The Logan Banner
As most county school systems in West Virginia struggle with declining state aid tied to enrollment, Gov. Patrick Morrisey says he is open to revisiting the state school aid formula. He also supports the idea of “money following the child” and the Hope Scholarship, which itself reduces state support for local public schools.
While those could sound contradictory, Morrisey uses one word to explain his position: accountability.
“What I want to do is focus on outcomes for the students,” the governor said during a recent visit to The Herald-Dispatch office. “What’s going to help get kids better in third grade math and third grade reading and seventh grade test scores as well? That’s what needs to drive it, and that’s one of the reasons why I think if you have money following the child like you see in Hope, and there’s a focus on that accountability and measuring things that’s going to lead to better outcomes.
“We are looking at the school aid formula. That’s another topic we think has not been looked at in a very long time. So we’re very open to that, and whether we do that the same time we bring people together for PEIA, probably depends upon how quick we can develop consensus on that, but it’s going to take a couple months as we look through PEIA and the school aid formula, to meet with all the folks out there to make sure that we’re able to develop consensus.”
