Families First: Setting the Record Straight on Education Freedom in West Virginia
- Andrew Handel
- Oct 26
- 1 min read
By: Andrew Handel
The Center Square recently ran an opinion editorial authored by Education and Workforce Task Force Director Andrew Handel. The piece pushed back on recent comments made by West Virginia State Board of Education President Paul Hardesty regarding school choice and the HOPE scholarship program.
In 2021, West Virginia lit the spark that would turn into a flaming beacon of hope for American families. That was the year that the West Virginia legislature passed the Hope Scholarship Program into law, the first education freedom program in the nation available to nearly every K-12 student in a state.
This is why West Virginia State Board of Education President Paul Hardesty’s recent comments on school choice were so disappointing. At a recent board meeting, Hardesty attacked the Hope Scholarship and the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) for allegedly seeking to “decimate public education.”
But Hardesty also encouraged the public not to take his word for anything and to fact-check him. Let’s do that.
First, let’s set the record straight on the Hope Scholarship, which has made West Virginia a leader in education freedom nationwide. In fact, ALEC’s 2025 Index of State Education Freedom placed West Virginia as the sixth best state in the country for parental empowerment through education freedom.
