Budgets for public schools are being cut drastically now that the US Supreme Court has decided that public funding can be used for private school choices.

Randolph and Upshur County schools are among the many public school systems that are coming up short of funding because parents are deciding to use their vouchers for homeschooling or private schools.

Now West Virginia schools have no requirements for either accountability or equity. Families can use their $4,500 vouchers for a smorgasbord of public schools, public charter schools, public magnet schools, micro schools, online learning, parochial schools, and mix and matched learning.

Everything is possible, but nothing is really accountable under the current government.

Anything can pretend to be a school these days. Some people mistakenly think that Kump Education Center is a private school, and nothing could be further from the truth that H. G. Kump stood for as Governor in West Virginia.

His own parents had to struggle to find knowledgeable people to serve as teachers in the one-room schools he attended near their farm. Some of the teachers were actually housed at the Kump home.

When his teacher went on to a better-paying job, Guy was asked to “teach the other students all that he knew.” He had done well in his eighth grade year, but he knew he was not prepared to be the teacher

When he ran for governor in 1932, the County-Unit School System was the first thing on his agenda. At that time the nation was in the Great Depression and teachers were not being paid at all in many West Virginia counties. The tax funding stream was very unclear and rural communities could not collect enough taxes to pay for schools and teachers. Even the big cities were having trouble paying for public schools, but most children in rural areas had little or no schooling before 1900.

In the twentieth century, public school systems throughout the United States worked to improve standards for teacher certification and provide appropriate education for all students — even those with special needs. Public schools were not expected to teach religion because it violated the establishment clause of the Constitution, but parochial schools were available. Elkins had a Catholic school until c. 1965, and the Adventist school offered a responsible alternative curriculum in the early days of the new century.Schools were not perfect, but there was a commitment to accountability and equity.

People who care about the public good need to recognize that our future depends upon the quality of education for everyone in our future workforce. Now we need to find new ways to give private support to public education in our own local communities.

Next week, this columnist will suggest new ideas for supporting public schools with private funding.