West Virginia teachers strike again, this time over charter schools
(Reuters) - Teachers in West Virginia went on strike on Tuesday for the second time in a year, with the teachers’ union blasting a bill that could bring taxpayer-funded charter schools to the state as an act of retaliation by state lawmakers for last year’s strike.
Schools in 54 out of 55 counties were closed on Tuesday, according to the state Department of Education, which oversees more than 700 public schools that serve about 277,000 students.
The strike followed state Senate passage of a bill that would allow the creation of up to seven charter schools, a move that proved controversial even within the West Virginia legislature, where both chambers are controlled by Republicans.
Governor Jim Justice, a Republican, called the proposal “a monstrous mistake,” telling West Virginia’s MetroNews network that he would veto the Senate version if it got to his desk. The Republican-controlled state House of Delegates had previously passed a version that would allow for two charter schools.
The American Federation of Teachers called the bill an act of retaliation for the strike last March that secured higher pay for teachers and sparked similar actions in Oklahoma, Kentucky, Arizona, Chicago and Los Angeles.
“It would take money away from public schools in favor of strategies like education savings accounts and charter schools that so many other school systems around the country have rejected,” said Randi Weingarten, the national union’s president, and Fred Albert, president of the state chapter, in a joint statement.
One of the bill’s Republican sponsors said it was wrong to describe the proposed seven charter schools as a diversion of public school funding.
“This legislation does not divert funds from public schools to charter schools because the charter schools proposed in the legislation will be public schools,” Senator Patricia Rucker, wrote in a column for the Wheeling News-Register on Sunday.
Teachers took to picket lines around the state, with scores gathered at the State Capitol building in Charleston, chanting “It’s not about the money, it’s about the kids.”
Organizers have not said how long they expect the strike to last.
The bill has been sent back to the Republican-controlled House of Delegates. It was not clear if the lower chamber would support the bill.
Last year’s nine-day strike ended with the teachers securing a 5 percent pay rise in West Virginia, home to some of the lowest-paid teachers in the country.
Advocates of charter schools, which are publicly funded but run by private groups, say they offer parents of public school students greater choice. Their critics say they benefit profit-driven private organizations and that some charter school systems oppose organized labor.
Reporting by Jonathan Allen; Editing by Scott Malone, David Gregorio and Richard Chang
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