Huffington Post reports that teachers are on strike across the state for the first time in 28 years because teachers are fleeing the state for better pay, better healthcare, and better working conditions.
“In interviews, school employees who traveled from across the state to Charleston said the fight was about much more than their paychecks. West Virginia is one of the few U.S. states with a falling population. As the state grapples with a severe teacher shortage, many educators worry their younger peers will continue to flee for greener pastures, with long-term consequences for successive generations of students.
“A series of business tax cuts have left the state with little money to give public servants who’ve been waiting for meaningful raises. West Virginia now ranks 48th out of 50 states and the District of Columbia in teacher pay, and it was one of just five states to see average teacher pay go down in 2016, according to the National Education Association. Of West Virginia’s 55 counties, more than half border a state with better teacher pay. And the state was trying to fill 700 vacant positions as of last spring.”
Evidently the state government doesn’t care enough about education to pay its teachers a decent wage.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Educators in Oklahoma are being treated even worse and we have lost many teachers to the point that education will never recover in this State. Privatization is the goal and poverty is on the rise. Teachers haven’t had raises in 10 years. DHS is at a crippling low also and case workers are leaving also. Everyone is downsizing and realizing this is not getting better as teachers run for offices in State Government to try and help this State. Forty four million in more budget cuts on its way this week. We are 49th and slipping to 50th in teacher pay. Young teachers get hired in the middle of their student teaching for immediate employment and the numbers for emergency certified rise every week. Teachers are taking early retirement as class sizes have seen unheard of growth. The treatment of educators is horrendous as there isn’t money for curriculum, supplies, and relief for the condition is spotty at best. Teachers fill out donors choose but even those are not being filled due to the trend of underfunding education is too great. Many rally at the State capital to the point of seeking relief from legislators. There is probably going to be a strike. Teachers are clinging to hope but our States Oil companies don’t want to pay even 4 percent to help in a crisis and new taxes are frowned upon. Teachers that are single parents or from single wage earner homes are not able to keep up as costs rise and pay is the same as 10 years ago. No end in sight.
Ms Manley—vetran educator in Oklahoma.
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When public service privatization is the goal, elevating those who have over those who have not becomes the national norm.
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Scandalous. It used to be a joke (not so funny) that we in NH didn’t have to worry about being last in state aid to public education because there was always Mississippi. Now, it appears, that it might be Oklahoma. Public education has been on the target list of the Koch brothers, ALEC, the Walton Family Foundation, Americans for Prosperity, the American Enterprise Institute, and on and on. This goal, of course, is to privatize public schools (and prisons, and the VA healthcare system, etc.) and it appears that the greedy oligarchs want more vouchers (educational savings accounts) and the destruction of “government schools.” To such extremists, anything government runs or funds and “controls” is socialistic or dare I say, “communistic.” What a revolting development.
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To which states are West Virginia teachers fleeing? Just the other day Peter Greene had an article about Pennsylvania teachers fleeing. We read about Ohio practically every day on this blog, so I can’t imagine that’s an attractive destination. Is teaching any more attractive in Kentucky or Virginia? I don’t recommend Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, North Carolina, Louisiana or Arizona for those willing to go further afield. Just which states is teaching still an attractive option?
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See for yourself. (posted for informational purposes only, I do not necessarily agree with nor endorse this information)
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/careersandeducation/heres-how-much-teachers-earn-in-every-state/ss-BBDrDAi
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Too little, in every state. Teachers should be paid like doctors and lawyers.
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Chas,
Why don’t you necessarily agree or endorse the information? Are the figures/data faulty in some way? If so, in what manner? Gracias!
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Salary information tells you nothing without cost of living information. I don’t think people are fleeing to New York to teach because teachers there make $60,000+. $60,000 in New York, especially in NYC, is like $30,000 in some states, especially rural areas.
Salary charts also don’t factor in working conditions. Which states are hot and heavy on the “accountability” bandwagon? Which states (if any, these days) allow teacher autonomy? Which states (if any) value teachers and treat them like professionals? Those that value teachers and give them professional respect and autonomy are where teachers are going to flee to regardless of salary. I’m just not convinced that there are that many (if any) states that do.
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It’s all in how you define “attractive.” When your state is at the bottom of the barrel in funding and resources, most any place is better, and if you are really lucky, you might actually land in a district that treats you as a professional even if they can’t pay you like one.
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This is the result of the toxic rightwing/libertarian GOP mindset and world view: limited government, lower taxes (for the rich), personal freedom (for the rich) and deregulation (benefiting the CEO class). If you keep lowering taxes, that means lost revenue and it usually translates into drastic cuts in social services, the infrastructure and education. With Trump and the GOP in control of the reins of power, things will only get worse. The strike in WV was a huge and hopeful event. Things were so bad that the teachers of a whole right to work (for less) state went on strike. Bravo to them. But will the legislators increase taxes to pay for the raise or steal funds from another sector of the state budget to fulfill their promise to the teachers?
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