Thanks to Leonie Haimson for this information.
The strike fund helps teachers survive while they forfeit their salaries to be on strike for higher wages and lower healthcare costs.
You can donate to their strike fund here: https://www.gofundme.com/wv-teachers-strike-fund
I heard from a trusted union leader and she told me that there was a site where one could send money for pizzas that would be delivered to the striking teachers of West Virginia. Teachers in the state are among the lowest paid in the nation.
Stand with them.
I am sending pizzas. I hope you will join me.
Here is the site.
Lauren Peace, the writer of this article, which appeared in the New York Times, is a reporter in Rochester, New York.
Morgantown, W.Va. — The rolling hills of West Virginia, where I grew up, are home to some of my fondest memories. But time and time again, I’ve watched them serve as a backdrop to injustice and negligence by those who lead, often at the expense of a vulnerable population.
This time, it’s our schoolchildren.
At $45,622, West Virginia teachers are the 48th lowest earning in the nation, according to the National Education Association. The minimum salary is just over $32,000. After months of tension over issues including salaries and health insurance costs, the state’s public schoolteachers went on strike Feb. 22.
On Friday, our state legislators refused to take action on a bill that would, over time, give West Virginia teachers a proposed 5 percent raise, and so the statewide work stoppage continued for a seventh day, with 250,000 students out from school as a result.
Despite the loss in critical class time, the fight cannot end prematurely.
As students remain at home, and families struggle to find alternative forms of child care, teachers have to trust that West Virginians will do what West Virginians do best; lean on each other.
We’ve seen it happening already. Students turn to classmates to study for Advanced Placement exams. Neighbors offer up their homes as oases while parents are at work. But it will take more than an internal, neighborly effort to realize what the work stoppage is all about: long-term, systematic change.
It’s easy to feel like West Virginia’s teachers are gaining national momentum when the state’s name has appeared in national headlines this week. But the coverage has merely scratched the surface of a complex issue that predates these school closings. It is rooted in a history of West Virginia politicians putting the interests of outsiders looking to make a quick buck off the state’s beautiful land before the needs of the people who live on it.
We’ve seen it in flimsy safety and environmental regulations, which have resulted in the deaths of countless miners, and in the chemical spills that have plagued surrounding populations, leaving citizens without drinking water and living on poisoned land. We’ve seen it in the opioid crisis, too, where powerful drug companies made sure that pills were plenty, but options for treatment continue to be scarce.
And now we see it in education, where teachers, the single most valuable resource available to children in this state, and therefore the most powerful influence in guiding us toward a prosperous future, were presented with a health insurance plan that amounted to a pay cut, all while senators, who receive hefty checks from gas and energy companies, could have funded education needs had they passed a modest tax increase on these companies.
This isn’t the first time West Virginia teachers have demonstrated statewide unity. In 1990, an 11-day work stoppage over similar issues led to better wages, but the increase was temporary.
That’s why when James C. Justice, our Republican governor, announced Tuesday that he had reached an agreement with union leaders and told teachers to go back to work, with nothing more than a good-faith handshake, those on the ground thought better of it.
Despite top-down orders from their union leaders to return to classes, county by county, teachers got together. They met in public spaces and communicated diligently with their neighbors, and on Wednesday night, the teachers of all 55 counties made the decision, collectively, to extend the work stoppage on their own terms.
They kept schools closed on Thursday and Friday, and say they will continue the strike until the Senate passes the proposed raise; 55 counties united, shouting “this time will be different.”
“Over the course of Wednesday, you saw every single county in the state just clawing to get back together, and we did it,” said Kat Devlin, an English teacher at University High School in Morgantown. “This is the prime example of a grass-roots movement. It’s the teachers and the people on the ground making this happen.”
This is about more than livable wages. It’s about haves and have-nots, it’s about workers’ dignity, and it’s going to set the bar for labor organizers everywhere.
The teachers of West Virginia are leading the way with a conviction that should be a national example for challenging inequity.
When they get back into their classrooms, hopefully sooner rather than later, they must talk to their students about how, under intense pressure, and with little more than the support they found in each other, they fought for what was right, and they were heard.
Lauren Peace (@LaurenMPeace) is a reporter at the Democrat and Chronicle in Rochester.
In this article, a teacher in West Virginia explains why teachers decided not to end their statewide strike. Promises from politicians are worthless. They want action.
Here is the interview. Go online to open the links.
“Public schools in West Virginia were closed for a sixth day on Thursday, as teachers striking over health care costs and pay largely rebuffed a deal this week between Gov. James C. Justice and union leadership aimed at getting them back to school.
Mr. Justice has ordered a task force to examine health care costs and the State House passed a bill raising wages by 5 percent. But with the bill’s fate in doubt in the Senate and scant details on health care funding, many teachers remained angry, and they flooded back to the Capitol, wearing red and black, to protest on Wednesday and Thursday.
We spoke on Wednesday night with Katie Endicott, 31, a high school English teacher from Gilbert, W.Va., about why she and many other teachers are not yet prepared to return to school. The interview has been edited and condensed.
What are the origins of the strike?
They told us that essentially if you weren’t a single person, if you had a family plan, your health insurance was going to rise substantially. As a West Virginia teacher — and I’ve been teaching 10 years — I only clear right under $1,300 every two weeks, and they’re wanting to take $300 more away for me. But they tell me it’s O.K., because we’re going to give you a 1 percent pay raise. That equals out to 88 cents every two days.
They implemented Go365, which is an app that I’m supposed to download on my phone, to track my steps, to earn points through this app. If I don’t earn enough points, and if I choose not to use the app, then I’m penalized $500 at the end of the year. People felt that was very invasive, to have to download that app and to be forced into turning over sensitive information.
Go365 was thrown out. Of course they decided to give a freeze [on insurance rates], and I think people thought that might be enough. But we understand that this is an election year. They can freeze it right now, but what happens after the election? The feeling is, we have to get this fixed, and we have to get it fixed now.
What compelled you to strike?
I take care of the bills in my family and knew I can’t afford it, I can’t. I have two children, I live paycheck to paycheck. When I realized that they were taking hundreds of dollars and then they tried to tell me they were giving me a pay raise of 1 percent, I knew I can’t just sit back. I can’t be complacent, something has to change.
We went to the Capitol on Feb. 2, we stood in solidarity, and they would not talk to us.
When we walked out of there, my husband looked at me and he said, “I feel so defeated.” They didn’t listen to anything that we had to say.
We were just walking silently from the Capitol and one teacher said, “Guys, we’re really going to have to strike.” At that point, I knew.
What was it like to leave your classroom?
I teach seniors and 10th graders, my kids are aware of everything that’s going on. I’m the pep club leader at my school, the prayer club leader, on the prom committee. My first period senior class, I started crying and I said, “Guys, I legitimately don’t know when I will be back.” I have an A.P. exam on May 9, and that is not going to change.
We have been having local rallies as well as going to the Capitol. Our son is a little confused because we’ve been wearing bunny ears because the governor called us dumb bunnies. He’s been telling everyone that if his mommy and daddy are dumb bunnies he’s a dumb bunny, too. He insists on wearing bunny ears in public like we’ve been doing at the protests.
[Tuesday] was my day to be at a local rally. I was at that rally for approximately three hours. I got in the vehicle with colleagues, we drove several hours to Charleston to the Capitol. There was music playing, the crowd was singing “Country Roads.” It was really amazing to see all the educators come. So many people were there. Students were there. People brought their kids.
How did you feel after the deal was announced?
Initially a lot of people around me were very happy, because we thought we won. I was excited. And then the union leaders came out and talked to us and we realized really quickly we did not win anything. The crowd turned very angry very quickly. Just because the governor suggests a 5 percent pay raise doesn’t mean it’s going through.
Now they’re saying you get 5 percent and well P.E.I.A. [the public insurance offered to teachers and state employees] is still frozen. At that point the crowd starts chanting, “A freeze is not a fix.” Everybody was very angry, very angry that we were told to go back to the classroom when we felt like had not achieved what we set out to achieve.
Our county said we would not be returning to the classroom. We did not want to go back with a promise. We wanted it signed, sealed and delivered. We wanted it to be fulfilled, not just empty words. We knew that if we went back and there were not details of a plan and a true commitment, then we could easily lose everything.
Where do you think the protest goes from here? What do you hope to achieve?
They are telling us that P.E.I.A. cannot be fixed overnight. While we understand that, simply saying there will be a task force is not enough. We need to know who is going to be on this task force. We need specific details about how this is going to be fixed.
The governor mentioned, I think, three different sources of possible revenue to fix it. Which one? How much? We feel like the plan is too ambiguous right now. We need to know.
West Virginia has a long history of protest. How does this strike fit into that?
We know that we come from these mountains and we are strong and we have pride and we love this state. We come from an area that is known for standing up for what they believe in. The union wars, they originated in the south in Mingo County.
We believe we’re following in their footsteps. We believe the movement was started years ago through the mine wars. We’re just reviving the movement that was started years ago.
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.
West Virginia teachers went out on strike across the state, closing down every public school.
“Teachers across West Virginia walked off the job Thursday amid a dispute over pay and benefits, causing more than 277,000 public school students to miss classes even as educators swarmed the state Capitol in Charleston to protest.
“All 55 counties in the state closed schools during Thursday’s work stoppage, Alyssa Keedy, a spokeswoman for the state’s Department of Education, said. “Work stoppages by public employees are not lawful in West Virginia and will have a negative impact on student instruction and classroom time,” West Virginia Superintendent of Schools Steven Paine said in a statement this week. “Families will be forced to seek out alternative safe locations for their children, and our many students who depend on schools for daily nutrition will face an additional burden. I encourage our educators to advocate for the benefits they deserve, but to seek courses of action that have the least possible disruption for our students.”
“Data from the National Education Association show that in 2016, West Virginia ranked 48th in average teacher salaries. Only Mississippi, Oklahoma and South Dakota sat below it in the rankings, which included 50 states and the District.
Thanks to blogger G.F. Brandenburg for this story.
The teachers of West Virginia are threatening a statewide strike over pay and healthcare costs.
When was the last time that teachers across an entire state went out on strike?
“The work action is a last message to legislators at the Capitol “to do your jobs, or we’ll vote you out,” said Christine Campbell, president of the West Virginia American Federation of Teachers.
“Mary Cathryn Ricker, executive vice president of the national AFT, and Becky Pringle, vice president of the National Education Association, came to West Virginia for the rally. They expressed to all the teachers that they were setting examples for their colleagues across the country.
“Teacher shortages, all these problems, are a national crisis. West Virginia educators are showing the ways to address that,” Ricker said. “The courage shown here in West Virginia is inspiring others, these teachers are leading the way.”
“In addition to Lee, Campbell, Ricker and Pringle, speakers at the rally included Joe White, executive director of West Virginia School Service Personnel Association; Greg Baker, president of the West Virginia Trooper Association; Josh Sword, president of West Virginia AFL-CIO; Ken Hall, president of West Virginia’s Teamster chapter; Levi Allen, secretary-treasurer of United Mine Workers of America and several West Virginia teachers and school employees, who shared stories about the difficulties they’ve faced with rising health care costs and minimal pay increases.
“While the upcoming work stoppage will only affect teachers and school personnel, leaders said it was important to show solidarity and impress on legislators that there was a strong support system standing behind those in education.
“Solidarity is the foundation of our country, the foundation of unions and the foundation of our freedom,” Allen said. “You’ve stood with us [in the past] and we’re here today to stand with you.””
Politico Morning Edition reports:
”WEST VIRGINIA TEACHERS, THREATENING STRIKE, SET TO WALK OUT THIS WEEK: Teachers and school personnel across West Virginia are planning to walk out on Thursday and Friday as tensions remain high over pay and benefits. The statewide walkout would be the first in the state’s history, according to the Charleston Gazette-Mail. Rank-and-file members of West Virginia’s two main unions, AFT-West Virginia and the West Virginia Education Association, have given leaders in both unions authority to call a strike, which would be the first statewide teacher strike in West Virginia since 1990.
“- Union leaders are continuing discussions with state lawmakers to work out a solution, Christine Campbell, the president of the AFT in West Virginia, told Morning Education. She said teachers in the state haven’t had a pay increase since 2014, and during this period health care costs have risen, along with the cost of living. Campbell noted that the state’s teachers are among the lowest paid nationally, and she said the problems have been building for years.
– “That kind of pay raise is not going to get us out of 48th or 49th place,” Campbell said, explaining why teachers aren’t satisfied with proposals on the table. Campbell said states bordering West Virginia pay teachers $5,000 to $20,000 more on average, which has led to more than 700 teacher vacancies in the state. “People can’t afford to stay here. They are crossing into bordering states because that’s the only way they can make a living wage.”
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