West Virginia’s comprehensive education savings account program, the Hope Scholarship, allowed families to spend $22 million last school year on things like private school tuition, piano lessons, dance studio fees, iPads and groundwater tables.
The State Treasurer’s Office, which oversees the program, shared its recent 2023-24 school year report with West Virginia Watch through a public records request.
The Hope Scholarship, created by the Republican-led Legislature in 2021is the nation’s most comprehensive program of its kind. Legislature donated another $27 million added to the program in May due to increasing enrollment.
The program provides approximately $4,900 per student that can be used for private tutoring, homeschooling, microschools, educational services and more.
According to the report, total student spending on the Hope Scholarship increased from $7.7 million to $22.3 million in 2023-2024. The state switched to an inexperienced salesmanwhat will cost almost 10 million dollarsto manage the voucher program this year.
““I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the Hope Scholarship Board, our staff and the families involved in this program for their hard work and patience as we have worked diligently to deliver this program and meet the growing demand,” said State Treasurer Riley Moore in the press release report. He is chairman of the Hope Scholarship Board. “I am proud to help every family and child receive the educational opportunities they believe are best for them.”
Of 7,250 applicants in the 2023/24 school year, 5,443 scholarships were awarded to students in almost all districts. Kanawha and Berkeley, two of the state’s most populous counties, had the most grant recipients.
No students in McDowell County, the state’s poorest county, used the program last school year or the 2022-23 school year.
“They claim that this is supposed to be compensation for our poor children, and yet there were no people in our highest poverty county who accepted the Hope Scholarship,” said Dale Lee, president of the West Virginia Education Association. “It shows me that it’s not doing what it’s supposed to do.
More than two dozen public schools could close or consolidate next year due to shrinking enrollment and financial problems since state funding is tied to student enrollment. District leaders have said the Hope Scholarship has exacerbated school funding problemsalthough most of the decline in student enrollment is attributable to the state Overall population decline.
Hope Scholarship issued in 12 other states
According to the report, just over 77% of Hope funds were given to non-public schools. The majority of the funds were given to private, religious schools at home and abroad, where Hope funds can cover all or a vast portion of tuition.
While most of the money was spent in the state, the grant was used for schools and educational services in twelve other states. According to the report, $210,311.41 was used to make payments to non-public schools in Virginia. In Utah, more than $20,000 was spent on educational services. New Mexico received $7,115 from the program, which included the New Mexico Military Institute.
Lee said some of the schools that received money from Hope were not accredited.
“They have little to no responsibility,” he said. “We want to emphasize the accountability of our public schools, but we give taxpayer dollars to nonpublic schools that have almost no accountability.”
Hope Scholarship funds have also been spent on private music lessons, as well as football, cheerleading, jiu-jitsu, dance classes and other sports programs. The Clay Center, a children’s museum in Charleston, also received money from the program.
Jason Huffman, state director of the West Virginia chapter of Americans for Prosperity, said the widespread utilize of the funds shows that West Virginia “has emerged as a leader in education innovation.”
“It highlights the positive impact the scholarship has on West Virginia families,” he said. “Traditional public schools offer a variety of sports and arts programs. I don’t know why people who oppose the program think students shouldn’t have access to the same educational pathways.”
Parents I can also hope for funds to purchase Textbooks, tutoring services, transportation and more. The items are purchased through the MyScholarship Shop, an e-commerce platform where the items have been approved for purchase by the Hope Scholarship Board.
“I find [the Hope board] “has really done a great job of finding a balance between giving parents a lot of flexibility and not making purchases that don’t really make sense,” Huffman said.
In the 2023-24 school year, families spent about $608,000 on computers and laptops, and more than $308,000 was spent on tablets and iPads. Hope funds were also used in the following ways: $507,000 for curriculum, $110,000 for art supplies; $18,915 for PE accessories; $16,000 for musical equipment; and $4,486 for the water table.
According to the report, about $3.1 million remained in students’ accounts at the end of the 2023-24 school year. Any unspent balances in student accounts at the end of a school year will be carried over to the following school year.
There are currently some guidelines for who can utilize the program, including students entering kindergarten. Admission requirements apply for other students. This includes that the student must attend a public school for 45 consecutive days of the school year before leaving school to participate in the program.
Most students who used the program in the 2023-24 school year were kindergarten teachers.
The eligibility of the program will be expanded in the 2026/27 school year shall be open to all school-age children residing in the state.
“However, our efforts to expand the program do not end there. Our board recently approved a policy that allows children of military members who need to temporarily relocate to another state to remain eligible for the Hope Scholarship when they return to West Virginia,” Moore said in a statement.
This school year, more than 11,000 students are enrolled in the program.
Gov.-elect Patrick Morrisey, a Republican, said expanding school options in the state will be a priority during his term. He is a member of the Hope Scholarship Board.
