Could Hope be dismantled? The answer is that Hope is always subject to change on election day based on the priorities of you, the voters. 

This article is to provide you, the voters, with the information from Senator Patricia Rucker, who conceived the idea of Hope, the current Governor Patrick Morrisey, who was then the Attorney General who wrote the Hope Legislation, and then defended it and won at the WV Supreme Court, and the WV Treasurer Larry Pack, who is making it successful. 

Accompanying this article is the unedited video of the announcement; you can watch it here. The minute and second entries (0:00) in their remarks below are the reference points in the video. 

“We absolutely set the scale for the entire United States as (2:17) what education freedom should look like. (2:20) And not only did we pass it after it's tossed back and (2:23) forth between the Senate and the House, we made it five years (2:27) hence universal eligibility for all K through 12 students. (2:31) And that's what we're celebrating today.” – Treasurer Pack

“ When you have a program like this, that is the first (7:52) of its kind in the nation, we're going to be the testing (7:55) ground. (7:56) So I think it's been a great journey.(7:58) And we continue to improve, I think, every day and look for (8:01) more improvements. (8:02) I want to really quickly just mention what is HOPE? (8:07) Where did it come from? (8:08) And the reason I want to do that is because I think it's (8:11) easy to forget. (8:12) It's easy to forget. In 2021, nothing like this existed in the country. (8:17) There were education savings accounts in certain states (8:21) that were for particular populations, very, very (8:24) specialized, very, very limited. (8:26) And I was quite, you know, in envy.(8:29) Like, those sound amazing. (8:30) I would love to see that in West Virginia. (8:32) But every single one of those programs limited to a certain (8:36) group.(8:37) And every time I heard about it, I said, well, what about (8:40) that child outside of that geographic boundary? (8:44) What about that child who doesn't quite fit that criteria (8:48) you've set in code? (8:49) What about that child whose parents make $1 over this (8:53) artificial cap that you put in? (8:56) Every time I heard about those limits, my mind automatically (9:02) went to the children that were not included. (9:05) So when we did a universal education savings account, when (9:11) the legislature decided, no, we are not going to (9:15) discriminate. (9:16) We are not going to pick winners and losers. (9:19) We are not going to dictate. (9:21) We are going to support every West Virginia child's (9:25) opportunity to get the best education they can get. (9:29) And if it is a public school, great.(9:32) And let's make certain the public schools are great. (9:35) And we have not just kept up the funding, but increased the (9:39) funding for public education. (9:41) We always try to improve and reform public education. (9:46) But for those who that doesn't fit, that's not what they (9:50) need. Let's try to ensure they also get what they need. (9:54) And I am more proud of this than probably anything else (9:58) I've done in my life up to this point, outside of my five (10:01) beautiful children.” – Senator Rucker

The Hope Scholarship will play an integral role in driving (12:10) the success of West Virginia. (12:12) And so when I first learned about hope back, I believe, in (12:15) what, five years ago or so, I know our office immediately (12:19) went to the law books and we start scrambling around and (12:22) say, wait a minute, we have to defend this now. (12:24) We knew it was going to be coming under attack. (12:28) But we were eager to jump in and to make the ultimately (12:32) successful fight. (12:33) And here's why. (12:34) I believe that money should follow the child. (12:38) I believe that competition is good as a base matter and that (12:42) when you have kids that get to choose, not based upon a (12:47) one-size-fits-all mantra, but they get to go to the place (12:51) that works best for them, that's a difference maker. (12:55) Kids thrive when they're under the right conditions and when (12:59) they're able to work with the teachers that they like, they're (13:03) working with kids that share similar values, when they (13:06) actually get to have that life that allows them to express (13:14) themselves. (13:15) That's what we have here with hope. (13:18) Hope is actually a game changer for many, many reasons – Governor Morrisey

I've talked a lot about the economic backyard brawl over (13:34) the last couple of years.(13:36) And the reason that's so important is whether we like it (13:38) or not, we're in an economic competition with all the states (13:42) that we touch. (13:43) Well, being in a place where we have the best school choice (13:46) system around matters. (13:49) It actually keeps kids here and draws more people to West (13:53) Virginia. – Governor Morrisey

There's so many fantastic stories how this is transforming (2:56) lives in West Virginia. (2:58) You know, whether it's the grandmother in Mercer County, (3:00) who talks about raising her two grandchildren by herself. (3:04) And when she found out that her child, her grandchildren would (3:07) go to a school that had the same faith as her, had smaller (3:10) classes and disciplines she thought her grandchildren would (3:13) needed, she said that with tears. (3:15) There were tears of joy. (3:17) Or the mother in Greenbrier County with the two daughters (3:19) that felt they needed more structure and how they really (3:22) just came out of their shells after being able to take a (3:25) different path in their education. (3:28) We've met a number of times with the diocese, with the (3:31) bishop, and how it's impacting not just Catholic schools, but (3:35) the families of Catholic schools. (3:37) More families can take the opportunity. (3:39) They didn't have that opportunity. (3:40) They couldn't have discussion around the breakfast table (3:43) because they didn't have the money. (3:45) Hope is changing lives.-- Treasurer Pack

Now, when we came out and gave our legislative priorities back (3:56) in November, our number one was protect Hope. (4:00) And so very thankful that we've been able to do that. (4:03) We've done it with the governor's help, with the (4:05) senator's help. (4:06) We appreciate the discussions that we had with both finance (4:11) committees. (4:12) We appreciate Chairman Chris, Chairman Barrett, and their (4:15) committees, their staff, all the conversation we had. (4:18) Because every dollar we spend in West Virginia should be (4:20) vetted. (4:21) It should be discussed. (4:22) And so we really felt like we did a really good job there. (4:26) We really appreciate the team effort it took to get to this (4:29) resolution of the really one change we think we'll get (4:32) through, which is quarterly payments instead of (4:34) semiannual payments, which will take pressure off the state (4:37) budget, therefore take the pressure off the program. –Treasurer Pack

And when you have a program like this, that is the first (7:52) of its kind in the nation, we're going to be the testing (7:55) ground. (7:56) So I think it's been a great journey. (7:58) And we continue to improve, I think, every day and look for (8:01) more improvements. – Senator Rucker

There might be a few bumps in the road between now and (6:04) June 15th for the time to sign up. (6:07) Of course, we're human, but we're going to do everything we (6:09) can to make it as smooth as possible as we get this run up. (6:13) So again, go to the website. (6:15) If you're not finding what you need, call our office.--Treasurer Pack

We're pro-Hope scholarship. (6:34) We're also pro-public schools. (6:37) We need to give our children the best opportunity, whether it's (6:40) an education choice or whether it's public school.(6:43) Our work's not over. (6:44) Governor Morsirisey’s work's not over. (6:46) Senator Rucker's work's not over.(6:48) We're going to continue to work to make sure the children have (6:50) the best choices, whichever direction they take in West (6:53) Virginia. (6:53)-- Treasurer Pack

As the treasurer indicated, it's critical to have hope be (14:14) successful. (14:15) But that's not at the expense of public school.(14:18) We think that you can have a wildly successful program (14:21) empowering families to make the right decisions, but you (14:25) can also work constantly to improve our public schools and (14:29) make sure that educational attainment is great for everyone (14:32) across the state. – Governor Morrisey

 I think, when it comes to public (18:30) schools, we have to give them the tools to react, the tools (18:34) to manage a decline in number of children in their schools. (18:38) And I think that's where we probably have not helped them. (18:42) We've got too many rules, too many one size fits all rules (18:45) that come out of this {Capitol} building to help Berkeley County. (18:47) Right now they've got to run their school system just like Monroe (18:50) County does. (18:51) And those counties couldn't be more different. (18:53) So I think the more local control that we give county (18:56) school systems, the better they'll do. (18:57) I think also that we're a big advocate that our teachers are (19:01) underpaid. (19:02) We made a big thing about we think every teacher should make (19:05) at least $50,000. (19:07) And if you make more than $50,000, you should make $2,000 more. (19:10) The 3% increase that teachers got this year, they got no (19:13) increase last year. (19:14) That didn't catch us up. (19:16) We need to do more with respect to that issue. (19:19) And again, I think the other thing is we can get more money (19:21) in the classroom. (19:22) If we can give our teachers more authority to manage the (19:25) classroom and teach in the classroom, we'll get better (19:27) results. (19:28) But again, from a public policy standpoint, the number one (19:31) thing I believe this {Capitol} building should do is education of our (19:35) children. (19:35) We need to focus on it. (19:37) We can't just do one side. (19:38) We can't just do education freedom and not do public (19:40) schools. (19:41) We need to do both.(23:44) We can afford both systems. (23:46) But we've got to make sure that we give each system the tools (23:48) to be successful. But again, we can have both systems.-- Treasurer Pack

Hope provides for all children to get what they need. (10:19) And it makes them the priority.-- Senator Rucker

(15:39) Our kids are going to be first. (15:41) We're going to stand strong based upon principle.-- Governor Morrisey

Remember, when it comes to the education of your children, (5:34) there's really only one thing more important than the (5:36) education of your children, and that's your child's faith (5:39) journey. (5:40) Parents pray about their education for their children. (5:43) They talk about it.(5:44) They worry about it. (5:45) So when they make these choices, these are weighty choices. (5:48) And so we're so thankful that parents have decided to take (5:51) this direction and go this direction – Treasurer Pack