West Virginia House Tables Bill That Prompted Teacher Strike

[appalachiablue]

Source: Associated Press

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — This time the teachers' strike was only hours old when lawmakers acted. Just as the strike began Tuesday, the West Virginia House of Delegates effectively killed a complex education bill that sent state teachers to the picket lines nearly a year after a nine-day strike closed schools.

The Republican-led House voted 53-45 to table the bill indefinitely. That means the bill won't go to the next step: a committee of Senate and House members who would try to come up with a compromise.

Cheers erupted from the House galleries where hundreds of teachers were in attendance. It wasn't immediately clear whether the vote would end the strike, but teachers started leaving the Capitol afterward.

Three unions representing teachers and school service workers said they would meet with union members before deciding on further action, which could include ending the strike. The unions scheduled a late afternoon news conference. American Federation of Teachers' West Virginia chapter President Fred Albert said "it was very clear today that the House heard our voice."


Read more: http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/west-virginia-house-tables-bill-that-prompted-teacher-strike/ar-BBTMHqB?ocid=HPCOMMDHP15

---

Teachers unions are against complex legislation to create the state's first charter schools, allow education savings accounts for parents to pay for private school, and other issues. "Our students are first and are not for sale," Poca High School English teacher Meghan Stevens said. "We believe in the power of public education."

Union representatives said lawmakers never asked for their insight into what has become a rushed process in the GOP-led Senate, which narrowly passed an amended bill Monday night.
-----------------
'Flooding State Capitol, WVA Teachers Save Public Education From Privatization Scheme.' "Last year we were fighting for us. Now we're fighting for our students, to be able to get what they deserve through public education."
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/02/19/flooding-state-capitol-west-virginia-teachers-save-public-education-privatization West Virginia teachers celebrated Tuesday afternoon when they learned the strike they had staged had helped force the state House of Delegates to vote down an education reform bill that would have pulled funding away from public schools, redirecting it to private and charter schools and harming students across the state. The pro-privatization bill failed in a 53-45 vote. The victory marks the second time in the past year that teachers in the state have used civil disobedience to force legislators to invest in public education.



- West Virginia teachers filled the State Capitol building in Charleston on Tuesday as they staged a walkout to protest a new state education bill that promotes privatization and charter schools.

[kimbutgar]

1. You don't mess with teachers or you get flunked out

[appalachiablue]

2. Absolutely, the strength of teachers is real

[Panich52]

3. One would think after last year, idiot Repubs would know better than to fk with WV teachers

[appalachiablue]

4. really, and incentives to pass this 'reform' bill must be sizable

[a la izquierda]

5. While this is super for teachers...

The Judiciary committee passed the campus carry legislation. This means this will likely become law.
I’m a university professor. I’m preparing to resign.

[appalachiablue]

6. That's really unfortunate. I hope things for you and others

in that position will be alright..

[Staph]

7. From the WV House Democrats Facebook page

posted about 3 this afternoon (https://www.facebook.com/WVhousedems/):

UPDATE ON SB 451:Here's the video on Delegate Steele's (R-Raleigh) fiery speech against the Motion to Postpone SB 451 Indefinitely. In his speech, he railed against Delegate Caputo and others who were pushing the motion, then voted with us. You don't need a basset hound to understand something smells fishy here. Since he ultimately voted in favor of the Motion to Postpone Indefinitely, according to parliamentary procedure he can make a Motion to Reconsider at any time, which would bring the Motion to Postpone Indefinitely back to the House floor. The audacity Delegate Steele shows in this speech is pretty incredible. Notice he bashes the use of parliamentary procedures in this situation, after Republicans in the Senate pulled out every trick in the book to advance SB 451 this far. Then he has the nerve to vote with us so he can use one of those parliamentary procedures to revisit the bill again. Keep in mind, Delegate Steele won a very close election in 2018 against a former Delegate who was a School Service Personnel member.

Fortunately, he didn't get a chance to use the procedure. Instead, "The House Finance Committee has added HB 2730 to the agenda tomorrow morning at 9:00am. This is the Governor's "clean" pay raise bill that he spoke about today. This bill would give teachers, state troopers, and school service personnel a 5% pay increase."

Schools are still out tomorrow, though many are closed because of the expected bad weather. And Putnam County is still supposed to be open. The scuttlebutt is that the county superintendent has already purchased a piece of land to build a charter school.


(Much of my info comes from friends and family who are current or retired school teachers. I love them all!)

[TeamPooka]

8. Republicans will keep trying to destroy public education. Smart citizens are not their goal.

[BigmanPigman]

9. I hope they keep their signs, shirts and sneakers handy.

It seems that the state can't be trusted (gee, what a surprise).