(CNN) Public schools across West Virginia are closed Thursday as teachers and other school employees hit the picket lines, demanding higher wages and better benefits.
According to Dale Lee, president of the West Virginia Education Association (WVEA), teachers in all of the state's 55 counties are participating in the planned two-day walk-out, and a group will march Thursday morning to the capitol building in Charleston.
Teachers gathered at the state capitol building in Charleston, West Virgina, Thursday to demand higher wages and better benefits.
Organizers expect thousands of teachers to participate.
West Virginia employs nearly 20,000 classroom teachers in its public schools and has more than 277,000 students enrolled, according to Alyssa Keedy of the West Virginia Department of Education.
Teachers are walking into the state capitol building in Charleston, according to Christine Campbell, president of the American Federation of Teachers-West Virginia . They plan to sit in the gallery during legislative sessions. Others are gathering outside the full galleries and continuing their protests.
Teachers are gathering inside the West Virginia capital building this morning to demand higher pay and better benefits. Video from Christine Campbell: pic.twitter.com/uJNKx40B0z — Sarah L. Jorgensen (@SarahLJorgensen) February 22, 2018
In other public areas of the capitol building, teachers are chanting, "You work for us!" and "55 united," a reference to the 55 districts that are closed. They are also carrying signs with slogans such as "Respect Ed" and "No recess until YOU clean up this mess." Campbell told CNN that the line to get inside wraps around the building.
Teachers wait in line to get into the capitol building in Charleston.
"The most important thing for us right now is public education and that we're standing up for our students and our colleagues," Campbell told CNN.
You can hear the West Virginia teachers chanting, "55 united" - that is a reference to all 55 school districts in the state that are closed today. Video from Christine Campbell: pic.twitter.com/FptJ01p1yY — Sarah L. Jorgensen (@SarahLJorgensen) February 22, 2018
While their teachers are picketing, students are getting some support in their communities. Teachers' unions organized educators and service staff members to work with food pantries to send children home with extra food in advance of the school closures. Some community centers and churches are also hosting programs for students so working parents don't have to stay home.
The work stoppage comes after Gov. Jim Justice signed legislation late Wednesday night granting teachers a 2% pay increase starting in July, followed by 1% pay increases over the next two years.
"We need to keep our kids and teachers in the classroom," Justice said in a statement after signing the pay raise bill. "We certainly recognize our teachers are underpaid and this is a step in the right direction to addressing their pay issue."
But the bill did not address further concerns of teachers, including issues with the teachers' public employees insurance program, the rising costs of healthcare, and a tax on payroll deduction options, according to Campbell. The pay raise, which amounts to 4% over the next few years, is a reduction from an earlier version of the bill that proposed a 5% total increase in wages, Campbell said, also remarking that teachers in surrounding states make anywhere from $5,000 to $20,000 more than teachers in West Virginia.
Teachers picket outside Barrackville School in Barrackville, WV.
"These things got everyone here, brought everyone here, and signing a bill at 8 o'clock at night wasn't going to change that," Campbell told CNN from Charleston on Thursday morning.
Lee, with WVEA, said the group told the governor "from day one" that the proposed pay hikes were not enough.
Passing cars are honking their horns in support of the teachers as they drive by the strikes, Lee told CNN on the phone from a picket line in Charleston Thursday morning.
"The support we're getting is truly amazing," he said.
geetarguy on February 22nd, 2018 at 18:24 UTC »
West Virginian here. My father is a public school teacher. It's for much more than just teachers that this is happening. This is happening to all state employees (state police, road workers, etc). Teachers are the only ones "able" to strike, even though it's still technically not allowed. I don't know about the rest of the US, but around here the teachers are the most organized of the groups that are affected, so their strike is speaking for all the other state employees who aren't able to strike. My dad, who's 2 years or so from retiring, is going to get a $400/year raise over last year, but insurance is going up $1500 from last year. So my parents will be making $1100 less.
jbomb6 on February 22nd, 2018 at 17:40 UTC »
As others have said, this is not solely about pay. It is mainly about the PEIA insurance premiums going up a substantial amount (almost doubling I think?) from last year. Although teachers in WV are also severely underpaid (49th nationally).
todd6739 on February 22nd, 2018 at 16:15 UTC »
Teachers in WV total around 19,000 and the student count is around 270,000. I am hoping that everyone can resolve this but it's not looking great.
I should note that a large amount of local teachers and businesses are supplying students with free lunches in certain areas. No child should ever go hungry.