West Virginia’s Historic K-12 Finance Reform

There’s momentum building in West Virginia for a historic reform that would benefit all public school stakeholders—students, parents, teachers, and others. In his recent State of the State Address, West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey took aim at the state’s K-12 funding system. “This year, I will be asking the Legislature to work with me to open up the antiquated school aid formula so that we can address all of our financial needs at once: those of our families, our taxpayers, and our teachers,” he said.

Gov. Morrisey is right: West Virginia’s convoluted funding formula should be overhauled. 

The Mountaineer State is one of only seven states that uses a resource-based formula, which doles out education dollars based on inputs such as staffing, professional development, and academic materials. For instance, funding for teachers is based on a ratio of 72.3 staff for every 1,000 students, with various adjustments for population density. The formula itemizes funding for substitute teachers, which is unheard of in virtually all other states. 

This approach to K-12 finance is flawed. For starters, it lacks transparency—few people can articulate how the formula works—and basing funding on inputs implies there’s only one right way to organize schools and classrooms.

Research indicates that this type of funding leads to greater standardization across school districts. A study published by the Brookings Institution that looked at Washington state’s resource-based formula concluded, “The evidence from Washington suggests that school districts interpret even non-binding policies as more constraining than they appear to be.”

In other words, when funding is tied to inputs—like the number of teachers and support staff—local officials have less flexibility in making school-level decisions to serve students, even if there aren’t top-down spending mandates. This discourages innovation, making education spending less responsive to students and local needs.  

For state lawmakers, West Virginia’s formula also subjects them to claims that they aren’t providing enough of the various inputs prescribed by the state. When school districts feel less ownership over spending decisions, it’s easy for them to pass the buck and blame the state, which diminishes accountability for improving student results.

West Virginia should modernize its K-12 finance system by adopting student-centered funding, a model that’s used by 30 states, including California, Texas, Tennessee, and Mississippi. The way it works is simple: funding is tied to individual students and adjusted for their special needs, such as learning disabilities and learning English as a second language.

A student-centered funding formula can take many forms, but states typically set a base per-student amount with weights added for classifications such as special education, poverty, and career and technical education. Policymakers can design a formula based on their state’s K-12 priorities, including how to best serve students in sparse or isolated rural school districts.

Student-centered funding would increase transparency and put the focus exactly where it belongs—on students. Rather than discussing staffing and other inputs, funding conversations would center around how to best target dollars to students. It would also signal to school districts that there isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach to education and that they’re free to spend dollars based on students’ needs.

Fortunately, West Virginia lawmakers are taking notice. Senate Bill 471, recently introduced by State Sens. Christopher Rose and Darren Thorne, directs the State Board of Education to adopt student-centered funding. Research and polling show that this should be a bipartisan reform that state and local policymakers can get behind. After California adopted student-centered funding in 2013, 82 percent of superintendents agreed that it leads to greater alignment of their goals, strategies, and resource allocation decisions, and 74 percent indicated that the financial flexibility enabled their district to match spending with local needs. A separate survey found that, of those familiar with the law, 72 percent of likely voters and 84 percent of parents viewed it positively.

It’s time for West Virginia to overhaul its antiquated K-12 funding formula. Student-centered funding would be a win for all stakeholders, especially the state’s 247,000 students.