West Virginia Education Association President Dale Lee recently defended teachers from a statistic released by the W.Va. Department of Education that showed 53% of teachers missed more than 10 days of work last year while 11% missed more than 20 days.
Dale Lee said that, “We’re really honing in on that 11 percent and that’s where I have to get more information. I have to see if those are consecutive days or illnesses. There are reasons for that.”
This isn’t the first time this year that W.Va. teachers have been in the news. They received media coverage in February for striking against an education bill.
West Virginia teachers were on strike for a total of two days in February 2019 in response to an education bill that many believed would take funding away from public schools. This bill had died in the house while the teachers continued to strike to make sure the bill stayed dead with no chance of being passed.
This teacher’s strike was solely to kill a bill that would raise funding for charter schools and private school vouchers.
Shortly after the strike in February, in June 2019, the W.Va. Legislature passed an Omnibus education bill that allowed for three charter schools to be introduced into the state until 2023 when another three charter schools may be added. This bill also still had provisions seen as positive by educators, such as provisions for seniority, pay raises, and it would create incentives to fill vacant positions at school districts.
In 2018, W.Va. teachers went on a statewide strike for a total number of nine days. This strike was because of the low pay and high healthcare costs. During those days, many teachers still provided meals to those who were left hungry due to there being no school. These teachers packed bags, and some showed up on doorsteps to deliver food to students who may have gone hungry otherwise.
Many people took to Twitter to help support these individuals who selflessly make sure that their students weren’t going hungry. Many Tweeted the hashtag “IStandWithTeachers” and “55strong” a reference to the 55 counties striking in support of the teacher’s strike.
The teacher’s strike in 2018 was successful due to the various methods of protesting. The widespread support from constituents garnered them a 5% raise. This raise allows the state to attract quality teachers in hopes of raising the quality of education in the state. West Virginia currently ranks #44 in education in the United States.
Almost Heaven, Almost Hell 