By Ryan Quinn, Charleston Gazette-Mail
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Leaders of the new Republican supermajority have queued up a “school choice” doubleheader for the very first meeting of the House Education Committee Thursday: charter schools and vouchers.
The charter school bill (House Bill 2012) would allow faster charter school expansion in the state and online-only charter schools, plus form a new board that could authorize a statewide online-only charter school.
The controversial 2019 omnibus education law allowed the state to have charter schools for the first time — but not virtual ones.
The voucher bill (House Bill 2013) would give parents public money to send their children to private schools — which, in West Virginia, are overwhelmingly Christian schools — or to homeschool them. The range of education expenses parents could spend the money on would be nearly unlimited…
