West Virginia Education Association Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Education Unions Announce Planned Merger

Two of the state’s largest education unions are planning to merge.

The West Virginia Education Association (WVEA) and the American Federation of Teachers – West Virginia (AFT-WV) announced Wednesday that they have unanimously approved a values statement for a new, unified organization

Dale Lee, president of the WVEA, said the merger will help ensure educators’ voices are heard and strengthened together.

“We saw in 2018-2019 that united and standing together, we were a stronger voice,” he said. “And with that, we’ve also seen a target on our backs in the legislature the last few years. So this gives us an opportunity to expand on the strength that we saw in 2018, 2019. And to really build something that members want and are going to be proud of.”

Lee said the proposal has received significant feedback from members of both organizations via special delegate assembly and a special convention to approve the value statement.

“We’ve gone to several counties across the state talking about this and answering questions so our members really know what’s going on,” he said.

Lee said the governing bodies of both organizations must approve the merger, but the goal is to have everything in place and have a new organization in place by September 2025.

In a press release, Fred Albert, AFT-WV president said, “one merged unified voice for education employees is an exciting vision for the future of education in WV.”

“By definition, a union is a merging of people coming together to use their collective talents and knowledge to improve the working conditions and circumstances for the whole,” he said. “While there is much work still to be done, I look forward to continuing to work with Dale and the leadership of both organizations to make this vision a reality.”

Burnout, Dissatisfaction Among Educators In Latest WVEA Survey

West Virginia teachers have become increasingly more likely to leave the profession, according to the latest survey of West Virginia Education Association members.

Dale Lee, president of the WVEA, shared results Tuesday and said the survey was conducted to gauge levels of frustration amongst association members. He said the survey showed low pay and a lack of respect for the profession are leading to higher stress and burnout.

“More than half of our members, 62 percent, reported experiencing higher levels of stress and burnout than in previous years, with 26 percent saying that their level of burnout is at its highest level ever,” Lee said.

The higher levels of burnout and stress are leading to more educators to consider leaving the profession. Lee said while more than half of respondents are confident they will continue working in education, “nearly half of them say that they are much more likely to retire or leave education earlier than planned.” The results were broken down by tenure, and newer educators were more likely to consider leaving.

“We already have a problem with attracting and retaining education employees,” Lee said. “And this poll indicates that without changes, the problem will only get worse without significant action.”

Lee raised concern about the ongoing teacher shortage, citing the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission to say there has been a 14 percent reduction in the number of students entering the education programs, as well as a lack of students seeing education as a career.

“You can see the staffing issues will continue to grow if something isn’t done to address these concerns,” he said.

Other results included a disapproval of public funds being used for private education: 85 percent of WVEA members said taxpayer funding for education should only be used for our public schools. And more than 70 percent of respondents said they were dissatisfied with their working conditions.

“In all instances, the dissatisfaction is overwhelming,” Lee said. “Now keep in mind that the working conditions over educators are the learning conditions of our students.”

Turning to solutions, Lee highlighted two interesting results of the survey. When asked to indicate support for different proposals to address education burnout, such as allowing teachers more input in the classroom decisions by eliminating the bureaucracy, 100 percent of respondents chose “raise salaries” and “increase educator respect”.

According to the National Education Association, West Virginia ranks last among U.S. states in average teacher pay.

“Our pollsters indicate that it’s very rare to have such a consensus on two items in a poll,” Lee said.

Lee says he hopes to present the survey findings to both the Senate and House education committees, and work with them on solutions.

Education Unions Hold Community Focus Groups

Leaders of the state’s two education employee organizations are holding focus groups across the state.

After poor results on the National Assessment of Educational Progress released last month, the focus groups will offer input and ideas on the resources, supports, and other factors that will help improve student achievement.

The American Federation of Teachers-West Virginia and the West Virginia Education Association (WVEA) will host six focus groups across the state. They will begin Tuesday in Morgantown.

WVEA President Dale Lee said they want to hear from everyone involved in our school systems.

“We want to hear from the experts, we want to hear from the educators and the parents and the community about the things that we need to do to make improvements, to make changes in student achievement,” Lee said.

The organizations plan to present their data to the Department of Education and the legislature.

“We will have questions for each of the participants to answer and a survey at the end,” Lee said.

Registration for all focus groups begins at 5:30 p.m. The focus groups will begin at 6 p.m. at the following locations:

Morgantown: Plumbers and Pipefitters Union – Tuesday, Nov. 29
Wheeling: Patriot Point at Wheeling Park High School– Wednesday, Nov. 30
Charleston: Mary C. Snow Elementary – Monday, Dec. 5
Beckley: Woodrow Wilson High cafeteria – Thursday, Dec. 8
Martinsburg: Martinsburg Holiday Inn – Tuesday, Dec. 13
Virtual forum: Register at qrco.de/bdPM86 – Thursday, Dec. 15

Judge Denies Teacher Union Efforts To Halt In-Person Learning At Schools

A West Virginia judge has denied attempts to halt or slow a return to in-person learning for pre-K through 12th grade classrooms across the state.

Kanawha County Judge Carrie Webster denied a temporary restraining order filed by the state’s two largest teacher unions. The unions wanted the court to reverse a recent ruling made by the West Virginia Board of Education that no longer allows fully remote learning in pre-K through 8th grade.

That ruling by the state board also requires high schools to return to in-person instruction unless a county is red on the state’s COVID-19 risk map. Virtual school is still available to all counties and grade levels.

The West Virginia Education Association and the West Virginia chapter of the American Federation of Teachers filed the injunctions in an attempt to allow teachers and school service personnel time to receive both doses of a coronavirus vaccine before being forced to return to classrooms.

The action also sought to allow the decision of in-person learning to be made at the county level.

“Obviously, we are disappointed by the judge’s decision to deny the temporary restraining order,” said AFT-WV President Fred Albert. “We were hoping to secure time for our members to become fully vaccinated and protected during in-person instruction. However, we are respectful of the process and the opportunity to have the concerns of our members heard before the court.”

Albert said he still believes the decision regarding in-person versus remote learning are best left to the local boards of education who are elected by the citizens. The state Board of Education is not. Instead, nine of its eleven members are appointed by the governor.

WVEA President Dale Lee also released a statement and agreed with Albert, saying the state school board “took options away from county boards.”

“Decisions to teach in-person, remotely, hybrid and online should be a local decision, made by those who are the most impacted and who best understand how to best educate students safely,” Lee said. “While some areas may be able to safely return to in-person learning, for others it is an entirely different situation. A ‘one-size-fits-all’ does not fit the learning needs all [sic] of our students … in the middle of a pandemic.”

State health experts and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have reported children do not spread the coronavirus at the rate adults do.

All 55 county school systems are in compliance with the state board’s demands, following some initial push back by seven counties.

Vaccinations for teachers and school staff age 50 and older began in early January, and is continuing across the state.

Board Cancels Meeting On In-Person Schooling Penalties As Teacher Unions Continue Push-Back On Ruling

The West Virginia Board of Education canceled a meeting that was scheduled Tuesday morning to address counties that did not initially comply with a ruling to return to in-person learning.

The meeting was scheduled to address counties that voted to remain in remote-only instruction. But last week, Gilmer, Taylor and Marion agreed to offer an in-person option — making them the last of the state’s 55 counties to comply with the state board’s demands.

State school board President Miller Hall said in a press release that he was pleased all counties were now back in buildings, and he said mitigation efforts, such as mask-wearing and social distancing, to combat the spread of COVID-19, would continue.

“We know more about this virus than we did when schools moved to remote learning in March 2020,” Hall said in the press release. “And when we are diligent to follow the key mitigations such as mask-wearing, we know our children are safe in our schools.”

Health officials say children under age 15 do not transmit or become infected with the coronavirus at the same rate as adults.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have recently reported that spread of the coronavirus in schools where mitigation efforts are being followed is very low.

Members of the state BOE and the West Virginia Department of Education say they continue to work closely with state health officials to monitor the health and safety of West Virginia schools and the needs of students.

Superintendent of Schools Clayton Burch said the lack of in-person instruction, school support and daily structured activities are disruptive to learning and are harmful to the most vulnerable children.

“As the state superintendent, I cannot single-handedly erase the impact of the many adverse childhood experiences facing these children,” Burch said. “However, together with the state board, we can make sure our school doors are open to those children relying on the consistent and undeniable benefit of in-person instruction.”

At an emergency meeting last week, state board members considered the remaining three counties that still had not opened physical schools. At that meeting, members were presented with possible penalties they could impose if counties did not offer an in-person option, such as withholding state aid or bringing legal action against a county. Board members did not vote on penalties, instead opting to allow the remaining counties to come up with a solution by Jan. 26 that would put those counties in line with the mandate passed by the state board on Jan. 13.

Under that ruling, schools are no longer allowed to offer fully remote learning for pre-K through 8th grade — regardless of the county’s color on the state’s coronavirus map. High schools are encouraged to attend in-person as well, but only if a county is not labeled red on the map.

West Virginia’s two largest teacher unions, the West Virginia Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers-West Virginia, are urging judges to slow or halt reopening more classrooms — demanding that school workers be given the second dose of the coronavirus vaccine before being forced to return to in-person instruction.

A hearing regarding the injunctions began Tuesday at 1:30 p.m.

The West Virginia Board of Education will meet again for its regular session on Feb. 10, 2021 in Charleston.

All W.Va. Counties Now Offer Some In-Person Instruction As Teacher Unions Prepare For Legal Fight

The last county school systems in West Virginia that did not implement in-person instruction have accepted a mandate passed by the state Board of Education.

The ruling requires some in-person instruction for grades K-8 regardless of the color on the state’s COVID-19 risk map.

All 55 county school systems are now offering some in-person classes. In some places, school might be held in brick-and-mortar buildings a full five days a week, but in others, some have shortened days, and some are blended — alternating between in-person and remote throughout the week.

Fully remote learning is no longer permitted for students in kindergarten through middle school, and high schools are only allowed to be remote when a county is red on the state’s coronavirus map.

Gilmer, Taylor and Marion counties were the last to follow the state’s mandate. The week began with seven counties opting to stay fully remote.

On Thursday, Gilmer and Taylor county boards of education held emergency meetings to reconsider the state BOE’s ruling, and on Friday, Marion County did the same.

Marion County Superintendent Randall Farley had recommended a return to full, in-person instruction following the state board’s ruling on Jan. 13, but the Marion school board opted to keep all students remote whenever a county is orange or red, which is what the state followed in the fall.

Farley urged board members once again on Friday to follow the state’s recommendation for the spring.

“The second semester registration shows that 69 percent [of families] are choosing the in-person learning option, and 31 percent are choosing a virtual or distance learning option,” Farley said. “Those percentages have remained consistent and constant throughout all offerings of in-person learning — from the get go.”

Some board members, while agreeing students should be in school and ultimately voted in favor of that, said they felt “strong-armed” by the state board. Superintendent Clayton Burch argued against their characterization.

“I wouldn’t call it strong-arming,” Burch said. “I would call it following the [state] constitution and advocating for children’s rights, and that right is the ability to have an in-person instruction [option].”

Gov. Jim Justice said during a press briefing Thursday that he wants children to return to school to offset learning loss and protect students’ social-emotional health. Health officials say the spread of COVID-19 among children age 15 and younger is minimal.

Meanwhile, West Virginia’s two largest teacher unions, the American Federation of Teachers-West Virginia chapter and the West Virginia Education Association, are asking judges to halt or slow down the governor’s push to reopen more classrooms during the pandemic. They are demanding that education workers be given the second dose of the coronavirus vaccine before being forced to return to in-person learning.

“We don’t know everything there is to know about COVID-19 at this point,” said Dale Lee, president of the West Virginia Education Association in Friday’s meeting with the Marion County Board of Education. “Why would you put the safety of your educators, your students and everyone’s family at risk?”

Other union members said it was “ludicrous” to think that COVID-19 wasn’t spreading in K-8. They also pointed to the new strain of the virus that has turned up in certain states. Health experts say the new strain, while not more deadly than the original strain of COVID-19, is at least 50 percent more contagious.

By the end of the meeting, however, board members voted to concur with the state school board’s mandate.

Virtual schooling is still available to all 55 counties and all grade levels. Virtual is different from remote, especially at the local level, according to the West Virginia Department of Education, in that virtual often mirrors a real classroom held over video conference with a local teacher. But this is not true for the state’s virtual option, West Virginia Virtual School, which is asynchronous and with teachers from out-of-state.

Some local teachers have argued to keep remote learning, because they have adapted their remote model to mirror that of a virtual option, where they provide instruction in real time over Zoom or Microsoft Teams.

Starting Monday, Jan. 25, all 55 counties will be back to some form of in-person schooling.

All schools, both public and private, are required to follow COVID-19 mitigation efforts, such as mask-wearing, hand-washing and social distancing.