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  • West Virginia
  • Drew Milligan (bio)

OVERVIEW

For FY 2018, the Public School Support Program (PSSP) provides financial support for 55 county school districts and seven multicounty vocational centers (WVDE, 2017a). The PSPP provides a foundation program to fund personnel salaries and benefits, operating costs, and other programs (WVDE, 2017a), using enrollment and employment data reported by the districts as of the second month of the preceding school year (WVDE, 2017e). The number of personnel funded for each district is determined by the district's net enrollment. Each district's state aid allowance is determined by the salary degree classifications and years of experience of the personnel employed by the district. For FY 2018, the PSSP continues the use of funding limits based on the population density ratios of the county. Districts with a lower density factor receive higher funding personnel ratios. On June 21, 2017, Senate Bill 1013, the West Virginia FY 2018 budget, became law.

PRIORITIES

The 2018 state budget totals $4.59 billion (S.B. 1013, 2017). Of that, $1.993 billion, or 43.5%, is allocated for Public Education (WVDE, 2017d). Higher education constitutes $437.2 million, or 9.5% of the budget. The total foundation amount under the PSSP for the 2017–18 academic year is $1.781 billion (WVDE, 2017a). The largest funding area is the $843.2 million allowance under the Professional Educators category (WVDE, 2017b). The budget provides funding for a net enrollment of 274,421 students (OSF, 2017). The total allowance per pupil is $5,678.16. The average local share and adjustment per pupil is $1,665.06. Due to the local share being subtracted from the total allowance per pupil, the average state aid per pupil is $4,013.10. The local county share generated per pupil ranges from $624.62 to $5,756.12 (see OSF). To address the fiscal capacity range, the state provides funding to counties ranging from no state aid to $5012.67.

Compared to the 2017 budget, the foundation allowance has been reduced by [End Page 317] $24,755,746 (WVDE, 2017b). Basic state aid has been reduced by $12,117,732. Retirement Systems has been increased by $23,329,000. Due to the increase in Retirement Systems included in the education funding amount, the total state aid total reduction is $17,161,442. Over a 10-year period, comparing the 2018 and 2008 budgets, K–12, education funding has decreased by 2.1% (WVDE, 2017d); and higher education has decreased by 1.6%. Over this 10-year span, education as a percentage of total state appropriation has declined from almost 60% to 42%.

CHANGES

HB 2561 provides flexibility to districts in using restricted state funds. Up to 50% of instructional improvement funding may now be utilized for personnel. County districts have more flexibility to spend once-restricted technology funding for alternative purposes. HB 2711 (2017) eliminated the eight regional education service agencies and the related $3.6 million in state aid (WVDE, 2017b).

In a June 2017 report, the United States Census Bureau indicated a total per pupil amount ranking of 26th in the nation. The federal per pupil revenue amount ranked 11th. State per pupil revenue ranked 19th. Local per pupil revenue ranked 35th. Per pupil spending amount ranked 40th. School funding revenue per $1,000 personal income ranked 5th. School funding expenditure per $1,000 income 6th. Revenue distribution by source was 10.5% federal, 57.1% state, and 32.4% local.

PRESSING STATE ISSUES

In a January 2017 budget proposal, the governor stated general revenue collections were estimated to be $192 million, -4.6% of the projected figure (Office of the Governor, 2017). As stated in the governor's proposal, "Our state's economy is undergoing a transition period due to changes in the global energy sector" (p. 1). The proposal noted the major challenges of increased state support in the Medicaid and the Public Employees Retirement Programs. Specifically, these two items served as the "largest budget drivers on the expenditure side of the ledger" (p. 7). These pressing issues have increased pressure on citizens to generate additional funding at the local level. Forty-two of the 55...

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