobs.
State of Working West Virginia is the WVCBP’s annual report series that examines West Virginia’s economy through the lens of its workers—the people who power our state and our economy. Check out some of our recent editions:
Barbour and McDowell counties! Do you have questions about how federal funding changes will impact health care in your community?
Join the WVCBP for a community conversation where you can:
You can find details about date, time, and location for the respective community conversations in the flyers below. At each event, a presentation will be provided by WVCBP staff.
You can RSVP for the Barbour County event here and the McDowell County event here.
For more info, please email our community engagement coordinator, Alex.
Do you have questions about how recent federal funding changes will impact health care access and your community?
The WVCBP is here to help. We are offering to host community conversations for concerned community members to:
If you are interested, please fill out this form and we will be in contact with you about scheduling a community meeting near you!
