Randolph County is at the epicenter of the public education earthquake in West Virginia. The shock waves of this cataclysmic situation ripple throughout this state, and similar seismic conditions exist wherever small populations try to operate schools with limited funding in the computer “Information Age” when adults are moving to urban areas and having fewer children. Recognizing demographic reality is essential for the survival of local communities.

The current conditions that exacerbate the Randolph County problems are the national political pressure for “School Choice,” the extreme expense of providing transportation in a large rural area, and the added expense of computer technology causing the “Digital Divide” to be deeper in remote areas where internet services are not reliable and population trends cause young families to move away to urban areas,

The national political pressure for “School Choice” first became popular in cities like Chicago during the 1970s and 1980s. It helped poor children escape the violence of inner city school and experience academic success by using public transportation to go to better schools on the other side of town. This tool of upward mobility works where there is a population concentrated in a limited urban area. It is not the best way to meet the needs of students in a sparsely populated rural county.

The current WV “Hope Scholarship” is the most damaging change in education that our area could experience. In Randolph County we have the largest geographical area with a sparse population ill equipped to provide enough tax money for the public schools that we had before this chaotic “school choice” plan was enacted. Now with limited tax money being siphoned off for homeschooling, online learning, and private schools, the task of balancing the Randolph County School Budget is impossible.

The best remedy for this situation is SB 516 introduced by Senator Robbie Morris to provide extra state aid for school districts where students are enrolled in remote schools. Extra funding should be provided by the state to allow support services for students in these remote areas. Otherwise, our population will not only continue to shrink, but it will be less and less able to take care of its remaining people.

Throughout the Twentieth Century the US population increased in cities where better paying jobs attracted young families. This pattern of urban growth has continued into the new millennium, but people are having fewer children, and the whole population is aging. These changes are particularly noticeable in West Virginia where the demand for schools and the size of our tax paying population are decreasing now and for the foreseeable future.

If we equate shrinking populations with general decline, West Virginia will become increasingly depressed unless we are able to provide better educational and economic opportunity for young families. Seniors who want to keep low property taxes need to rethink their investment plan. Senior voters and business owners must pass school levies to invest in a future if we expect younger people to provide goods and services.

We urgently need to reassess our values and pass a levy to provide funding for Randolph County Schools.