Lawmakers preparing to make potential changes to West Virginia’s school funding system are scheduled to hear Monday afternoon from schools Superintendent Michele Blatt and School Finance Operations Officer Uriah Cummings.
Both are scheduled to appear at a 2 p.m. Monday meeting of the Joint Standing Committee on Education during interim legislative meetings.
Final decisions never happen at interim meetings, which are meant to be learning experiences, but the scheduled appearance does show cooperation and communication, potentially laying common ground on school funding.
Meanwhile, in the court system, attorneys representing the state Board of Education agree the state Supreme Court should hold off until next spring to consider a lawsuit over West Virginia’s school funding formula.
That could give the Legislature time to handle the issue, the attorneys said in a new filing.
A lawsuit filed in September by attorneys for the American Civil Liberties Union-West Virginia asks the justices to mandate that the Legislature and state officials reform the entire public school funding system to eliminate statewide funding inequities.
The upcoming regular session will offer one more crack at that, wrote the lawyers for the state school board.
“There may come a day when that relief is warranted; however, that day is not before the responsible parties attempt to fix the school aid formula together during the upcoming legislative session,” wrote lawyers for the state board.
“After all, mandating something the Respondents already intend to do puts the cart before the horse. It is only after they fail to do so that mandamus is warranted.”
Last week, a filing by the state Attorney General’s Office, representing leaders in the legislative and executive branches, asked for a delay in consideration until next April and allowing time for lawmakers to focus on school funding during the 60-day regular session.
The newer filing by the lawyers for the state school board was essentially agreeing with that.
Article XII, Section 1 of the West Virginia Constitution explicitly states, “The Legislature shall provide, by general law, for a thorough and efficient system of free schools.”
The ACLU case contends West Virginia is not living up to that standard and was filed as a straight shot to the Supreme Court, asking the justices to force other state officials to fix school funding.
The filing has parallels with West Virginia’s 1982 Recht Decision, a landmark court ruling that declared the state’s public school funding system unconstitutional because it created severe financial inequalities between rich and poor counties.
In recent years, West Virginia has again faced widespread school funding shortfalls, driven largely by an enormous deficit in special education costs and leading to school closures and consolidations all over the state.
West Virginia schools are largely funded through a seven-step formula that is based largely on student population. Total student registration has dropped by 8,270 pupils compared to the prior year.
Education officials have warned that 8 to 20 schools face closure or consolidation across West Virginia in the coming year.
Lawmakers have discussed replacing the enrollment-based funding formula with an updated needs-based tiered system, but all of their proposals have washed up the past couple of legislative sessions.
In recent months, lawmakers have focused several interim committee discussions on possibilities for reforming the school aid formula.
Earlier this month, the state Department of Education rolled out a detailed framework to update West Virginia’s school funding methods, intending for the proposal to be a starting point for legislators to take up.
In the latest legal filing, attorneys for the state board wrote, “Although the State Board Respondents cannot amend the statutory funding formula, they are ready, willing, and eager to work with the Legislature to solve this problem.
“Inaction is not an option: work must be done to ensure the West Virginia Constitution’s promise of public education is fulfilled.”