Teachers in One-Quarter of W.Va. Districts Walk Out

Nearly 5,000 teachers did not report to work in West Virginia and some picketed outside the state Capitol in Charleston March 14 to protest a lower-than-expected raise.

But the protest failed to provoke Gov. Joe Manchin III into calling a special session to revisit the issue.

The one-day walkout closed some or all of the schools in 14 of the state’s 55 districts. It was called by leaders of the 17,000-member West Virginia Education Association, who say the state is losing teachers to neighboring states that pay more.

According to the WVEA, an affiliate of the National Education Association, West Virginia ranks 47th in the nation for teacher salaries. The NEA’s annual salary survey says West Virginia teachers made $38,360 on average in 2005, compared with $52,331 for teachers in neighboring Maryland and $42,768 in Virginia.