West Virginia employs nearly 20,000 teachers in its public schools and on Feb. 22, teachers across the state walked off the job and to the capitol. This strike caused more than 277,000 students to miss class that day and every public school in the state to close.
This strike was called in response to the comparatively low teacher pay and benefits of West Virginia teachers. According to research from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average annual wage for an elementary school teacher is $47,340 in West Virginia, as compared to the national average of $59,020. This is a 24 percent difference, and as the level of education increases, the percent difference does as well.
Katie Endicott, a high school teacher who is on strike, explained her decision, saying, “I live paycheck to paycheck. When I realized they were taking hundreds of dollars and then they tried to tell me they were giving me a pay raise of 1 percent, I knew I can’t just sit back.” Endicott has been teaching for 10 years and clears under $1300 biweekly.
The statewide school shut down comes after a pay raise was by the legislature and signed Governor Jim Justice. This legislation provided a two percent raise for next school year and and an additional 1 percent pay increase in 2020 and 2021. However, teachers contend that this increase is not enough, especially with rising healthcare costs.
The initial bill was for a five percent increase and a two percent increase only equates to a little over $800. Kym Randolph, West Virginia Education Association director of communication shared her thoughts with The Washington Post saying,“The pay and the benefits have been problems for years, and there’s constantly been the promises of, ‘We’ll take care of this, we’ll take care of this.’”
After days of discussion, Governor Jim Justice and union leaders reached a compromise which provides a five percent pay raise for the first year. However, this proposition has yet to reach the Senate after passing 98-1 in the House. This deal was aimed to send teachers back to the classroom, but thousands of employees returned to the Capitol to demand a permanent fix to the health insurance program for state employees and quick action on a proposed pay increase.
All West Virginia public schools will be closed again on Friday, March 2 despite the compromise made between Governor Justice and union leaders.
