Nearly a dozen schools recently shuttered across Wayne, Logan, Boone, Mingo, and Raleigh counties. Dropping coal severance tax revenues (a primary driver of local county funding) and the state’s $275 million Hope voucher program are combining to defund rural public education.

“Our schools aren’t failing on their own: they’re being starved. As coal production declines and energy policies shift, our counties lose vital tax dollars that help fund our public schools. To make matters worse, state leaders are taking hundreds of millions in public tax dollars and funneling them into private school vouchers, further draining the revenues that keep our local classrooms open.”

— Brian Sanson, UMWA International President

Impact on School Personnel & Local Communities

When a rural school locks its doors, the economic impact goes far beyond classroom reshuffling—affecting cooks, teachers, school nurses, bus drivers, custodians, and aides represented by the West Virginia School Service Personnel Association (WVSSPA) who live and spend their paychecks locally.

“When a rural school locks its doors, it isn’t just students getting reshuffled. Cooks, teachers, school nurses, bus drivers, custodians, and aides, hardworking West Virginia School Service Personnel Association (WVSSPA) members who live and spend their paychecks right here in our towns, lose their livelihoods. It rips the economic rug out from under entire communities.

“This isn’t just a southern West Virginia problem. It is starting here, but it will spread across the entire state as coal jobs go away. We are calling on working families to hold their representatives accountable. Public tax dollars belong in public schools, accountable to the taxpayers and open to every West Virginia child.”

— Brian Sanson, UMWA International President