Craig Snyder, a biology teacher at Winfield High School, wants the state’s next governor to give teachers a raise.
The teacher salary in West Virginia is the worst in the country. With proposed price increases for the Public Employees Insurance Agency – a monthly spousal supplement for state employees would more than double – Snyder said teachers need more than just a raise to potentially cover their insurance costs; he called it “quite a mess.”
“It would be great if it could be adjusted in a controlled way and we could actually get raises that weren’t just a reaction to the premium increase,” said Snyder, who has taught for three decades. “The governor did not resolve this issue after the teacher strikes of 2018 and 2019.”
The gubernatorial candidates, Republican Patrick Morrisey and Democrat Steve Williams, both found common ground during a debate on Tuesday when they agreed that the state should find a long-term funding solution for PEIA and augment teacher salaries.
But the two men differed on how they would solve other problems in public education Financing deficitsa wave of proposed school consolidations and low test scores. Additionally, the number of students is failing, in part due to students taking advantage of the state’s education savings account program.
Morrisey, the state’s attorney general, sees the continued focus on school choice as a key to encouraging public schools to be more competitive. Giving families choices would improve the quality of public schools, he said. “The quickest way to do this is to make the Hope Scholarship very broad,” he said.
Already one of the most comprehensive ESA programs in the country, the Hope Scholarship provides $4,400 per student that can be used for private schooling, homeschooling and more with few restrictions. Its advocates, including Morrisey, argue that providing money to families makes it easier for them to access learning opportunities and that most families take advantage of them to attend private, religious schools.
It is available to all West Virginia students in 2026. During the debate, Morrisey said no more about what expanding the program might look like.
Fred Albert, president of the American Federation of Teachers-West Virginia, said Morrisey’s proposed expansion of school choice “would further strain public education and treat the majority of West Virginia students who continue to attend public schools as second-class citizens.”
“We cannot expect public school students to perform better if we deprive them of resources and investment. Many of these students are among the most vulnerable members of our state’s population and need even more resources to address their challenges,” Albert said.
Williams, who served as mayor of Huntington three times, expressed concerns about public money going to private schools. More than $300,000 in Hope scholarship funds were used in out-of-state schoolsand a 2023 West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy report It is estimated that this would cost public schools $21 million.
“How do we control where these public funds go?” asked Williams.
Could county school boards see consolidation?
Under West Virginia’s school aid formula, the state share of per-pupil funding follows the child as they leave public schools to utilize the Hope Scholarship.
Headmaster I said Students leaving for the Hope Scholarship, combined with the state’s failing population, created budget deficits.
Dale Lee, The president of the West Virginia Education Association teachers union said he expects there will be more education job cuts in the future, leaving less funding for students who remain in public schools. The remaining educators have more responsibilities, he said.
“As the number of students declines, districts are increasingly experiencing financial difficulties,” he said. “We’re seeing a lot of our districts having these consolidation discussions because students are leaving.”
Several counties have announced plans for school consolidations this year, including Clay, Kanawha and Wetzel.
Morrisey and Williams also commented on possible consolidations of county school boards as student enrollment declines.
Williams would like to see the creation of “regional pacts” in which administrative tasks could be consolidated.
“What I prefer is regionalization, but also keeping the counties,” Williams said. “The reality is we can save a lot of money…if [we] Give local school boards some freedom to make some decisions,” he said.
Morrisey has made scrutiny of state agencies and programs a central part of his campaign.
“I think we can achieve efficiencies. Because [in] “In 55 counties, there has to be a way to save money in those counties,” he said. “Would I consolidate? I think we can certainly find ways to cut down on some of the bloated bureaucracies that are out there, share services and do things a lot better.”
April Estep is a teacher in Boone County who is running as a Democrat for the House of Representatives. She worries that consolidating her local school board with border districts like Kanawha and Logan could result in fewer resources for her compact district.
“Who will make sure we get the resources we need? I think it would be a bad idea to lose that local control,” she said.
Morrisey and Williams have not outlined clear plans for a raise the state’s low test scoreswho are still lagging behind after the pandemic-related learning loss. The latest results have been displayed that 35% of students had good math skills, 44% had good English skills, and 29% had good science skills.
“One of the things I want to do if I get the opportunity to be governor is to sit down with all the people who run a lot of these schools and talk to them about the metrics — the core metrics, English and math and science – and look for ways we can improve,” Morrisey said.
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