West Virginia teachers strike for first time since 1990

[IndustrialJustice]

Teachers are protesting recent cuts in education budgets and the proposed one percent increase in teacher pay, as well as legislation that could strip them of their seniority. A proposal for a three percent increase died 22-12 the other day in the state senate.

https://www.wvgazettemail.com/news/education/teachers-in-southern-wv-counties-plan-walkouts-rally/article_fd2256e1-af48-5854-a8cb-1d46c668eb03.html

http://wvpublic.org/post/amid-talks-teacher-strikes-senate-downs-amendment-calling-bigger-pay-increase#stream/0

Posting this because it'll get a fraction of the media coverage that weekly "Trump Coal Country" stories do.

[Koharu]

Way to go, WV teachers. They get a lot of hate there and they have have to deal with a whole awful lot. I hope they can get the money they and the students deserve.

[PragmaticPopulist]

Solidarity Forever.

[Stranger in a strange land]

Solidarity Forever.

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

Well, it's not like the students are missing out on much. It's a West Virginia education. Support!

[KingSweden]

Good for them.

[Doimper]

Good for them.

[here2view]

I'm actually a little surprised that teachers are allowed to go on strike in West Virginia. It's been illegal in Rhode Island for a while.

[Bismarck]

Should be illigal for teachers, cops, and firefighters.

[IndustrialJustice]

Should be illigal for teachers, cops, and firefighters.

I mean, I disagree with this as a matter of ideology, but how can you lump in teachers in with police and firefighters and keep a straight face? There are lots of private-sector labor unions that can cause more havoc with a strike than teachers ever could.

I encountered multiple week-long teacher strikes in my school district growing up. The effects on the fabric of society were negligible.

[swf541]

Solidarity Forever.

[Santander]

I love the poorly educated.

[OSR stands with Israel]

I oppose this(It is bad for the students)

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

I oppose this(It is bad for the students)

and stripping the education budget is good for students?

[junior chįmp]

Jim Justice as a Republican has been a disaster

[Xing]

Solidarity Forever.

[Indy Texas]

I oppose this(It is bad for the students)

Why should teachers be forced to provide a service (education) at a price (salary/benefits/etc) that they do not agree to?

[TJ in Oregon]

Teachers are not emergency personnel, therefore they should be allowed to strike.

Signed, the son of a teacher who once went on strike.

[IndustrialJustice]

I'm actually a little surprised that teachers are allowed to go on strike in West Virginia. It's been illegal in Rhode Island for a while.

Forgot to clarify this yesterday: they aren’t allowed to strike. It’s a wildcat.

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

A public employee strike for pay and benefits is a demand to take that money from another public  function or increase taxes.
Ideally these teachers would be paid a lot more, but in a representative democracy there is a process (voting) for people to have their voice when it comes to budget issues. 

[Indy Texas]

A public employee strike for pay and benefits is a demand to take that money from another public  function or increase taxes.
Ideally these teachers would be paid a lot more, but in a representative democracy there is a process (voting) for people to have their voice when it comes to budget issues. 

Voters want something for nothing.

They expect tax cuts and to maintain high-quality public services simultaneously. And when that doesn't happen, snake oil politicians insist there's plenty of "waste and fraud and abuse" that makes up the difference.

Taken to the extreme, you get the situations in Kansas and Oklahoma. People refused to acknowledge that they weren't paying enough tax to fund the level of services (like roads and education) that they wanted.

[DINGO Joe]

Well WV ranks in the bottom five for teacher salaries (either 46th or 48th depending on which stat is right) and maybe more importantly it lags all the states around it, so despite a substantial decline in the student population this decade, and thus a decline in teachers needed,  there is still a substantial gap in unfilled positions in the state.  They almost certainly lose teachers to other states and get laughed at if they try to recruit teachers to come to WV.

WV is also old, poor and doesn't have a strong tradition of support for education.  They also have the difficulties of a decline population and school consolidation which is always upsetting to the communities.  Everything in the state's infrastructure is difficult to maintain--roads, utilities, buildings, housing.  It's old.  It's on difficult terrain.  The reliance on severance taxes have proved to be problematic.

WV has given substantial tax cuts to businesses over the last decade and haven't done anything for teachers so they do have a right  to demonstrate their displeasure.  Ultimately, I doubt they will get more than a pittance from the state.  Older teachers are probably trapped by pension system.  Younger teachers should probably leave.  People with kids in WV that care about education probably should leave too.  The rest of the state should do what it does now-- get old and die off (of course the Eastern Panhandle and Morgantown are the exceptions).

[Since I'm the mad scientist proclaimed by myself]

Solidarity Forever.

[Person Man]

Solidarity Forever.