Free Republic

CHARLESTON, W. Va - UPDATE: 2/20/19 @ 7:30 p.m. Union leaders have announced that the teacher work stoppage has ended and that schools will reopen Thursday across the state.

Hours after the WV Teachers Unions announced a statewide strike, the Omnibus Education Bill passed through the Senate, 18-16. Last week, the House of Delegates made major changes to the bill but on Monday an amendment by the Senate washed away many of those changes. The new version of the bill reintroduced ESAs, with 1,000 for special needs and bullied students. It also took the number of charter schools from two to seven, with a limit of two introduced per year. Senate President Mitch Carmichael reacted to the strike on Twitter Monday night," After years of ruining our state’s public...

West Virginia teachers will continue to strike into Wednesday, although Republican Gov. Jim Justice has vowed since January he will not sign into law an education bill allowing charter schools and education savings accounts in the state. The New York Times, however, reported the teachers’ strike led to an immediate “victory” when the West Virginia House of Delegates voted Tuesday to table the bill. Similarly, the Associated Press reported union leaders were celebrating the decision of the West Virginia House of Delegates to kill the education bill that led to the strike: The House just voted on a motion made...