West Virginia teachers get raise

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Striking West Virginia teachers are expected to return to the classroom this week after educators and the state’s governor reached a deal on a 5 percent raise.

Gov. Jim Justice announced the end of the work stoppage Tuesday at the state Capitol, saying educators would be back on the job Thursday, with Wednesday serving as a “cooling-off day.”

The strike began last week. Schools had closed in all 55 counties.

The proposed increase still has to pass the legislature.

The salary for beginning teachers in West Virginia is $32,435 a year, and the average teacher salary is $44,701, according to the teachers union. HUD’s programs for the homeless, elderly and poor, according to federal procurement records.

The purchase of the custom hardwood table, chairs and hutch came a month after a top agency staff member filed a whistleblower complaint charging Carson’s wife, Candy Carson, with pressuring department officials to find money for the expensive redecoration of his offices, even if it meant circumventing the law.

Ben Carson “didn’t know the table had been purchased” but does not believe the cost was too steep and does not intend to return it, said Raffi Williams, a HUD spokesman.

Federal law requires congressional approval “to furnish or redecorate the office of a department head” if the cost exceeds $5,000. But Williams said department officials did not request approval because the dining set served a “buildingwide need.”