West Virginia
U.S.
Rank
Score:
72%
Grade:
C
Rank:
#24
Having passed the nation’s newest charter school law last year which garnered a big fat F for failing to provide the conditions needed for charters, WVA in March 2021 enacted a new law that dramatically improves the potential that new, diverse charter school opportunities will be created, without the kind of bureaucratic impediments the last law imposed.
Law passed: 2019
Most recently amended: 2021
Number of charter schools: No charter schools yet: The first schools will not open until Fall 2021 at the earliest
Number of charter students: 0
Cap on the number of schools allowed:? Yes. Up to ten charter schools through 2023, and another 10 every three years thereafter.
Virtual charters allowed? Yes
AUTHORIZERS: The new West Virginia Professional Charter School Board, a newly created independent authorizer, now has the authority to authorize charter schools across the state, including virtual schools (2). The new board consists of five voting members, appointed by the Governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate, and is separate from the state’s education apparatus. County school boards and districts are also permitted to authorize, and the State Board of Education can become an authorizer on appeal or if requested by local boards, which was also added in March 2021. The appeals process allows an applicant or governing board of an existing public charter school to appeal adverse decisions from districts to the state board of education within 30 days of the authorizer’s decision.
GROWTH: With the 2021 expansion, the state now permits up to ten charter schools through 2023 among all authorizers, and another 10 every three years thereafter. In addition, virtual charter schools are now permitted. The new West Virginia Professional Charter School Board can authorize an additional two, statewide virtual charter schools which can enroll up to 5 percent of statewide public school enrollment. County boards may authorize one virtual charter school per county, open to up to 10 percent of the county’s public school enrollment.
OPERATIONS: Charter schools have been given new authority as of 2021 to operate their own local education agencies, an enormously important move that ensures that interference by districts and overregulation will be kept at bay. While it’s not certain this will apply fully to district-approved charter schools, which are unlikely anyway, the new charter board will safeguard autonomy for their approved charter schools, and it is that board, not the state education agency, that is responsible for governing its schools. The state board may ensure compliance with critical rules and guidelines but they are not entitled to create new requirements that supersede the intent and letter of the law, a huge win for charter schools. Local or county board authorized charter schools may establish enrollment preferences for children within the primary recruitment area, and limit them to various categories of students that they choose, in other words, limiting options for families.
EQUITY Charter schools are entitled to 90 percent of the per pupil basic foundation funding and federal funding must also follow the student to the charter school of choice. Each public charter school shall remit to its respective authorizer an oversight fee not to exceed one percent of each public charter school’s per-student funding in a single school year.
Score:
Grade:
B
Rank:
#6
In March 2021, West Virginia passed what has been called one of the most expansive education choice laws in the country. Opponents immediately sued and an injunction stood between parents and The Hope Scholarship ESA, an education savings account program that gives parents of public school students the power to choose the education their student deserves, including both public and private schools. But in October, 2022, to cheers from parents throughout the state, The West Virginia Supreme Court overturned a lower court opinion and ordered the program resume immediately.
Law enacted: 2021
Number of programs: 1
Types of programs: Education Savings Account
ESA
The Hope Scholarship
The Hope Scholarship Act, signed into law in 2021, provides power to parents to use their tax dollars to pay for a variety of educational expenses, including tuition and fees at participating private schools and other educational activities. More than 3,000 students were approved to receive approximately $4,300 each during the program’s inaugural cycle, according to the West Virginia State Treasurer’s Office. The first payments were supposed to go out in August 2022, but were put on hold until the lower court’s block on the program was in place. The state Supreme Court issued an order in October reversing a lower court’s ruling, and first payments were issued.The program will expand to include homeschool and private school students in 2026 if the cap on 5 percent of statewide public school enrollment is not met (Details on how to access this scholarship are available here.)
Score:
Grade:
C
Rank:
#14
Links teacher evaluation to professional development policies…“that specifically targets the area(s) identified for professional growth”; but does not have any policies in place that support performance pay.
TRAINING AND RECRUITMENT: 81%
General Teacher Preparation 78%
Elementary Teacher Preparation 90%
Secondary Teacher Preparation 88%
Special Education Teacher Preparation 72%
Alternate Routes 75%
STAFFING AND SUPPORT: 71%
Hiring 80%
Retaining Effective Teachers 61%
TEACHER EVALUATION: 81%
TEACHER COMPENSATION: 72%
Score:
72%
Grade:
C
Rank:
#24
Having passed the nation’s newest charter school law last year which garnered a big fat F for failing to provide the conditions needed for charters, WVA in March 2021 enacted a new law that dramatically improves the potential that new, diverse charter school opportunities will be created, without the kind of bureaucratic impediments the last law imposed.
Law passed: 2019
Most recently amended: 2021
Number of charter schools: No charter schools yet: The first schools will not open until Fall 2021 at the earliest
Number of charter students: 0
Cap on the number of schools allowed:? Yes. Up to ten charter schools through 2023, and another 10 every three years thereafter.
Virtual charters allowed? Yes
AUTHORIZERS: The new West Virginia Professional Charter School Board, a newly created independent authorizer, now has the authority to authorize charter schools across the state, including virtual schools (2). The new board consists of five voting members, appointed by the Governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate, and is separate from the state’s education apparatus. County school boards and districts are also permitted to authorize, and the State Board of Education can become an authorizer on appeal or if requested by local boards, which was also added in March 2021. The appeals process allows an applicant or governing board of an existing public charter school to appeal adverse decisions from districts to the state board of education within 30 days of the authorizer’s decision.
GROWTH: With the 2021 expansion, the state now permits up to ten charter schools through 2023 among all authorizers, and another 10 every three years thereafter. In addition, virtual charter schools are now permitted. The new West Virginia Professional Charter School Board can authorize an additional two, statewide virtual charter schools which can enroll up to 5 percent of statewide public school enrollment. County boards may authorize one virtual charter school per county, open to up to 10 percent of the county’s public school enrollment.
OPERATIONS: Charter schools have been given new authority as of 2021 to operate their own local education agencies, an enormously important move that ensures that interference by districts and overregulation will be kept at bay. While it’s not certain this will apply fully to district-approved charter schools, which are unlikely anyway, the new charter board will safeguard autonomy for their approved charter schools, and it is that board, not the state education agency, that is responsible for governing its schools. The state board may ensure compliance with critical rules and guidelines but they are not entitled to create new requirements that supersede the intent and letter of the law, a huge win for charter schools. Local or county board authorized charter schools may establish enrollment preferences for children within the primary recruitment area, and limit them to various categories of students that they choose, in other words, limiting options for families.
EQUITY Charter schools are entitled to 90 percent of the per pupil basic foundation funding and federal funding must also follow the student to the charter school of choice. Each public charter school shall remit to its respective authorizer an oversight fee not to exceed one percent of each public charter school’s per-student funding in a single school year.
Score:
Grade:
B
Rank:
#6
In March 2021, West Virginia passed what has been called one of the most expansive education choice laws in the country. Opponents immediately sued and an injunction stood between parents and The Hope Scholarship ESA, an education savings account program that gives parents of public school students the power to choose the education their student deserves, including both public and private schools. But in October, 2022, to cheers from parents throughout the state, The West Virginia Supreme Court overturned a lower court opinion and ordered the program resume immediately.
Law enacted: 2021
Number of programs: 1
Types of programs: Education Savings Account
ESA
The Hope Scholarship
The Hope Scholarship Act, signed into law in 2021, provides power to parents to use their tax dollars to pay for a variety of educational expenses, including tuition and fees at participating private schools and other educational activities. More than 3,000 students were approved to receive approximately $4,300 each during the program’s inaugural cycle, according to the West Virginia State Treasurer’s Office. The first payments were supposed to go out in August 2022, but were put on hold until the lower court’s block on the program was in place. The state Supreme Court issued an order in October reversing a lower court’s ruling, and first payments were issued.The program will expand to include homeschool and private school students in 2026 if the cap on 5 percent of statewide public school enrollment is not met (Details on how to access this scholarship are available here.)
Score:
Grade:
C
Rank:
#14
Links teacher evaluation to professional development policies…“that specifically targets the area(s) identified for professional growth”; but does not have any policies in place that support performance pay.
TRAINING AND RECRUITMENT: 81%
General Teacher Preparation 78%
Elementary Teacher Preparation 90%
Secondary Teacher Preparation 88%
Special Education Teacher Preparation 72%
Alternate Routes 75%
STAFFING AND SUPPORT: 71%
Hiring 80%
Retaining Effective Teachers 61%
TEACHER EVALUATION: 81%
TEACHER COMPENSATION: 72%
Score:
Grade:
B
Rank:
#10
In 2017, West Virginia passed legislation creating the Virtual Instruction Program Policy, which allows full time virtual learning options for students in the state, differing between counties. The state also receives grant money for online learning from the US Department of Education funded E-Learning for Educators Initiative. More information found here.
The West Virginia Virtual School opened in 2000, and is a supplementary program for West Virginia students. Students in public, private, and homeschool can enroll in online courses ranging from core content, credit recovery, technology, and world languages. There are approximately 6,000 students enrolled in courses.
Bandwidth: “100% of students in West Virginia can access the Internet at speeds of 100 kbps per student, and many students are connected at higher speeds.”
Well not entirely intended for personalized learning there is hope under the Innovation in Education Act, which gives public schools an opportunity to become Innovation in Education schools and gain autonomy and flexibility in shaping their learning environments, teaching strategies, curriculum and school structure around the student and their interests. Innovation in Education schools focus their core curriculum on five areas: STEM; community school partnership; entrepreneurship; career pathways; and art. In 2019, they amended the act to add mastery-based learning as one of the core areas, so students could advance based on content mastery, not seat time.
On March 16, schools were closed for the remainder of the school year in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. On April 15, the West Virginia Remote Learning Framework for the COVID-19 Emergency was released by the WDOE. Instead of ensuring that all students had access to devices and the internet, the state wrote “Keep in mind that many families have limited, if any, data or internet and one device that must be shared among multiple people. To ensure equal access, educators can provide activities that do not require internet access”. With little regard for good remote learning, educators of elementary students were counseled to make regular contact once a week minimally through handwritten letters, email, local news, phones, etc. “Focus on children’s progress and learning, not assignment completion and due dates. Being flexible. Keep in mind that children may have other familial responsibilities to prioritize or may have limited access to resources. This process may include documentation of learning and giving feedback rather than assigning grades.”
For high school teachers, the state ed officials said that “the combined daily instructional task(s) for students in grades 6-12 not exceed 2-3 hours a day in total.”
Resources were provided, though minimal.
Reopening guidelines for the 2020-21 school year were more thorough, but varied by region of the state. Regions with high rates of the coronavirus were not permitted to reopen for in-person instruction. Transmission rates are reviewed weekly to determine when schools can reopen. The school year began September 8 for students, whether in person or virtually.
Fast Facts
4th Grade Math Proficiency:
8th Grade Math Proficiency:
12th Grade Math Proficiency:
4th Grade Reading Proficiency:
8th Grade Reading Proficiency:
12th Grade Reading Proficiency:
Graduation Rate:
Average SAT Score:
Average ACT Score:
Public School Enrollment:
Percent Enrolled in Charter Schools:
Average Student Funding:
Score:
Grade:
B
Rank:
#10
In 2017, West Virginia passed legislation creating the Virtual Instruction Program Policy, which allows full time virtual learning options for students in the state, differing between counties. The state also receives grant money for online learning from the US Department of Education funded E-Learning for Educators Initiative. More information found here.
The West Virginia Virtual School opened in 2000, and is a supplementary program for West Virginia students. Students in public, private, and homeschool can enroll in online courses ranging from core content, credit recovery, technology, and world languages. There are approximately 6,000 students enrolled in courses.
Bandwidth: “100% of students in West Virginia can access the Internet at speeds of 100 kbps per student, and many students are connected at higher speeds.”
Well not entirely intended for personalized learning there is hope under the Innovation in Education Act, which gives public schools an opportunity to become Innovation in Education schools and gain autonomy and flexibility in shaping their learning environments, teaching strategies, curriculum and school structure around the student and their interests. Innovation in Education schools focus their core curriculum on five areas: STEM; community school partnership; entrepreneurship; career pathways; and art. In 2019, they amended the act to add mastery-based learning as one of the core areas, so students could advance based on content mastery, not seat time.
On March 16, schools were closed for the remainder of the school year in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. On April 15, the West Virginia Remote Learning Framework for the COVID-19 Emergency was released by the WDOE. Instead of ensuring that all students had access to devices and the internet, the state wrote “Keep in mind that many families have limited, if any, data or internet and one device that must be shared among multiple people. To ensure equal access, educators can provide activities that do not require internet access”. With little regard for good remote learning, educators of elementary students were counseled to make regular contact once a week minimally through handwritten letters, email, local news, phones, etc. “Focus on children’s progress and learning, not assignment completion and due dates. Being flexible. Keep in mind that children may have other familial responsibilities to prioritize or may have limited access to resources. This process may include documentation of learning and giving feedback rather than assigning grades.”
For high school teachers, the state ed officials said that “the combined daily instructional task(s) for students in grades 6-12 not exceed 2-3 hours a day in total.”
Resources were provided, though minimal.
Reopening guidelines for the 2020-21 school year were more thorough, but varied by region of the state. Regions with high rates of the coronavirus were not permitted to reopen for in-person instruction. Transmission rates are reviewed weekly to determine when schools can reopen. The school year began September 8 for students, whether in person or virtually.
4th Grade Math Proficiency:
8th Grade Math Proficiency:
12th Grade Math Proficiency:
4th Grade Reading Proficiency:
8th Grade Reading Proficiency:
12th Grade Reading Proficiency:
Graduation Rate:
Average SAT Score:
Average ACT Score:
Public School Enrollment:
Percent Enrolled in Charter Schools:
Average Student Funding:
Jim Justice (R)
1st Term (Term Began in 2019)
Until spring of 2021, Governor Jim Justice was presiding over one of the worst education environments of any state. Attempts to create more innovation and opportunity were met by resistance. But he, advocates and new lawmakers renewed their efforts, and seeing what Covid wrought, encouraged the expansion of the state’s charter school law and what is considered one of the best education choice programs in the country which he signed into law in March, 2021.
A long time heavily union-influenced Republican legislature finally recruited enough new lawmakers in November 2020 to give them a pro-parent power super majority, which allowed them to shed their union loyalty and enact a law bringing choice to every child in West Virginia for the first time ever.
The West Virginia Supreme Court, in a vote of 3-2 overturned the decision of the Kanawha County Circuit Court judge and ruled the Hope Scholarship Program constitutional. The Hope Scholarship Act into law in 2021. It provides money for a variety of educational expenses, including tuition and fees at participating private schools and other educational activities. While West Virginia is one of only 13 states without Blaine Amendment, but the court nevertheless claimed the program was unconstitutional based on the ideology that it undermined the state’s ability to deliver public education by sending money to follow students, which is not the case.
School report cards are easily accessible by clicking the Education Data tab on the main page of the West Virginia Department of Education website. Report cards are easy to understand and navigate by school districts, including a “scorecard explained” tab which is helpful for parents.
Educational options are not easily accessible.
School board elections are not held during the general election cycle, which usually means lower voter turnout.
Jim Justice (R)
1st Term (Term Began in 2019)
Until spring of 2021, Governor Jim Justice was presiding over one of the worst education environments of any state. Attempts to create more innovation and opportunity were met by resistance. But he, advocates and new lawmakers renewed their efforts, and seeing what Covid wrought, encouraged the expansion of the state’s charter school law and what is considered one of the best education choice programs in the country which he signed into law in March, 2021.
A long time heavily union-influenced Republican legislature finally recruited enough new lawmakers in November 2020 to give them a pro-parent power super majority, which allowed them to shed their union loyalty and enact a law bringing choice to every child in West Virginia for the first time ever.
The West Virginia Supreme Court, in a vote of 3-2 overturned the decision of the Kanawha County Circuit Court judge and ruled the Hope Scholarship Program constitutional. The Hope Scholarship Act into law in 2021. It provides money for a variety of educational expenses, including tuition and fees at participating private schools and other educational activities. While West Virginia is one of only 13 states without Blaine Amendment, but the court nevertheless claimed the program was unconstitutional based on the ideology that it undermined the state’s ability to deliver public education by sending money to follow students, which is not the case.
School report cards are easily accessible by clicking the Education Data tab on the main page of the West Virginia Department of Education website. Report cards are easy to understand and navigate by school districts, including a “scorecard explained” tab which is helpful for parents.
Educational options are not easily accessible.
School board elections are not held during the general election cycle, which usually means lower voter turnout.