PARSONS – The Fall 2014 issue of the WV School Journal features two familiar faces. The issue is the competitive pay campaign edition and features Christine Ward and Valerie Eye, both Tucker County teachers.
The article focuses on the duo, both of whom also work at CJs Pizzeria to help supplement their incomes. Ward is a fourth grade teacher at Tucker Valley Elementary and Eye teaches fourth grade at Davis Thomas Elementary School.
Dr. Eddie Campbell, superintendent of Tucker County schools, said the state department of education sets up the basic salary scale.
“There are a handful of counties that are able to provide their teachers with salary supplements,” Campbell stated. “But the majority of the 55 W.Va. counties can only afford to pay their teachers the basic scale.”
Campbell said he and members of the Tucker County Board of Education have talked about teacher supplements, but simply do not have the money in their general fund to support the expense.
The Journal article syated in 1993, W.Va. teacher salaries were ranked 30th in the nation, but in 2013, they slipped to 48 th. According to articles in the Journal, W.Va. teachers make an average of $45,086. The national average is $56,747 and surrounding state salaries include Kentucky, $50,705; Maryland, $64,868; Ohio, $57,270; Pennsylvania, $64,146; and Virginia, $49,233.”
Tucker County is close to Maryland and Virginia – and both states offer better average pay for their teachers, causing many new teachers to leave the state and take higher paying jobs elsewhere.
In the article, Eye said she had a Fairmont State University professor who told students they should “get their teaching experience in another state, and then come back to West Virginia and retire from here because they would enjoy a better retirement since they went somewhere else and were paid more money.”
Another article in the Journal talks about the West Virginia Education Association’s Competitive Pay Campaign, aimed at increasing the paychecks of all school employees. Members of the Tucker County Board of Education signed a proclamation in favor if this initiative. West Virginia teachers received a $1,000 salary increase through Senate Bill 391 this year.
Tucker County Board of Education President Janet Preston said the situation is challenging.
“I think the state department of education is looking, along with groups such as the WVEA, into increasing teacher salaries across the state,” Preston said. “We are losing young, new teachers to other states because of the salary we are offering. It is a state problem, not just a problem on the county level.”
Also in the Journal, Governor Earl Ray Tomblin says “This is a year of tough financial choices for our state. Our budget is trained. However, we must invest in our future – sow the seeds for tomorrow – and invest in our children and those called to public service.”
Dr. Michael Martirano, new state superintendent of schools says, “I recognize the salary disparity. I recognize the fact that individuals go to other states. What we have to do I provide the emphasis to support our teachers, to have the professional development for teachers, to have the right working conditions, and ultimately work with our state to look at what we can do collectively to improve the salary of our teachers. It’s a very competitive world out there.”
