West Virginians have been waiting with anticipation to see whether the Hope Scholarship enrollment numbers this year would fall under 5% of the net public school enrollment.
This marker would eliminate the rule requiring students to be enrolled in a public school for 45 days to be eligible to apply for the Hope Scholarship. And with nearly 10,000 students now participating in the program for the 2024-25 school year, it seems there is a clear demand.
On July 2, the Treasurer’s Office announced the program would be expanded to all students starting in the 2026 school year. This recent change opens the door for those already attending private school or home educating to participate in the Hope Scholarship without first returning to public school for 45 days.
This decision places West Virginia on the cutting edge of a revolution in education. When passed in 2021, the Hope Scholarship led the way for a massive expansion of school choice nationwide. This year alone, Alabama, Georgia, and Louisiana all created new education savings account programs, with four more states expanding existing programs.
Still, there are harsh critics who continue to spread misinformation about the program. It makes this former history teacher think that there have been other times in our history when there has been great resistance to change in the way we educate, but a change did us all some good.
In the Revolutionary Era, there was much concern about the importance of a “republican education” that would create an active and engaged citizenry to help preserve the now self-governing republic. It seemed self-evident that people who were not educated could not govern themselves. This was not an issue that met much disagreement. Instead, it was a matter of who would be the beneficiaries of this republican education.
Simply, very few advocates favored the claim that women should receive a formal education. Chief among the outliers was Declaration of Independence signatory Dr. Benjamin Rush. In his 1787 letter entitled “ Thoughts upon Female Education, ” he says, “From the numerous avocations to which a professional life exposes gentlemen in America from their families, a principal share of the instruction of children naturally devolves upon the women. It becomes us therefore to prepare them, by a suitable education, for the discharge of this most important duty of mothers.”
Rush was not in the majority at the time; however, I doubt anyone would argue with him today. Someone had to make the argument first even though it wasn’t popular, someone had to lead the way.
The state motto, “Mountaineers are Always Free,” should not be a relic of a bygone era, it should be a factual statement about how we carry out our day-to-day lives.
Despite the naysayers, school choice is growing, and parents are embracing it across the nation. The freedom of citizens to choose an education that is right for their family rests firmly in the classical liberal values that support our individual liberties. The American instinct that refuses to be compelled to do, well much of anything, is refusing now to be compelled into residentially assigned schools.
Now, Mountaineers are freer than ever to educate their children as they see fit and lead the way in the education revolution. Education savings accounts are new to everyone using them, so there will be resistance and bumps along the way. And while ESAs are a novel way of funding education, parents steering their children’s education is not. The Hope Scholarship both preserves the old and embraces the new.
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