MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — After the latest round of legislative interim meetings, chair of the House Education Committee Chairman Joe Statler says is confident some meaningful education financial reform can be completed.
Statler, R-Monongalia, said Monday that up until about a month ago, it looked like education could have been the high-profile issue. Then enter Flock cameras, data centers, and transmission lines, and there are three more legitimate top priorities added to the task list for the next session in Charleston.
“This may be the year of education,” Statler said. “But you know as well as I do that Flock cameras and data centers have taken a lot more attention.”
Funding for special education has been a known problem, but a long-term solution has been elusive. Districts across the state have a total deficit due to the shortfall in funding of up to $200 million.
“That is weighing down a lot of the county systems,” Statler said. “Making up the difference between what the state and the federal government put into the funding formula for that.”
Scaling back the expansive Chapters 18 and 18A of the West Virginia education code has been talked about for decades and is a topic of continued discussions. Statler said they have been meeting with education officials across the state to find portions of the code that could be scrapped and lead to financial savings.
“We’re still in meetings with county superintendents across the state and business officers looking at sections of that code we could revamp to save counties some money,” Statler said.
The future of the general fund revenue surplus is in question as totals fall year over year. In addition to education, lawmakers still have to find the funding for PEIA, road maintenance, the DoHS, and child welfare while many elected officials still call for cuts to the personal income tax.
“I do have some concerns, and we have to be careful,” Statler said. “Unless you cut spending, you can’t cut revenues coming in, or you’re going to dive over the cliff.”
Statler has been meeting with the chair of the Senate Education Committee to organize education issues for the upcoming session. Both chambers are working to determine where they have common ground on education issues they’ll be able to capitalize on during the next legislative session.
“We’re looking at all those issues to see where we can find commonality on issues we can get through both houses and to the governor for his signature,” Statler said.
ACLU-WV put state officials on notice Monday it intends to file a lawsuit next month over public education funding. The ACLU-WV said it will file the lawsuit on behalf of Lincoln County students just like a case that resulted in the Recht decision in 1982.