Education

‘They have had it’: West Virginia teachers strike, closing all public schools

By Sarah Larimer February 22 at 5:55 PM sarah.larimer@washpost.com

Teachers across West Virginia walked off the job Thursday amid a dispute over pay and benefits, causing more than 277,000 public school students to miss classes even as educators swarmed the state Capitol in Charleston to protest. ... All 55 counties in the state closed schools during Thursday’s work stoppage, Alyssa Keedy, a spokeswoman for the state’s Department of Education, said.

{The day Florida teachers resigned en masse in the country’s first statewide strike}

“Work stoppages by public employees are not lawful in West Virginia and will have a negative impact on student instruction and classroom time,” West Virginia Superintendent of Schools Steven Paine said in a statement this week. “Families will be forced to seek out alternative safe locations for their children, and our many students who depend on schools for daily nutrition will face an additional burden. I encourage our educators to advocate for the benefits they deserve, but to seek courses of action that have the least possible disruption for our students.”

Data from the National Education Association show that in 2016, West Virginia ranked 48th in average teacher salaries. Only Mississippi, Oklahoma and South Dakota sat below it in the rankings, which included 50 states and the District.
....

The salary for beginning teachers in West Virginia is $32,435 a year, and the average teacher salary is $44,701, according to the state teachers union. ... West Virginia’s teachers want to stay in the state, {Christine Campbell, president of the American Federation of Teachers-West Virginia said. ... “They just want to make a living wage,” she said. “They just want to have a strong health care system and insurance. So, this is their opportunity to do that. To be heard.”

This post has been updated.