Think of education funding like a pizza. West Virginia still slices it using old place settings such as fixed staffing ratios, building costs, and transportation formulas. Students who have left may still get a slice, while new options for families struggle to be served. Some say to make the pizza bigger, but the state already […]

West Virginia still uses a resource-based K-12 funding formula that ties dollars to staffing ratios, buildings, and mileage, not to the students in classrooms. Enrollment has fallen by more than 45,000 since 2000, yet “floors and ceilings” keep funding ghost students while capping fast-growing needs. This one-pager explains a modern, student-based approach: a base amount […]

West Virginia’s public school enrollment has been declining for over 20 years—long before the Hope Scholarship existed. Despite declining enrollment, districts employ more staff than ever and receive funding based on an outdated headcount, with $1.2 billion in COVID relief masking inefficiencies. The Hope Scholarship serves less than 2% of students, yet leaders blame school […]

This collection of wanted posters highlights civics education standards that are either absent or underrepresented in West Virginia’s curriculum. Each poster features a specific missing standard and why it is critical for the foundational knowledge students need to become informed, engaged citizens.

One Big Beautiful Bill is One Big Beautiful Opportunity to Reconnect West Virginians with Stable Work On July 4, President Donald Trump signed the latest congressional reconciliation package, known colloquially as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBB), a sweeping package of federal budget measures including extension of the 2017 tax cuts, spending cuts and […]

West Virginia’s workforce and social services operate through a fragmented system of multiple agencies and caseworkers, forcing residents to navigate bureaucratic silos while the state faces a 16.7% poverty rate, below-average household income, and declining labor force participation rates that significantly trail national benchmarks. The One Door to Opportunity report proposes consolidating these services into […]

CARDINAL INSTITUTE CALLS FOR INTEGRATION OF SAFETY NET AND WORKFORCE PROGRAMS   CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The Cardinal Institute for West Virginia Policy today released a new policy report, One Door to Opportunity, recommending that West Virginia consolidate its fragmented workforce and social service programs into a single, integrated department. West Virginia faces acute economic challenges […]

In its second year of operation, West Virginia’s Hope Scholarship Program continued to demonstrate fiscal responsibility while empowering families. With participation nearly doubling from the prior year, the program accounted for a small fraction of K-12 spending while generating significant taxpayer savings.

CARDINAL INSTITUTE URGES MARKET-BASED REFORMS FOR PEIA   CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The Cardinal Institute for West Virginia Policy today released a comprehensive policy brief calling for market-based reforms to address structural issues within the state’s Public Employees Insurance Agency (PEIA), which provides health coverage for more than 200,000 public employees, retirees and dependents. “PEIA’s financial instability is […]

West Virginia’s Public Employees Insurance Agency (PEIA) faces chronic financial instability, serving over 200,000 public employees and retirees through a system requiring repeated legislative bailouts due to uncontrolled cost growth, limited operational flexibility, and mounting taxpayer risk. The following brief proposes market-based reforms, including Health Savings Accounts paired with high-deductible plans, reference pricing to foster […]