Education in West Virginia finds new hope

West Virginia households received in court docket on Thursday when the Supreme Court docket of Appeals of
West Virginia
gave the brand new Hope Scholarship the inexperienced mild.

It’s a tremendous story. In early 2019,
West Virginia
had no
faculty alternative
packages. When the legislature thought-about a restricted faculty alternative invoice,
academics unions
went on strike to dam it. Later that summer time, lawmakers accredited open enrollment and simply three constitution colleges. Then got here 2021. West Virginia’s Hope Scholarship
training
financial savings account program, open to just about each scholar within the state, was the crown jewel. The Hope Scholarship would permit households to make use of state training funding for a wide range of eligible bills, together with tuition, tutoring, and academic providers and therapies.

WEST VIRGINIA SUPREME COURT STRIKES BIG WIN FOR SCHOOL CHOICE

Mother and father like Katie Switzer started planning for the way they’d customise their kids’s training utilizing Hope. Her daughter has a speech delay, so Switzer deliberate to make use of a Hope Scholarship to decide on an academic strategy that may work finest for her distinctive wants. However opponents derailed this system by submitting a lawsuit towards it in January 2022 — lower than two months earlier than the applying window was set to open. The Institute for Justice intervened to defend this system, representing Switzer and one other mom, Jennifer Compton.

Whereas the case made its means via the courts, the state started accepting purposes on March 1 and acquired greater than 3,000 earlier than the Could 16 deadline. These purposes went into limbo when a circuit court docket decide dominated this system unconstitutional in July.

In August, the Supreme Court docket of Appeals of West Virginia agreed to expedite the enchantment. Thursday’s
determination
to reverse the decrease court docket’s determination and permit the Hope Scholarship program to proceed was an incredible aid to the 1000’s of oldsters looking for new instructional choices for his or her kids.

“Right this moment’s actions by the court docket are life-changing for my daughter and her friends all through the state,” remarked Switzer. “It opens the door to tailor-made, adaptable, and welcoming training for each baby, no matter their ZIP code, household revenue, disabilities, or minority standing.”

As dad and mom navigate this new and thrilling instructional panorama, they don’t should go it alone. Earlier this yr, dad or mum Jamie Buckland launched
West Virginia Households United for Schooling
to supply steering and help to folks. “We’re right here to make sure households have high quality choices, learn about them, and have a information to assist them entry them,” she defined. “Hope Scholarship would be the key to the transformation of K12 training within the Mountain State.”

The tide has turned, and oldsters aren’t going again to the times when the district faculty was their solely choice. Whereas there will definitely be roadblocks alongside the best way, it’s clear that training alternative is the long run.

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Colleen Hroncich is a coverage analyst on the Cato Institute’s Middle for Academic Freedom.