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Discipline, School Safety, and the Protection of Instructional Time

March 6, 2026

Students cannot learn and teachers cannot teach in persistently disruptive schools. This one-pager highlights reforms to strengthen discipline, restore order, and protect instructional time in districts under state intervention.

Academic Standards, Curriculum, and Instructional Coherence

Academic recovery requires more than new leadership. This one-pager focuses on fixing fragmented standards, weak curriculum guidance, and inconsistent instruction so takeover districts can deliver a stronger, more coherent education.

Financial Oversight & Fiscal Integrity in State Takeover Districts

State takeover should bring real fiscal accountability, not more unchecked spending. This one-pager outlines reforms to improve transparency, tighten financial controls, and ensure taxpayer dollars are tied to student outcomes in struggling districts.

How K-12 Funding Works in West Virginia

February 17, 2026

West Virginia’s K–12 funding comes from three main sources: state, local, and federal. This one-pager explains what happens when a student uses the Hope Scholarship: the state share tied to that student can follow them, while local property tax/levy dollars stay with the district, and federal funds remain with public schools through targeted programs.

West Virginia’s hospital debate is missing a key piece of the financial picture

West Virginia’s hospital debate is missing a key piece of the financial picture Debates over hospital policy in West Virginia usually follow a familiar pattern. Hospital systems warn that their finances are weak. Industry groups say they have too many patients with government insurance. Certificate of Need (CON) rules are defended as needed to keep […]

The Payer Mix Narrative

February 9, 2026

Hospitals in West Virginia increasingly point to “payer mix” as the explanation for shrinking services and financial strain, arguing that heavy Medicare and Medicaid enrollment forces them to rely on higher commercial prices and special regulatory protections. But that claim has become a policy argument more than a financial reality. This paper examines what the […]

Op-Ed: Hospitals Collect Tax Breaks. West Virginians Collect Medical Debt.

February 4, 2026

To many West Virginians, healthcare continues to be a burden more than a lifeline as roughly 180,000 residents, or 13.3% of adults, now facing some sort of  medical debt. This is well above the national average of 8.6% and, even worse, nearly one in four of these residents in rural Appalachia have medical debt in […]

Who’s Caring for West Virginia?

February 1, 2026

This paper examines the growing burden of medical debt in the Mountain State and asks a simple question: Are non-profit hospitals holding up their end of the bargain? Despite receiving millions in tax exemptions and public subsidies, many West Virginia hospitals provide little direct charity care to patients who cannot afford treatment. Using federal and […]

Healthcare in West Virginia

January 21, 2026

Healthcare in West Virginia Healthcare policy is complicated. These resources make it understandable. If you are trying to make sense of West Virginia’s latest healthcare debates, you are not alone. PBM regulation, PEIA’s recurring funding crises, and Certificate of Need laws all affect what care costs, where it is available, and who has choices. We […]

Special Circumstance Reviews as Diagnostic for Systemic Failure in West Virginia Public Schools

January 18, 2026

West Virginia’s Special Circumstance Reviews (SCRs) are often treated as responses to isolated crises. This paper argues that they reveal something bigger. Across multiple county findings and nine state interventions, the reviews point to recurring breakdowns in governance, finance, compliance, and school climate that persist long enough to trigger state action. The pattern suggests systemic […]

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