CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WCHS) — Cuts and layoffs are affecting school districts across West Virginia, most recently in Kanawha and Hancock counties.
Research has suggested the Hope Scholarship has compounded the issue of declining enrollment which is tied to funding.
This fall, the voucher program will be opened up to students all across West Virginia, but before that happens, the House Finance Committee is taking steps to rein it in.
“We want to spend as much as it takes on education, but sky is not the limit,” Del. Joe Statler, R-Monongalia, said. “We don’t have all the money in the world, so we have to decide how we’re going to use it in that context.”
The Hope Scholarship allows K-12 students to get financial aid for tuition, homeschool curriculum and other expenses. In the last school year, more than 10,500 students received the money – double the number of students who participated the previous year.
Sen. Patricia Rucker, R-Jefferson, chairs the Select Committee on School Choice and is not on board with the proposed changes.
“I can’t imagine why anyone would want to hurt a child that way,” Rucker said.
The proposed bill would limit contributions at $5,250 per student. As of now, the scholarship amount is around that, but the amount was expected to increase to about $5,400 for the 2026-27 school year.
“Even the cap on the amount, if we don’t control the cost, it can overburden it and go away all together,” Statler said.
The amount is determined by a state funding formula.
“If we ever reduce our spending, it won’t go down. We increase our spending to public education most times and it won’t go up,” Rucker said.
Students also wouldn’t be allowed to go out-of-state for school.
“We’re disenfranchising a whole lot of our West Virginia students who live close to the border and have a school outside West Virginia but that’s the school available to them,” Rucker added.
Rucker said the scholarship provides parents and students more freedom and legislators more oversight about where students are going and how they’re performing.
“It helps us be able to help them and also make better public policy because we have more information and more data,” she said.
West Virginia Treasurer Larry Pack also signaled opposition to restrictive legislation, stating lawmakers have “infused uncertainty into the program” as more than 20,000 new students look to join in.
“Actions within both bodies are especially troubling because we are seeing these changes less than two weeks out from universal expansion,” Pack stated. “:We believe it is inappropriate, at this time, to push for such drastic deviations and welcome additional discussions down the road on the future of the program.”