Republican Gov. Jim Justice of West Virginia announced a proposal that would see teachers in the state getting a 5 percent raise after he and the state legislature were put under mounting pressure by several days of protests.
The teachers from across the state, who had been on strike since last week along with labor groups and state employees, are expected to return to the classrooms on Thursday.
“My commitment to education has been consistent from day one,” Justice said in a tweet. “We’re giving all teachers a 5 percent raise and all other State employees 3 percent this year.”
My commitment to education has been consistent from day one. We’re giving all teachers a 5% raise and all other State employees 3% this year.
— Governor Jim Justice (@WVGovernor) February 27, 2018
Justice also revealed Thursday that West Virginia would work on tackling the state employee healthcare plan, another sticking point for the protesters who had rallied at the state Capitol in Charleston.
According to a West Virginia teacher’s Facebook group, the teachers will have a “cooling off” period on Wednesday and will start teaching again on Thursday.
“Schools are called off on Wednesday for a cooling off period and will resume on Thursday,” the group posted on Facebook.
Justice echoed similar sentiments at a press conference Thursday.
“The long and the short of it is, now we have concluded with at least as far as an agreement that we can possibly conclude, that our teachers will go back to work on Thursday,” Justice said. “Tomorrow, we’ll use tomorrow as like a cooling off day because we’ve already got some schools that have been canceled.”
Teachers from all 55 counties of West Virginia participated in a strike beginning Thursday after Justice signed legislation for a 2 percent raise next year for teachers and a 1 percent raise in the two years afterwards.
Teachers were also upset that no language in the legislation had been devoted to increased costs of healthcare and a tax on payroll deduction options.
Teachers in West Virginia are paid some of the lowest salaries in the nation. Teacher pay in the state is ranked 48th nationwide. The national average teacher salary is $58,353, but the average in West Virginia had been $45,622 before the pay raise was approved.
