CNN Tuesday March 6th, 2018 "West Virginia lawmakers reach deal to give striking teachers pay raise" Eric Levenson and Sarah Jorgenson In West Virginia, striking teachers have caused cancellation of nine consecutive days of school. The motive behind this is to increase the pay and benefits of teachers in the state who have historically been some of the lowest paid in the country. The proposed solution will raise not only the teachers pay, but all state employees will get a 5% raise.
On February 22, about 20,000 teachers began the strike by walking out of schools across West Virginia. Public school teachers in 55 counties across the state participated in this show of organized labor strength. Educators demand higher wage and benefits. This has caused nine consecutive days of public school to be cancelled. West Virginian Gov. Jim Justice signed a bill Tuesday that gives a 5% pay raise to all state employees, this includes the striking school staff. The House of Delegates and Senate unanimously approved the bill and the Governor signed it into law. Teachers are expected to go back to work Wednesday. What led up to this? West Virginia ranks number 48 out of the 50 states on how much teachers are paid. It's one of the only states where wages went down between 2015 and 2016. The percentage gap between teachers annual average wage and the national average range from 24 to 35 percent depending on elementary to high school. The annual average wage doesn't account for deductions for social security, retirement, and health insurance. These low wages push a lot of qualified educators to leave the state. I believe this is a step in the right direction. There's still a long way to go before a lot of teachers in the country make a livable wage. I think if teachers collectively made more money, it would be better for everyone involved.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorLeah Maxwell Archives
June 2018
Categories |