Pay hike deal ends teacher walkout
The new agreement raising pay for teachers, school service personnel and state troopers 5 percent across the board is signed into law by Gov. Justice after last-minute negotiations in the West Virginia senate to reach a deal.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia’s striking teachers cheered, sang and wept joyfully Tuesday as lawmakers voted to give them a 5 percent raise, ending a nine-day walkout that closed schools across the state.
A huge crowd of teachers packing the Capitol jumped up and down, chanted “We love our kids!” and sang John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads.” The settlement came after a crippling strike had idled hundreds of thousands of students, forced parents to scramble for child care and cast a spotlight on government dysfunction in one of the poorest states in the nation.
State schools Superintendent Steve Paine said in a statement he was “pleased that our students, teachers and service personnel will return to school” Wednesday.
Dale Lee, president of the West Virginia Education Association, formally declared Tuesday evening that the “work action was over” after a consultation among local organizers. That group is the largest teacher organization in West Virginia and Lee said all 55 West Virginia counties had stood together, adding, “without them, today’s agreement would not have happened.”
Earlier, Lee had said of the teachers: “We know that they’re going to be relieved to do what they love best, and that’s taking care of the kids and educating the kids of West Virginia.”
The West Virginia teachers, some of the lowest-paid in the country, had gone without a salary increase for four years. They appeared to have strong public backing throughout their walkout.
“We overcame. We overcame!” teacher Danielle Harris exclaimed, calling it a victory for students as well. “It shows them how democracy is supposed to work, that you don’t just bow down and lay down for anybody. They got the best lesson that they could ever have even though they were out of school.”
Tuesday marked the ninth day of canceled classes for the school system’s 277,000 students and 35,000 employees. Teachers walked off the job Feb. 22, balking at an initial bill signed by Gov. Jim Justice to bump up their pay 2 percent in the first year as they also complained about rising health insurance costs.
Justice responded last week with an offer to raise teacher pay 5 percent — a proposal the state House approved swiftly but that senators weren’t so eager to sign off on. Instead the Senate countered with an offer of 4 percent on Saturday, prompting leaders of all three unions representing the state’s teachers to announce the walkout was being extended.
After a six-member conference committee agreed Tuesday to the new proposal, the House of Delegates subsequently passed 5 percent raises for teachers, school service personnel and state troopers on a 99-0 vote. The Senate followed, voting 34-0.