Governor Jim Justice says he will propose a five percent pay raise for school teachers and public employees when the legislature meets early next year.
The Gazette-Mail’s Ryan Quinn reported Justice initially made the promise during a meeting with county school superintendents while discussing his opposition to Amendment Two, and then confirmed those comments later to Quinn.
“We’ve had three nice raises (2018, 2019, 2021). We haven’t perfected it yet, but I’m going to stand behind doing the fourth one, immediately, you know, when we come back into session. And then, somewhere along the way, I’m very hopeful, before I leave (his term ends in January 2025), we’ll be able to do the fifth one,” Justice told the paper.
Quinn also talked with Senate President Craig Blair about a teacher and public employee raise. Blair and Justice have been sparring over Amendment Two—Justice is against, Blair is for it—and Blair sounded like he did not want Justice to one up him on the raise.
“The fact of the matter is we’ve been talking about it now for four or five months on the Senate side,” Blair told the paper. “We’re the ones that drove the last five percent raise.”
Blair said he still needs to meet with his caucus about the raise, “but we frankly believe we can do it, so this is nothing new.”
Maybe Justice was just speaking off-the-cuff, as he tends to do. Perhaps Blair does not want Justice to get the upper hand as they both campaign on Amendment Two. Or maybe there is no ulterior motive, and these state leaders simply believe in the merits of a raise.
Whatever the reasons, teachers, staff and state workers should print out Quinn’s story, highlight the quotes, and carry it with them as a reminder of what amounts to a promise of a raise. The leaders of the state’s two teacher unions have taken note.
“When he (Justice) says he’s going to do something, he does his very best to make sure it gets done,” said AFT West Virginia President Fred Albert.
“I applaud him (Justice) for his initiative,” said WVEA President Dale Lee, “and I hope the Legislature follows his lead.”
Historically, teachers and staff have had to scrape, claw and even strike for higher pay. The 2018 nine-day walkout was disruptive and illegal, but it was rooted in deep frustration and the five-percent raise that followed never would have happened had teachers not staged a strike.
Justice and Legislative Republican leaders had an organized rollout of the third in a series of five-percent raises before the start of the 2022 session. Justice’s 2.5 percent “inflatocine” bonus failed, but the across-the-board raises sailed through.
The 2023 Legislative session will not get down to business until February, and a lot can change when 134 members gather in Charleston. However, with surplus money piling up in the treasury and these on-the-record promises, teachers, staff and public employees are in a strong position to get a pay raise.