This is simplistic of me to say, but if you are a young person in teaching or considering teaching in West Virginia please consider relocating to Pennsylvania or any other state where teachers are valued. There are students who need you there and your work will be appreciated and adequately compensated. You can have a wonderful, middle class life. I was brought up less than 60 minutes from the West Virginia border by two teachers who did not have to contend with people who hate public education and educators.
130
@David
Come to Connecticut
14
@David
We need those teachers right here in the mountains-- or did you not read the article?
3
@David Excellent advice! Leave WVA- it’s hopeless. The best things my WVA teachers taught me were Readin’, Ritin’ and ‘Ridin’ to NC to get a job. WVA is an embarrassment! It’s been in a death spiral for a long time.
8
This is the legacy of the Plantation Economy of the South, which has been extended across the country by those who believe that quality of life (strong education, access to healthcare, reasonable housing and sufficient food) belongs only to those who can afford it. Further, they work to make sure the system keeps political and economic control in the hands of the wealthy.
Those who own the plantation, can afford to send their children to great private schools, etc. The rest, well, they should keep their heads down and get back to work.
As the recently retired Governor LePaige (a Trump fan) of Maine (W. VA - North) stated when asked why he didn't support greater funding for education; "If you want to give your kids a good education, send them to private school."
It's time for people to wake up and realize they're being manipulated to vote against their own interests, by those who rail against "socialism" and "minorities trying to take over."
45
@MassBear West Virginia is not part of the South and never had a plantation economy. It's problem is geographical---its natural advantage is in coal mining, a dying industry. Rugged terrain makes it unsuitable for anything else, except outdoor tourism.
6
@MassBear
It’s not just down south. Here in PA ( Philadelphia and Pittsburgh with Alabama in between) we have a Republican legislature who refuses to pass an extraction tax on all the natural gas companies are pumping out. So much they are building new pipelines to carry it.
The money could repair our roads which are horrible. Patches on patches, potholes galore.
And tons of litter along the highways, including the interstates, so visitors can see how disgustingly we live. But we won’t put a nickel deposit on bottles to help the situation because that would be a tax.
Until people finally realize that Republicans are the party against them and vote them out it will continue. I’m not sure how low we can go, or how low they will take us, in their blind ideological journey to the cliff.
Oh, and our legislature also tries educationally related tricks like those in WV. Union dues are deducted from your check by your district. Put it in the computer, it happens automatically, no problem. They wanted to outlaw that claiming a burden on the districts. The real reason, of course, was once people had the money in hand and bills to pay it might not get paid to the union. PSEA beat it down, but it goes on.
As long as you claim to be saving the taxpayers money it works. And teachers are always a target rich environment because they get paid by tax money. Simple solutions to complex problems. The Republican way.
20
Interesting correlation: the poorest states--I think they are the ones receiving more federal funds than they pay in federal taxes--are the ones which have the weakest education systems. Either they are gaming the system or their leaders are too parochial and themselves too poorly education to make changes beneficial to their constituents.
Between poverty, poor and disappearing jobs, poor housing, poor health, and poor diet, West Virginians have no reason to believe that education can do them much good. Indeed, a good education would virtually ensure the need to leave behind their families and their way of life--a culture shock too great to contemplate. At the same time, they like to pretend to be ruggedly independent and self-sufficient. Maybe the federal government should punctuate that self-delusion with a publicity campaign which mocks such pretensions. At the very least, it should halt the various efforts, like waiving environmental regulations for coal mines, to prop up the state's rapidily declining and most likely to fail industry.
19
Ignorant, repulsive and decidely harmful behavior by West Virginia legislators. Obviously they care little for education or the state's reputation.
8
Why am I not surprised? People in power continue to chip away at institutions that threaten their status and wealth. They figure correctly that keeping the masses dumb,will ensure their positions and their childrens' positions.
5
What do you expect for Republicans? While they are cutting back on teacher pay and benefits, I bet they are giving tax breaks to fossil fuel interests
2
Get it straight, the idea is to drive public school teachers out of West Virginia.
2
West Virginia voters chose the lawmakers who wrote and voted for this awful law.
Those voters, and those who don't bother to vote, are responsible for the sorry state West Virginia is.
Stop making excuses for them. West Virginians make, and have made, these choices. Donald Trump beat Hillary Clinton by over 40 points in the 2016 election.
You lie down with dogs, you get fleas.
6
The teachers should leave the state, when possible.
If you think education is expensive, try ignorance.
3
Yet West Virginians keep electing Republicans. Why?
3
Poor kids of West Virginia. Just by having been born in West Virginia have the kids lost out. After all, no one could ever claim in good faith that West Virginia has established a reputation for itself as a seat of enlightenment. On the contrary, places like West Virginia have, historically, reveled in their reputation for doing things "their way" which is code for "not doing anything at all". If one considers that the state became independent from Virginia because it refused to fight on the side of the Confederacy, one might have expected the people to show some continued foresight and become a home to modern and progressive values. Alas, to put it mildly, this has most assuredly not been the case.
21
@Wanda Barbo
I hope so, for your states sake. I rode through several WV cities during the strike. I was proud of you all.
2
@ManhattanWilliam Have you traveled to or studied West Virginia? If the answer is no, then try visiting.
Of course this place has problems, but anywhere one travels finds the good and the bad.
What I always find interesting is the notion that urbanites genuinely believe themselves to be more nuanced, educated, and sophisticated than the poor rubes from Appalachia.
4
@ManhattanWilliam
It might surprise you, sir, to know that West Virginia has been the home of much enlightenment. Among those who have their roots in West Virginia: John Nash, Chuck Yeager, Katherine Johnson, Mary Lou Retton and many more.
I have quite an array of progressive friends and family members. Ours is a growing faction in this state.
I am an atheist as well as a public school teacher, a mother, a wife, and a grandmother. I'm also an activist. I've spoken up for LGBTQ rights in my city. I'm one of the many teachers who marched on our state's capitol demanding respect from our legislators.
It was West Virginia teachers, after all, who were the first to rise up and make demands from our legislators, sparking a nationwide movement.
And we have not yet finished our fight, so don't count us out. We've only just begun our fight.
32
They hate unions and can’t stand it when their constituents speak out. The nerve of those teachers.
1
Time for the teachers in West Virginia to go back on strike! Parents should join them! When politicians try to use questionable tactics to subvert the will of the people and eviscerate the rights of workers, the very constituents they are supposed to represent, including the students, suffer. West Virginia teachers must stand united as one. Do not let them take away your right to strike for living wages and better benefits.
3
I have reservations about public unions and their ability to truly serve the common good. However, the case in West Virginia is severe enough to justify push back on Senate 451.
2
Sounds like the government of WV is trying to bust the teachers union so they can save money on education. This is a common problem, people with children in school want better education and are willing to pay for it while people with no children or grown children want low taxes. I believe the only way out is to grow the local economy so there's more money to go around and/or grants from Washington. The people of WV can only fix this by putting open minded people in office willing to try something new for their state.
2
Don't need no education to mine coal. At least not if you mine it like it was done in 1966, which is essentially what's been promised the people of WV by our national leader.
9
Charter schools will plunder any monies for education.
Might as well turn the children loose in the countryside.
Teacher salaries sound like what is paid for babysitters.
8
Betsy DeVos, Secretary of Education, where are you?
When we have our Secretary of Education, DeVos, who has no college degree in education, she would never ever support public school teachers. She could not care one bit about them.
When taxpayers are forced to support religious and private schools, public schools continue to have their funding decreased. It was inevitable that eventually teachers would be affected.
Everyone loses in public schools now, teachers and kids.
Thanks, Betsy - anotherr Trump blunder.
13
Well, it seems straight out of the Wisconsin/ Scott Walker playbook that destroyed public education in this state. My advice, having lived through "Act 10", the public education and union destroying "budget repair" bill is this: the teachers in West Virginia should go on strike as soon as this bill passes. These people only understand brute force. Any sign of weakness will only encourage them. Speaking from experience, you have nothing to lose, especially if you're young...
14
And the exodus of the young out of WV continues. One day WV will be an international model for the failed corporatist state.
15
When the existing public schools fail, charter schools can provide an alternative. Perhaps they can get better results with the same expenditure. Competition is likely to improve both them and the traditional schools, and parents and children should have as much choice as possible.
2
@Jonathan Katz Charter schools are first and foremost profit making businesses. Education is a product - cutting corners and putting out an acceptable product to maximize profits is the way businesses work. Children are not customers for a business. They represent the future of our families, our neighborhoods, our states, our country, and all of humanity. Competition should never be considered if it is couched in terms of cost when it comes to educating our future generations.
20
@Jonathan Katz
You obviously have failed to read the preponderance of research demonstrating that charter schools provide not better outcomes than public and in fact remove public funds and place them in private hands. There is no competition when that occurs.
18
@Jonathan Katz: Jonathan, that is what they said in your neighboring state of Ohio. The turn to Charter Schools resulted in one of the worst scandals in the state in recent memory. Millions of public funds were transferred to Charter Schools and to the pockets of a small group of millionaires promoting Charter Schools. Many of the Charter Schools were abject failures. And as is usually the case, it was the students who went to those schools who suffered most. You never hear former Governor John Kasich nor the present Governor Mike Dewine discuss this sordid scandal. And there is a reason: they don't want the truth to be known. With a gerrymandered House and Senate controlled by the Republican party, they have kept hidden the true magnitude of this debacle. This is not a viable solution for West Virginia nor any other state. Adequately fund the public schools and there will never be a need for Charter School alternative.
28
How much were the under-paid teachers making before the 5% raise? I'm interested in knowing what the lowest paid teachers in America make.
1
@J Holt
Last year I made 40,000. This was before taxes, insurance etc. That was my 7th year teaching, a masters degree +15, staying for bus duty every day after school and doing a home visit for an ill child weekly. On average, my paychecks were around 1,250 (ish) every 2 weeks. When I first started my checks were $875 (ish) every 2 weeks.
17
@B It would appear that parents in your school district don't place a priority on the future of their children.
1
The state and local politicians are either corrupt or uneducated. Most are bought and paid for by king coal or big oil. A fair number are not educated beyond high school and simply ignorant. Some, of course, fall under both categories. The mountains have been leveled, trout streams polluted, and now fracking is everywhere as natural gas is the new fossil fuel of choice. Yet most here don't believe in climate change. The only ray of hope is that the kids get it, they have more responsible social attitudes than the boomers. Now we just need to wait until the old die off, and then figure out a way to keep all the bright kids from leaving...
23
@jb It's true that the state and local politicians are compromised in one way or another; but the blame has to be placed at the feet of parents who apparently don't care about their kids. Parents should make it their number one mission to protect the futures of their kids. What kind of parents are they?
5
@Bill They are often too young to be parents; they are often addicted and have children who were affected in utero; they often lack the hope of employment; they are often held back by the regressive ideas of a very socially conservative (regressive?) culture. But there are many excellent exceptions too.
3
Hiring teachers with out college degrees and lowering the standards should work well. Child molestors sign here.
18
WV voters are nothing if not good at shooting themselves in the feet. Good luck recruiting and retaining teachers now.
All they need is a Sam Brownback to really plunge the state into a death spiral.
21
WV teachers? Preach civics. Teach civics. Breathe civics. Civics civics civics! Doing this (like I do with my fifth-graders) can cure the rot that has permeated our government. All the other stuff they can Google.
12
This is one reason why we no longer hire from Red States out here in California..
13
@Pw - Wow, it's really intelligent to limit your talent searches that way. I've worked with people from pretty much everywhere - even some talented people from California, if you'd believe it - and it's not the place they're from that's ever been what's made them worthwhile.
4
Is anyone really surprised that the Republican legislature in West Virginia did this? Republicans hate unions, they hate teachers, and they hate women. And now we see that they hate West Virginia's children, too. Not surprising either. What's is surprising is that people keep voting for the very people that hate them.
32
West Virginia voters have expressed their opinion as they have installed these people in office, showing their true colors. Time for professional teachers to move out of state.
17
I’m not sympathetic. If west virginians want better education for their kids. They can vote for their kids
If they want to keep their representatives. Then they can. Anyone with a brain will move to north east or west coast
Every day You show us who you are modern West Virginia
9
@Mary M
Owned a small business in CA for ten years. The cost of living is outrageous because of taxes and still school teachers strike because they are underpaid. Lived in NH in the 90s. Everyone complained about sky high property tax and the fact that towns funded their own schools resulting in uneven education. Rich town/great schools; poor town/not so great schools. Private schools proliferate in the NE so that those with means will have an alternative to public schools.
I'm happy as a bug in a bake shop here in WV. The folks are friendly, not self-absorbed and hard working. They know how to roll up their shirt sleeves and get their hands dirty doing an honest day's work. Most have never had a whole lot in their lives so when their cell service winks out they don't go insane wondering how they're going to pre-order their Starbucks.
As far as teachers go, well it was WV who showed how get an entire state to strike. Elected officials can vote to do things contrary to what citizens who put them in office want sometimes. WV citizens stood with their teachers and got something done.
But wait, hasn't the NYT been publishing articles about the problematic state of New York City schools? Guess y'all need to reconsider who you're putting in office as well, huh?
10
You do know it's the corporations out of the Northeast that have kept WV the way it is right? WV provided the energy to help create the modern society that the Northeast is today. The residents of WV are generations deep in a corporatist state. You should have empathy and gratitude for such a people. Instead, you show resentment and snobbery. Northeasterners should help those who helped them.
2
It's exhausting, constantly trying to deal with the horrid ideas of rethuglicans. They must have lawyers staying up nights searching for ways to hurt people, and sneaky ways to make their ideas into law.
17
Teachers need to do more than walk out for better pay. They will need to organize their communities to vote against the incumbents bent on punishing them. They have the numbers. It can be done. It will take time. It will take adding at least two or three issues so that their cause has wide appeal.
11
@Moxnix67
Or they can do what I did. When I realized that teaching was a nice hobby but I couldn't raise a family on the pay, I went to work in industry.
3
The majority did vote for this, but there are still millions in West Virginia who DIDN’T vote for this, but are held captive by these representatives intent on exploiting their own people. Before you write off the whole State, think of these powerless, captive citizens who need change.
8
@ERM The population of West Virginia is only 1.8 million. Maybe there are thousands who didn't vote for this.
3
Let’s get clear at on charter schools and separate them from the main discussion. The reported article says in WV the teachers would require next to no qualifications. That’s not how it works in Illinois. Here they are all still public schools - open enrollment to the children living in the affected school districts. No tests or selective admission. And the schools and teachers have the standards and certification requirements. The difference is in who gets a say in running them. Most in Chicago are atttended by Title I kids whose parents don’t want them in the “regular” public schools. But since they can’t tax, they’re actually operating on less money than the regular public schools. MN is similar, so it looks like WV’s proposal is an outlier, not what charters look like in lots of other states.
2
Why do those kids in West Virginia need school anyway?
They are all going to be employed in the coal mining jobs Trump promised to bring back to the state which is why their parents voted for him even though it meant their children would be drinking dirty water and breathing dirty air.
18
@Steve This is the attitude that makes people in West Virginia (and a majority of the Electoral College) vote for Trump. They are tired of being condescended to, and will elect him again if you and your coastal friends continue to sneer at them.
They care about their children just as much as you care about yours. And probably have more of them.
2
Republicans see anything done by government as a lost opportunity for someone to make a buck. Usually the "someones" who fund the Republican party.
Someone needs to make a film on "Why West Virginia Stays Poor".
15
It astounds that the people of the poorest states in our Union continue to elect to government those intent on keeping them impoverished. I, for one, am beyond compassion fatigue for citizens who, without fail, vote against their own interests.
17
Compassion is neither the appropriate nor an efficient response.
This is exactly what West Virginians voted for. This bill seems a fair and reasonable response.
5
Born there, absolutely beautiful country! But, there's a reason why I've never gone back.
22
Conservative Republicans just can’t get past the fact that people have civil rights independent of wealth or social status; a source of political power well beyond long-entrenched “noblesse oblige”, in two words. Those include the right to organize, to form work-groups and political associations and empower their leaders to petition government for a redress of grievances.
They just can’t tolerate the thought that ordinary Americans have civil rights that they cannot thwart, circumvent or eliminate. They adamantly oppose any effective exercise of those rights should it challenge their perks and privileges or upset an economic status quo that overwhelmingly favors them.
Without ordinary citizens being able to freely exercise such basic civil rights, personal liberties and powers “Freedom” is just a hollow word — one rendered meaningless by law. Precisely what conservative Republicans are seeking to do to the rest of us by fair means or foul in West Virginia, Wisconsin, Indiana, Florida, Georgia — everywhere that they can fool voters into electing them to public office.
19
Democracy in action.
Get the votes or don’t.
Please stop whining.
4
What is interesting here is that this article is written by a reporter from West Virginia currently reporting in Kosovo, as noted immediately after the story. This is also an opinion piece so - what does the reporter really know about this issue? And how interesting that the Times has a reporter assigned to Kosovo but apparently nobody that has real knowledge of WV. Kind of telling .....
3
She’s a Fulbright scholar out of RIT, born and raised in WVa. Not that hard to find this stuff out before sneering at the libs, you know.
18
Are lawmakers this ignorant, as to not be able to appreciate teacher's efforts to educate their children, so they won't remain as stupid as some of them?
8
West Virginia sounds just like Mississippi when it comes to education. There isn't one year when the legislature has fully funded education. A governor of Mississippi back in the 1920s said, "Education is the ruination of a good field hand." The average Southerner is not well-educated and easily led. They have a "father knows best" mentality and vote for the same "good ole boys" over and over. The powers that be thrive on an ignorant constituency and want to keep it that way. There are people who don't want to go for the old okey-doke, but they are a minority.
27
It's really quite simple:
Public education is funded by taxes.
Public education helps poor kids.
Thus, Republicans hate public education, and by extension, teachers.
29
@Mr. Teacher, Particularly UNIONIZED teachers.... Gotta break the last of those uppity workers.
4
@Emily In retrospect, I should have said "the GOP,' not "Republicans."
@Emily
Ummm ok, sure.... so give us some evidence that the people Republicans ELECT as their reps actually uphold that good, decent, caring. Or, to borrow from Missouri:
SHOW ME.
It wasn't mentioned the degree of bi-partisanship that enabled this law to be proposed and it looks like, approved. Politics wasn't mentioned at all. One of the major transgressions of neoliberalism has been to quietly watch the devastation of the union movement.
I would suspect that any well-meaning politician of any stripe that proposed treating education as the primary tool of progress would not be reelected.
The problem of this country is fear. In the case of education it would be fear that your children would be better educated and would take your job when they came of age. It would be imperative to keep everyone else, including your own children, ignorant.
And, as we have seen by the solidarity of the republic base that ignorance can be far more easily manipulated than an informed, knowledgable electorate.
Fear is an simple tool to control simple people.
8
I lived in WV for about ten years. When I was there the teachers were in it for themselves. There was a law on the books (not sure if it is still in place or not) that stated exactly when the school year had to end (it could not end a day later than whatever day was picked) and a similar date was set in the fall. If there were 40 snow days the calendar could not and would not be altered. This was to protect the length of the summer vacation for the teachers. How is that in the best interests of the students? It is not.
The teachers in WV are paid well vis-a-vis everyone else in the state. Per capita they are doing quite well. It's not a big state - teachers in many counties can easily teach in PA, VA, OH and KY. I would say - quit if you are so miserable and under appreciated. Go to the other states.
3
@Sarah99
This is good information but I would say that teachers are laid off in the summer not on vacation, so exact dates would be needed in order to reliably plan for other employment during that period.
14
@Sarah99
Oh my, so after 32 teaching in Pennsylvania, NOW I find out if had just taught in West Virginia, my school district would have made my "summer vacation " the biggest educational and financial priority in the long list of needs in a school district.
And all I had to do was ask @ Sarah99, apparently the foremost authority on public education who could have told me everything I needed to know about MY profession.
While I like your "logic" about a district's priorities, I'm quite certain you are very wrong.
11
@Sarah99
There is no such thing as teachers that are “in it for themselves.” The kids make sure it stays that way. They are extremely efficient at this.
6
Simply amazing that WV would limit the abilty of workers to strike. The most mportant organization in the history of the state, the United Mine Workers, struck to get pay, benefits and safe working conditions. Many lost their lives in the battles.
Some of the legislature should go to History class.
20
Sad. I was born and raised in West Virginia (as were my parents before me), but moved out of state after an out-of-state college education 55 years ago. None of my maternal or paternal cousins live in West Virginia any longer. Why? Even then opportunity was elsewhere. Still, there's a little bit of West Virginia diaspora in myself, my cousins and many other emigrants from the state. So we are sad for the state of affairs"back home."
Population will likely continue to decline. It has been recently -- that is a fact. The state will become poorer yet, without adequately educated youth. I wish I knew why the death wish, but I do not. On the other hand, I do know that absolutely the most important thing in the state is the success, or not, of West Virginia University's Mighty Mountaineers football team. Take me home country roads. Maybe that's the problem.
22
@Roy Cal "Education is the most urgent investment any society makes in it's future" Churchill
When you lived in WV you were used to the level of ignorance. When you left - it hit home.
This is not a death wish, these people are told by the GOP that the dire grinding poverty, illiteracy, lack of access to healthcare etc makes them free.
If we could be free of that welfare cheat of a state
4
I have been a teacher, and I truly sympathize with teachers' desires to improve their salaries, benefits, etc. I suspect those West Virginia teachers who are able will tend to move to other, better-paying jobs and other, more enlightened states.
However, the article states "West Virginia students will be the ones left to suffer the consequences while their fiercest advocates [presumably teachers] are muzzled." However, this article is almost entirely advocacy for teachers, not students: higher salaries, fringe benefits, seniority, etc. What benefits are teachers seeking for students? Well, the article is not about that.
I also found it very peculiar that the author of the article is identified as being "...a reporter from West Virginia currently reporting in Kosovo." Well, I live in Kansas, so I suppose that qualifies me to write NYT articles about Nepal or Columbia.
So much for boots-on-the ground, in-the-moment reporting.
8
@Mal T
There is this thing called the internet anymore which allows people to gather information from all over the world quickly. You might notice there are many commenters to these columns who live in other countries yet are apprised of what is going on here. In some cases they know more than our own citizens it seems.
Feel free to write about wherever just research.
11
@JKile. I guess that means the NYT can hire foreigners and expats for its staff—surely a good way to save a lot of money.
The constant attack on institutions and funding that serve the non-rich (so 95% of Americans and probably 99% of West Virginians) is sickening. If this continues there will be a revolution that will be involve more than strong words on an editorial page or in a Twitter feed.
The sort of inequality that is being nurtured in GOP-led statehouses across the nation will narrow the pathway out of poverty for those children most at-risk and will continue to hold solid middle-income professions like teaching hostage to school loans that preclude them from living with a safety net, let alone building wealth. Americans are loath to give up home so rather than surrendering they will eventually fight back. I'm beginning to be doubtful that it will be bloodless.
18
@Jason Americans are too fat to start a revolution. There will never be any fighting back. But it will certainly be bloodless, if it occurs, because half of them would keel over from a heart attack if they managed to lift themselves off of the couch, let alone run down the block with a rifle and ammunition in hand.
2
I guess it is okay for the coal miners to strike (if there are any left) but not teachers. I'm sorry, but without unions to back teachers, with pay cuts, low salaries, more students, and more being heaped upon teachers (they're not just teachers--they're social workers, nurses, librarians, and more), plus not providing them with the basics so they can do their jobs, I'm glad that they want to strike. In what other job, in what other industry would you be expected to go to work, to do your job, and NOT be given the tools and supplies to do it? Why would this generate outrage elsewhere but not when it comes to teachers?
They have nothing else to lose, and maybe strikes will bring much needed attention to their plight, and the plight of students. Silencing teachers isn't going to fix the problems--all it will do is sweep the problems under the rug, and there will be more generations of poorly educated children. Shame on the state legislators who insist on silencing teachers.
34
This is the result of the running "government as businesses" mentally. The objective is no longer a positive, productive, happy, healthy society and liveable environment - but rather to maximize income and minimize expenses. It's not about what the people want - but about what the "boss" wants or feels he needs to do for the short terms interest of the town, country or state. Change starts with a new mentality... By the people for the people
28
The West Verginia legislature appears to mirror
Bram Bones in the Legend of Sleepy Hollow and views educators as the Ichabod Cranes of the world.
6
The degradation of the public school systems in this country started with Reagan and has continued.
Education on the cheap, the anti-intellectualism and the down right fear of knowledge has been going on since the 1980s.
It is part of the reason we are in the situation that we are in...people who understand civics, history and political science would never have elected Trump and the Republicans.
Why do people vote against their interests? They don't know any better and they are open to fear mongering which does win elections.
34
@Mgk There is hardly a major problem we face, from homelessness to class inequality that can't be traced to reagan
7
@shrinking food
Yep...it is a joke to say the Republicans once boasted that they were deficit hawks
How about the states that don’t allow unions like SC? Here in Charleston the cost of living has skyrocketed in the past 10 years. My rent is $1050 a month plus utilities and my salary is $48,000. After taxes, biweekly, I bring home about $1000. Can I afford a car payment too? I spent about $500 of my own money on supplies this year and it’s only February. If this legislation happens it will inevitably lead to silencing instead of fixing corruption. I get so jealous when I hear strikes are successful, but I keep my head down and my mouth shut for fear of losing everything. Nice.
28
@Tavish Van Skoik
Then pick up and move; I know that it is a very hard and scary thing to do for lots of reasons.
But do it; I did it and now see that as one of the best decision that I ever made.
Take a year and do some research and gather facts - investigate what you can make in northern Virginia or Maryland versus what it will cost to live to live there, etc. Make a plan of attack for your self - your state is never going to step up to the plate for you.
5
Who are these people in office? These people of the ruling class who claim to be Christian, claim to fight the good fight yet cut teaches down at their knee caps?
They are self-serving, horrible people.
WAKE UP WEST VIRGINIA. You won't be able to blame anti-coal regulators and the democrats any longer for your long list of troubles.
43
We keep hearing about how the people of the heartland have been ignored by coastal elites. Next time I hear that I will remember that there own people want to keep the schools poor and their kids less educated.
So to the next op-ed writer who wants to blame me for the problems in the midwest and upper south - sorry but I refuse to accept blame.
63
@Terry McKenna And health care. Stay sick and ignorant and determinedly committed to a sense of self-sufficiency.
11
Another reason people need to wise up and vote the republicans into permanent minority status.
23
WV is a welfare state, living off the largess of more vital and well educated blue states.
States that refuse to collect enough in taxes adequate to pay their bills do so with the knowledge that the liberals they hate so much won't let them starve.
This must stop, states have to collect enough in taxes to cover the basics before they leech off real people.
48
@shrinking food I am reminded of a recent NYT chart that compared the GDPs of "blue" and "red" political states. "Blue," politically, overwhelmingly produced more wealth than "red".
1
@shrinking food This, 100 times over.
2
"Teachers at these schools could be hired without certification or even a high school diploma"? These are not "charter schools:" they are fundamentalist Christian madrasas, plain and simple.
88
By attacking education from the elementary to the university level and scientific research the republican party is hoping to create more republican voters - uninformed, ignorant and easily swayed by lies and bigotry.
40
Outlawing a problem does not make it go away. This is a typical anti-union, anti-teacher, anti-intellectual response. It will help insure that West Virginia will never be great, never mind "great again".
36
Summary if the issue. It's West Virginia.
9
@Eugene Yes, it takes a sophisticated, cosmopolitan New Yorker to misspell a two-letter word. Spare the condescension.
5
@Steve True, it’s an unnecessary NY-superiority complex expressed in print, but what is your opinion of the situation with the teachers, Steve?
Corruption is rampant in West Virginia! A coal company literally bought a state Supreme Court seat a few years ago for 3.5 million dollars. https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/west-virginia-s-high-court-corruption-just-tip-iceberg-when-ncna901301
16
There is nothing subtle about this bill's attempt to crush the teachers in West Virginia. STRIKE.
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To Joe Barnett - Great idea. Hope some of those teachers read your comment. The problem is they are probably too busy at their second jobs after teaching just trying to survive to endure running for office too.
15
West Virginia is surely a model of a model, thriving, prosperous workforce and electorate.
Let them reap what they sow. Their fine public school teachers can sell their services where it’s valued.
Charter schools can teach them how to shovel coal while taking opioids.
30
Yet West Virginia is gray haired (and white haired) state. They will need educated young people as nurses, physical therapists, speech therapists and home health aides (don't forget respiratory therapists for black lung disease and silicosis). They will need educated cardiologists when too many pepperoni rolls cause a heart attack. They will also need educated civil engineers to fix their roads and bridges. The best way to handle that college work is to invest in middle school and high school teachers so that students are well prepared for those health care and engineering careers communities need.
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@Letitia Jeavons Don't leave out good elementary school teachers so that when those students arrive in middle school, they're not so far behind that they can never catch up.
6
One principle I taught students who were learning to conduct psychotherapy was "don't work harder than your client."
If your client is not invested in the end goal, then it is pointless and not in your client's best interest to work hard toward that end goal.
The people of West Virginia have spoken. They want their children to be taught by teachers who can't get jobs anywhere else. Don't work harder than the voters in West Virginia. Let them have what they want.
(and don't subsidize the state when a huge percentage of them become dependent on opioids)
26
I'm still trying to understand the problem here. West Virginia voted overwhelmingly for Trump and for Republicans at all levels in virtually every elections. The citizens of this great state must know by now exactly what their elected leaders think of providing education and social services to their citizens. They are getting exactly what their leaders promised and which they repeated voted for. What's the problem again?
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Sipa. Your right on Trump but it didn’t start with him. Hillary and co in Arkansas emboldened the charter movement. Obama promised us card check but instead gave us three card monte. In addition he just flew over Wisconsin when Scott Walker was eviscerating public unions and schools in that state. Just to be bipartisan it all started when we allowed Reagan to fire the air traffic controllers and a general strike was not called. We were well on the way to an oligarchy long before Trump. He is just finishing the job
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@Patrick
Duuuuuuh hillary duuuuh Obama
Hillary wasn't governor in ark
now here are the facts goober trash
The charter school idea in the United States was originated in 1974 by Ray Budde,[11] a professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Albert Shanker, President of the American Federation of Teachers, embraced the concept in 1988, when he called for the reform of the public schools by establishing "charter schools" or "schools of choice."[12] Gloria Ladson-Billings called him "the first person to publicly propose charter schools."[13] At the time, a few schools already existed that were not called charter schools but embodied some of their principles, such as H-B Woodlawn.
As originally conceived, the ideal model of a charter school was as a legally and financially autonomous public school (without tuition, religious affiliation, or selective student admissions) that would operate much like a private business—free from many state laws and district regulations, and accountable more for student outcomes rather than for processes or inputs (such as Carnegie Units and teacher certification requirements).
Minnesota was the first state to pass a charter school law in 1991. California was second, in 1992. As of 2015, 43 states and the District of Columbia have charter school laws, according to the Center for Education Reform.
3
Just a small quibble with the author. She does realize that it is impossible for all 50 states to pay their teachers above the national average? Just a mathematical reality. Therefore, paying below the national average doesn't necessarily represent an outrageous situation. I looked at the data with the link she provided. I suspect, if the data were corrected to take into account a state's cost of living, the payroll data might not look all too disparate at all.
9
It might help if the teachers acknowledged that health care costs have increased for the families in their communities too. Instead of driving those families further into poverty by taxing those families to make up for the increased cost the teachers experience, they could join with them in finding a solution that keeps the families solvent also.
3
The Mississippi Of Appalachia.
Sad.
25
@Phyliss Dalmatian Kansas, the [insert intentional attempt to disparage by association with perceived inferior] of the West. If there's any place that shouldn't be pointing fingers, it's Brownback's Kansas.
9
@Steve
And Kansas voters voted the Republicans out of the Governor's office. It will take time to fix all the harm Brownback and his cronies did but one has to start from where one is and not from where one wished one were.
6
@Steve
Hey, I’m from Kentucky/Ohio. West Virginia is breathtakingly beautiful, but keeps electing politicians that keep it backwards. Just like Kansas, and Kansas ain’t beautiful. And I certainly never voted for Brownback or his Cult.
7
West Virginia gave Trump a huge win in 2016. (By the way, how are you coal miners making out?) How incredibly gullible and stupid are these residents in West Virginia that they would elect a legislation that would pass legislation in a state already ranking nearing the bottom when it comes to eduction, that would make their public education system even worse. Good luck West Virginia, keep electing legislators and Presidents that promise everything and produce nothing but empty promises.
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@jwgibbs
Calling a whole state stupid and advocating we abandon that entire state's children because a majority of voters (not even close to the actual number of citizens) made poor choices after being bombarded by well-funded, manipulative rhetoric for ages and having very real anxieties and limited opportunities because the state's economy is controlled by extraction industries, is seriously short-sighted. The problem doesn't go away. It just gets worse if we abandon the children of WVa, their teachers and the millions of West Virginians that didn't vote for Trump or the politicians pulling this scam.
7
@Bill Didn’t call the entire state stupid just those voters who voted for Trump
1
This shows the idiocy of 'real America", "Trump Nation", etc, and also shows their true agenda with eduation. The same states that are whining how jobs havve passed them by, want the government to prop up coal mining, who complain they are overlooked for jobs, in a world where educational achievement is more and more important to have a well paying job or attract companies to your state, they are doing the opposite, they are basically stripping funding from education, and worse, thanks to the religious morons and the ignorance is bliss crowd, they want to create an education system that doesn't educate, but rather creates a legion of people who can't think.
Want proof? If you think that charter schools can better educate kids, do it more efficiently, etc, then why wouldn't you want standards? Why wouldn't you require that a charter school, which takes public money, hire teachers who are certified and are teaching the things kids need? To have them unregulated basically means they see this as a way for private for profit schools to take money and in return make a fortune off that without teaching, or worse, allow the religious right and white supremacists to create schools that don't teach anything but fundamentalist dogma and/or that the white man is superior.
Easy enough answer for this, they keep this up, then every university and company in this country make it clear that kids educated in those schools are not educated, not qualified, and watch what happens.
35
Bill d. It’s pretty easy. If charters are so great all the failing public school kids should be transferred into charters and the problem is solved or of course the other possibility is charters will be found out for the scams that many of them are
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@bill d
second paragraph see ohio
3
@bill d: But charter schools don't do a better job educating kids than public schools, at least not here in MA. Charter schools have lower standards in some ways, but higher standards in others. They don't have to accept all students, they can throw out students who are underperforming, who are disruptive, etc. Guess where those students end up--back in the public schools, where the school has no choice but to take them and try to educate them. I work at a university, and I get charter school educated kids in my classes; they don't do any better than the public school graduates, and in too many cases, they're less prepared for college. All charter schools do is siphon away money from public schools while behaving like private schools. I know that every state is different, so maybe in some states charter schools are the new sliced bread. But that hasn't panned out here, and yet every year the charter schools want more--more of our taxes, with less oversight. So no, I'm not a fan.
20
Just when you thought the republicans couldn't get any dumber... The mind bogles. These clowns are determined to be the first in the race to the bottom and destroy America.
34
@Larry: The GOP doesn't want anyone to be educated except the children of the wealthy and their own kids. Too many have forgotten that a good public education was the way out of poverty and to middle class jobs for many. I don't see why education is considered "bad", unless it means that educated people won't vote Republican, and thus the way to keep a stranglehold on power is to make sure there are as many uneducated people as possible.
14
Is this about the teachers, or the students? (Yeah, I know you’ll say, “both,” only it’s not.)
1
A remarkably bad idea.
15
WV lacks informed leadership dedicated to the public good. Good ol' boy networks run government at the city, county and state levels. Elected officials typically are drawn from influential families used to treating their communities like fiefdoms. Those from a business background are unable or unwillingly to govern in a business like manner based on costs and benefits. It's far easier to manage on the basis of favors and obligations under the umbrella of unthinking obedience to cartoon versions of conservative principles. That is why WV is and will be the Mississippi of the North, and its children will forever be robbed of opportunity.
29
@ThomHouse Well said Mr. ThomHouse!
1
As I read about another state or federal policy decision meant to beat down the middle class, be it wages, access to health care, or access to quality education, I begin to think The Hunger Games may be a prescient look at our future. The thought takes my breath away for its plausibility if these beat down policies continue!
15
West Virginia teachers showed themselves to be heroic and united when they used the only leverage available and walked out last year, finally settling for a barely adequate salary increase. Public education in the state is in dire need of vastly increased funding for everything, pay, professional development, infrastructure, transportation, and on and on. Large-scale assessment outcomes are 3rd world. As long as financing follows with the wealthiest getting the most support, this will not change anytime soon.
Legislators who don't support aggressively taxing coal have get unelected. Coal has made many very, very rich and many, many more desperately poor, disabled, unhealthy, and poorly educated. The wealthy in WV are not as tempting a target as in PA or OH, but they are skating on the backs of the poorest and they need a wake up call. Simply put, the politics has to change. The education community needs to show their teeth again; organize, educate, vote, and take no prisoners.
28
West Virginia's teachers engaged in an illegal strike to get a 5 percent pay increase.
Now, the following year, many want to hold educators more accountable.
I suppose where you stand depends on where you sit but West Virginia is in the top tier of states on per pupil expenditure, and it isn't too much to ask that it not be near the bottom in academic performance.
4
@Didier
How was the strike illegal? Sitting near the bottom of pay across the nation is no way to attract quality teachers. The new law, if passed, makes strikes illegal. It is a product of ALEC and the WV Republican party. (The language from the Koch boys and Americans for Prosperity is largely unchanged) The same group that impeached their Supreme Court to get a Republican majority on the court.
The Republican Party in West Virginia is beholden to the business interests in the state, not the populace. They are not the same group.
60
@Didier The better question would be: where is the money going if teachers are underpaid and the students are underperforming?
22
@OpenthePodBayDoors_HAL I am a successful and grateful product of the West Virginia educational system, but in my seven decades, it has declined. One thing I did learn is that facts are stubborn things.
Fact. Public employee strikes are illegal in West Virginia: During an earlier teachers' strike, the West Virginia Supreme Court ruled on April 12, 1990: “Public employees have no right to strike in the absence of express legislation or, at the very least, appropriate statutory provisions for collective bargaining, mediation, and arbitration," and affirmed an order enjoining the teachers' strike.
I tend to agree with you regarding the anti-public education bias of many Republicans (who favor private, religious, and segregated schools).
But, in any public debate, facts matter.
6
All West Virginians who support this plan, need only to look at Michigan public schools to see where this will lead. As a 32 year veteran of public schools, my whole career was a race to the bottom nationally as far as school policies were concerned. After Too many years of Republican leadership, our schools are slightly better rated than West Virginia. If the standard is lowered yet, what will we do?
43
@Maestra What happened? Michigan public schools used to be good? I lived in West Michigan from '93 to '96 and went to public school. The public schools were good then.
1
@Letitia Jeavons
Rick Snyder and the Republican Senate
7
Clearly the intent of this bill and the senate of West Virginia is to remain at or near the bottom of educational attainment in the United States. A position with they apparently hold with great pride.
96
@ANDY
And I add under educated children will grow into under educated adults therefor easy voters to manipulate. It is sad. It is a tragedy. I'm sure the senator's children do not attend public schools.
16
@ANDY hey, they got up to 47th
2
@ANDY and the good people of W Virginia must agree with this intent as they keep voting for these people.
4
Why would anyone seek to make a profit off of education? Education costs what it costs and any additional resources would be better served going back as investment into the schools. I just don't get it.
19
They want to make teachers serfs.
Then they can whittle away teacher pay.
That will make teaching public school an unattractive job.
That will pave the way to private schools.
Or worse--god story schools.
But everyone benefits from well educated citizens--except those who need them ignorant, incompetent and dependent on moneylords.
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@Michael Kubara
seem like a legislature that wants kids to go to school to learn how to use shovels.
12
Showing once again that the Republicans say they care truly, madly, deeply about the “unborn,” but couldn’t care less about the health and education of children after they exit the womb.
175
Republicans have put lots of money into WV state politics, enticing some Democratic politicians to switch parties. The legislature is now owned by ALEC. I’ve lived in West Virginia for almost 32 years, and for the first time feel ashamed to be a West Virginia.
86
@Kenneth Wright. This makes me think of Kentucky—yet another poor state where Republicans run roughshod over the true needs of the citizens and are content with the knowledge that an un-educated or under-educated population allows them to easily stay entrenched in power. Thinking of you, Mitch McConnell.
33
What a farce the deep red State Government of West Virginia has become, a state that is proudly called "Wild Wonderful West Virginia because of its beautiful mountains and lush valleys.
It is already a state that is as number 50 at bottom percentage of Bachelor's Degree holders.
That and the underpayment of teachers in addition to opening charter schools where "teachers" don't even have to a high-school degree, will ruin the next generation of West Virginians even more.
They'll have to work -just like now - at least two different jobs a day to feed and close a family, and sometimes both parents have to do it, while grandparents or neighbors have to take care of the kids.
42
@Sarah Oops, "cloth" a family.
3
I'm sure this will do wonders for recruiting teachers to the state. Race to the bottom.
65
Thank God I teach in California.
31
Do the math. We get one chance to educate our children. West Virginia Republicans clearly want to reduce that by one.
157
I am an ex-WV resident.
The state will start to move from the bottom of all state rankings when there are bake sales to support subsidies for out-of-state mining and extraction interests, while state money goes to support the education, health and well-being of its residents.
45
Although there are many good points in this article, the argument in favor of considering seniority in layoffs rings hollow. Any product of the NYC public school system knows that too much emphasis on seniority leads to the accumulation of some terrible but un-fireable teachers. The prevention of politically motivated layoffs is a separate issue from the role of seniority.
15
@David And how would teachers who believe they were laid off for political reasons actually prove that? Do you really think the teacher will receive a letter stating that his or her support of strong teacher unions was the reason for the dismissal? You can be sure that school boards and administrators will attend seminars on how to cover their tracks and avoid doing anything as dumb as that.
15
@David
I have always found that argument... seniority/keeps bad teachers...false. False because management is failing to do their job, which is not easy, but requires more work, effort than they are willing to perform.
14
Seniority assumes-- More experience is better than less. A rather uncontroversial principle.
The burden of proof is on those who would reject this in each case--To prove that a novice is better qualified--and not just cheaper.
And remember teaching is not like weight lifting, 100 meter sprints, or shot put--weighable, clockable or measurable. Bias and other forms of bad discrimination easily creep in. Seniority protects against that too.
Funny how "You only get what you pay for" applies to politicians and CEOs but not to teachers and workers.
2
The neo-con, anti-union, right-to work crowd have convinced the general population, most of whom are non-unionized, and work only at will - of their employers, that unions exist only to defend the interests of their members to the detriment of everyone else. Preferably with some corruption thrown in. Since teachers' unions are not interested in the welfare of the schools and students, but only of themselves, they need to be abolished. Their ideal for all workers is no intermediary between the worker and the employer, it's strictly a personal contract that either can get out of at will. That's where this is going. It's where most American workers are today, so they don't see why it should be different for teachers, for example.
36
@Margaret, schadenfreude on steroids.
15
@Rhonda
"schadenfreude on steroids."
In West Virginia make that "schadenfreude on opiods."
5
What is wrong with West Virginia lawmakers? Do they not want their children properly educated? I hope the teachers fight--where are the parents? Do they not care?!!! Our children are our hope. They need the best. Come on legislators--do the right thing.
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@Kristine
The legislators probably send their children to private schools which have real educated teachers, not just cheap ones. As to the rest of the population? Well, how much education do you need to operate mine machinery, risking black lung and/or mine collapse death? They want their workers not to be able to use logic, especially when it comes to living next to mine tailings, polluted streams and rivers as well as underground water sources!
37
@Kristine
Doubtless, this is "payback" for last year's work stoppages and subsequent raises.
12
@Kristine
If their children are properly educated the politicians would never get elected, to pervert an advertising jingle, an educated voter is their worst nightmare.
12
To save education, teachers need to elect teachers to their legislatures. Others are too easily duped by their misunderstanding of what is going wrong in our schools. They mistakenly think teachers can overcome the poverty of their communities while working a second job and working under deplorable conditions.
75
@Joe Barnett
I doubt they are duped. They know what they are doing and they don't care. They have other priorities, such as supporting large extraction companies with state funds.
70
@Joe Barnett. Or elect a teacher to the governor's office, like we did in Minnesota!
8