Posted on 03/06/2018 3:35:05 PM PST by buckalfa
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A week ago today, Gov. Jim Justice announced a proposed settlement to West Virginia teachers walkout that barely lasted the evening.
Today, Justice received cheers as he signed the bill that will lead to an average 5 percent pay increase for educators.
The agreement worked out with legislators also applies an average 5 percent pay increase to other state employees.
Schools were expected to open again on Wednesday, bringing to an end a statewide strike that caused classes to be empty for nine days straight.
“We have to move away from the idea that education is a necessary evil that just has to be funded,” Justice said prior to a bill signing ceremony this afternoon.
“What we really should be doing is looking at our children and our teachers as an investment that we’re trying to make great. That’s what we’re doing in West Virginia, and the world has seen it.”
It has been a dramatic and stressful time in West Virginia since the unions that represent teachers and service personnel announced at an enormous Feb. 17 rally on the Capitol steps that they would walk out of schools.
Thousands of educators surged into the state Capitol, carrying sings, chanting and often singing.
They had demanded a raise of at least 5 percent, having gone without pay increases for several years.
They also wanted concrete efforts toward trying to control spiraling out-of-pocket health insurance costs. Justice established a task force for the Public Employees Insurance Agency and froze the plan at the current fiscal year’s structure.
And lawmakers agreed to sit on bills on issues such as eliminating seniority as the main factor to decide who is affected by school system cutbacks, school vouchers and the automatic deduction of union dues from paychecks.
In sum, the educators wound up getting all they wanted out of the effort.
“Relieved, relieved,” said Dale Lee, president of the West Virginia Education Association, late Tuesday afternoon.
“The teachers and service professionals across the state have put their lives on the line and put them on hold to make sure democracy was upheld and that their voices were heard.”
“It has been a dramatic and stressful time in West Virginia since the unions that represent teachers and service personnel announced at an enormous Feb. 17 rally on the Capitol steps that they would walk out of schools.”
these overpaid, lazy commie teachers were “stressed”?
WV can build a strong state education system, like in CA and MA. With all the politics that follows from that.
There is still a strong union entitlement mentality there.
5 percent of 17,000 dollars a year is a nice raise. They are one of the lowest paid states.
Most of them deserve to have their pay cut, judging by the lack of education our children are receiving.
Teacher starting salary in WV is $32.5K. Average teacher salary $44K. All 9 months work.
agreed - should have been a pay cut of wholesale firing
I am cornfused....
The typer/writer mentioned a spiraling out of control health care bill.
However did that happen?
Doesn’t he care to elaborate?
They may get a bigger ‘raise’ if they didn’t have to pay union dues.
Ya think they will buckle down or DEMAND the state/city pay for their participation in the ‘big rally’ in a few days.
They should have been given an ultimatum with major stress that unemployment insurance would NOT be available to the ‘quitters’ and run an ad nationwide to fill the positions.
All quitters than wanting to be rehired will start at the BOTTOM with no seniority.
More than one way to wish your cat would run into the Geico Gecko....
You (state) can not leave the table giving the advantage to the ‘hijackers’.
5% of $32.5 - 64,000 is indeed a “nice” raise ;). Now just wait till they find out how the “state” is going to pay for it. Oops?
He's a conservative Republican like I am an Olympic gymnast.
WV had a good chance to elect a conservative in 2016 but picked this numbnutz instead. I knew we'd regret it.
.05 (5%) of $32.5K = $1625
And $32.5 is the merely the “starting” salary in a state where the “average” income is far less and so is, well soon to be “was”, the cost of living.
Average income for a family in WV is $39K.
Public Education is fine and dandy as long as the Federal Government has nothing to do with it.
There is nothing in the United States Constitution that mandates Federal Dollars for Public Education, yet we have a Federal Department of Education handing out Money and Federal Taxpayer funded Student Loans that will never get paid back.
Whatever WV wants to do is their business, like submitting to Teacher Union Blackmail and Extortion.
The problem with Public Employee Insurance Agency is that it is an unfunded liability for the state. They are holding on for single payor and a national pension bail out.
And the average teacher,s salary “was” in the mid-forties.
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