All Of West Virginia's Public School Teachers Are On Strike — Here's What To Know
Every one of West Virginia's 55 counties has closed its public schools today on the third day of a walkout by public school employees protesting for better pay and benefits. It is the largest strike of public school employees in the state's history, and 277,000 students are affected. Here's what you need to know.
The Teachers Walked Out After The Governor Signed A Bill Authorizing Small Raises Over The Next Few Years
Three unions representing teachers and public school service employees decided to strike after the state passed legislation last Wednesday night that didn't fully address their concerns.
It began on Thursday, a day after West Virginia Governor Jim Justice, a Republican, signed legislation providing teachers, school service personnel, and state police with a 2 percent pay increase starting in July and scheduling 1 percent pay hikes for teachers in 2020 and 2021…
Christine Campbell, president of the American Federation of Teachers-West Virginia, told CNN that's a reduction from an earlier version of the bill — which would have instead added a total 5 percent increase in wages. She also said teachers in surrounding states make $5,000 to $20,000 more than West Virginia teachers.
[Vox]
West Virginia Is The 48th-Ranked State In Terms Of Teacher Pay
The average teacher pay in West Virginia was $45,622 in 2016, which was about $13,000 below the national average and makes West Virginia the 48th ranked state for teacher pay. Practically, the state's low teacher pay makes it difficult for many teachers to make ends meet.
"You know, as a professional degreed teacher, working two jobs, I qualify for WIC and food stamps," said Jacob Fertig, an art teacher at Riverside High School in Belle, in Kanawha County. WIC is the Women, Infants and Children food and nutrition service, a federal program.
"We collected on the WIC, so that's how low teacher pay is. There were a lot of times where we got to choose between groceries and health coverage for my family. This isn't just an issue of a bunch of people squabbling over a little bit of insurance benefits or a little bit of pay — we are really in a bad place here as far as that stuff goes."
[CNN]
Teachers' Take-Home Pay Has Also Suffered Because Of Rising Healthcare Costs
The strike isn't just about gross salaries. Kym Randolph, the communications director for the West Virginia Education Association, told the New York Times that teachers have borne the brunt of rising healthcare costs and that the state doesn't have a plan to make health insurance more affordable for its employees.
Ms. Randolph said that teachers' salaries had stagnated for years and that the lack of state contributions to the health care plan had meant that inflation costs have been borne by the employees, who are struggling under higher deductibles, premiums and out-of-pocket expenses.
While the board of the Public Employees Insurance Agency, which administers the health care plan for state employees, has agreed to freeze rates in 2019, the teachers want a more permanent funding fix.
It Is Technically Illegal For Teachers To Strike In West Virginia
Before the school employees began their walkout on Thursday, the state's attorney general, Patrick Morrisey, released a statement warning them that it violated state law.
"Let us make no mistake, the impending work stoppage is unlawful. State law and court rulings give specific parties avenues to remedy such illegal conduct, including the option to seek an injunction to end an unlawful strike.
"This illegal work stoppage affects hundreds of thousands of students and families across our state. Our office is prepared to support any relevant state agency or board with legal remedies they may choose to pursue to uphold the law. We also stand ready to assist and support any county board of education or county superintendent as they enforce the law."
The State Is Considering Asking For A Court Injunction Against The Striking School Workers
Governor Justice, referring to himself in the third person, told reporters over the weekend that he may seek a court intervention to force striking teachers to return to work.
Speaking to a group of reporters just before union leaders announced that West Virginia teachers would continue their strike Monday, Justice would not rule out seeking a court injunction to force teachers to go back to work.
"Jim Justice gets it that (teachers) are unappreciated and underpaid," Justice said. "But Jim Justice has got to do his job too, and I will. Don't anybody doubt my resolve. I will do my job, and this is that prudent thing to do — what we're doing right now."
[WVNews]
West Virginia's Teachers Last Went On Strike In 1990, But This Is The First Truly Statewide Strike
The strike represents the first time public school teachers in every county in West Virginia have walked out.
West Virginia's first teacher strike in history was nearly three decades ago, in 1990.
But that strike wasn't technically statewide. It started with eight and gradually grew to include 47 of the state's 55 counties…
The 1990 strike also did not involve public school service personnel, a category that generally includes non-teachers, like bus drivers and cooks.
The 1990 strike lasted for eight school days and ended after the governor called for a special session of the state legislature, which eventually "approved a $5,000 pay raise for teachers to be phased in over three years and added about $27 million toward equalizing teacher salaries statewide," according to the Gazette-Mail.
