Charleston Gazette-Mail – School is officially back in session for children across the Mountain State — with the vast majority (90%) receiving their education in our public school system. The new school year brings excitement and opportunities, but this year in West Virginia it also brings challenges as school districts face serving their students with fewer resources as a result of declining enrollment — in large part due to the Hope Scholarship and expiring federal school funds.
Read the full op-ed.
Over the past few years, all West Virginia schools received federal funds to address learning loss resulting from the pandemic and support students’ social, emotional, and mental health through the federal pandemic-era Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund. The last of these funds, known as ESSER III, are set to expire this year and must be obligated by the end of this month.
A recent report by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities found that West Virginia is one of 15 states that will be most impacted by the end of ESSER funds. This will be especially impactful for lower income school districts as ESSER funds were distributed using an equity approach which allocated more funds to the districts with higher amounts of low-income students. Over half (60%) of West Virginia school districts have more than one-in-five of their students living in poverty.
