West Virginia
U.S.
Rank
Rank
#6 B
Overall PPI Score: 83%
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Leadership
Your Governor:
Patrick Morrisey (R) (75)
First Term Began in 2025 (Two Term Limit)
Incoming Governor Patrick Morrisey is a strong advocate for education opporunity. As the Attorney General in 2022, he helped overturn the challenge to the Hope Scholarship program and will help see it through to statewide eligibility in 2026. At the same time, he has pledged to audit agencies to ensure tax dollars are going with students, and not going to waste.We look forward to seeing even higher peaks reached in the Mountain State in the next four years.
STATE LEGISLATURE:
The heavily pro-parent legislature continues to improve upon the strong foundation that was created just a short time ago. With champions such as State Senator Patricia Rucker constantly fighting to improve innovation and transformative programs in the state, West Virginia seems to continue its climb to the summit of education opportunity.
Constitutional Issues
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.
Transparency
School report cards are accessible in the “Data Analysis & Research → Education Data” section of the West Virginia Department of Education website, which takes the viewer to an external website called ZoomVW. The report cards, organized by school districts, are user-friendly and feature a helpful "scorecard explained" tab for parents to easily understand and navigate.
Educational options are not easily accessible. Information about the state’s Charter Schools can be found through an independent search engine.
School Board elections in West Virginia occur separately from the general election cycle, often resulting in reduced parental influence and a diminished ability to make their voices heard due to lower voter turnout.