West Virginia Teacher Strike

In West Virginia, teachers and other school employees took a stand and went on strike to bring attention to issues regarding pay and benefits. The strike began on Thursday, February 22. It started when word got around to teachers that there would be a 2% pay increase starting over the summer of 2018, followed by a 1% increase in 2020 and 2021. Although the 1% increase could be seen as a step in the right direction, the teachers of West Virginia are among the lowest paid educators in the nation. According to a survey done in 2016 by the National Education Association, W.V. ranked 48th in teacher pay. This survey also showed that the average annual salary was roughly $42,000, when the national average was roughly $58,000.

Jacob Fertig, an art teacher from W.V., told CNN “We collected on the Women, Infants, and Children food and nutrition service, so that’s how low teacher pay is. There are 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.”

On Tuesday, February 27, Governor Jim Justice said that teachers and other education-related employees would receive a 5% pay increase the following year, under the condition that the approval of the bill goes through. Angry and disappointed that no immediate action would be taken, teachers chanted “Back to the table!” and “Fix it now!” Sixth-grade science teacher, Debbie Helvey, told CNN “I’m just afraid that it’s [the bill] going to be tabled and put on the back burner, and we’re going to asked to do this again.”

After further protesting, and a consecutive nine days of school canceled, West Virginia’s lawmakers came to a conclusion. On Tuesday, March 6th, the state signed a bill which gave teachers, other school members, and police officers a 5% pay increase. The day of the signing, Teachers’ union representative Christine Campbell told CNN, “It took a lot of pulling for everyone to get there… But we’re there.”

Schools in West Virginia reconvened on Wednesday, March 7th. Although there is much more to be discussed regarding health care and other benefits, the main demands were met.