The next legislative session is going to have several issues to tackle, including whatever Governor-Elect Patrick Morrisey’s agenda will be, any possible messes left behind by outgoing Gov. Jim Justice, a likely hole to fill in the upcoming fiscal year 2026 general revenue budget, etc. But expect education to take a spotlight.

With the number of traditional public school consolidations increasing and parents becoming angry at the closure of community schools, longer bus rides for their children, and other issues that come from shrinking county populations, some lawmakers are beginning to feel the heat and are looking at solutions.

Some of the population losses in traditional public schools in recent years have come from the handful of public charter schools, the two statewide virtual charter schools that have most of the new charter school students, the Hope Scholarship voucher program designed to incentivize the exodus out of traditional public schools, and open enrollment policies that allow students to transfer to other schools within a county and even jump county lines.

I will be the first to agree with proponents of school choice that the issues with county population loss far outdate the school choice regime in the state, which has only been around really since 2021 (though home schooling and private schooling have always been options). I personally have no problem with open enrollment, charter schools or voucher programs that allow parents to use a portion of the state tax dollars that are already set aside for their children for home or private school options.

However, in creating this broad school choice regime in the state, those in power didn’t stop to think about how those changes would affect traditional public school funding. Now, some will point out that traditional public school funding has increased over the years even as student enrollment has decreased. Some will make the argument that competition will force traditional public schools to improve.

The problem is that the state Constitution makes it a mandate for the Legislature to “provide, by general law, for a thorough and efficient system of free schools.” Education has its own article in the state Constitution. The West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals has already made clear that charter schools and the Hope Scholarship are constitutional and legal. That is fine, but it appears these school choice programs were created as an escape pod from traditional public education. Lawmakers cannon simply abandon one for the other.

I don’t think lawmakers meant to do that. But no one stopped to think about how the state funds our students and how school choice programs affect the state school aid formula. County school systems are funded, in part, by local property taxes, bonds and levies, and the state school aid formula, which has several steps but is largely allocated to counties based on student enrollment. If enrollment drops, state school aid formula funding drops.

The incoming Morrisey administration won’t have too much say over state Board of Education matters, as all current members are appointees of Justice and the first chance for a new appointment won’t happen until November 2025. But it could take a crack at reforming the school aid formula to address these issues.

Other items that should be considered at some point is how our education system operates. Should we have 55 county school systems with superintendents paid upwards of $100,000? Should there be more centralized control from Charleston with regional supervision? Should school systems in the state become hyper-local similar to what happens in Ohio school districts?

How do we push more of this funding we know exists in our school systems down to hiring and retaining certified teachers, bus drivers and support staff, mental health professionals and nurses, etc.? Do we focus on more pay, or making changes to the Public Employees Insurance Agency that increase the pool of plan members and avoid substantial premium and out-of-pocket increases?

I am not here trying to advocate for a specific policy. That’s not my job. But I do believe that our state elected officials probably need to do a complete re-working of how traditional public education works and is funded. Otherwise, someone is going to file another lawsuit and we will get another ruling similar to the one the late Circuit Court Judge Arthur Recht made more than 42 years ago that birthed the state school aid formula in the first place.

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Speaking of PEIA, I know public workers are upset and they have a right to be. It was the actions of Gov. Jim Justice in keeping the premiums frozen until recent years that have caused this spike. Justice said premiums won’t increase on his watch and he is right: he won’t be governor when the actual premiums increase.

Some are asking why, if the state has ended fiscal years with surpluses, why those funds can’t be used to offset costs. For one thing, those surpluses are already spent. What do you think happened during the recent special sessions? But also, now that the 80/20 formula is cemented in state code, the state can’t simply dump money into PEIA without also increasing rates for employees.

Trying to find a dedicated funding stream also won’t work for that same reason. Fact is, PEIA is fully funded now by the state general revenue budget. Once the PEIA Finance Board approves of the proposal, PEIA will be funded for the next plan year as well.

There are options for lawmakers and the incoming Morrisey administration can try to control premium increases in the future. We will see if policymakers avail themselves of these possibilities. In the meantime, I’m told another strike is probably not on the table. This isn’t 2018 and I think public worker unions see several issues that would make a strike short and not particularly effective.