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Justice proposes 5% raise for West Virginia teachers

By TAYLOR STUCK

The Herald-Dispatch

CHARLESTON, W.Va. —  On the fourth day of a statewide teacher strike, West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice met with union leaders and worked out a plan to give educators and service personnel a 5 percent raise and all other state employees a 3 percent raise this year.

Justice announced the plan Tuesday evening with hundreds of teachers dressed in red outside his door.

Justice increased revenue projections in order to come up with the raise. It will cost an additional $58 million.

Along with the raises, a task force will be assembled at the end of the current legislative session to come up with long-term solutions for the Public Employees Insurance Agency, or PEIA. Justice’s chief of staff Mike Hall will chair the task force, he said, and state employees will have a seat at the table.

With the announcement, union leaders announced teachers and service personnel would be heading back to school Thursday, March 1. Wednesday, Feb. 28, will be used as a “cooling off period,” per Justice, but West Virginia Education Association President Dale Lee said keeping the Legislature’s feet to the fire is part of the reason.

Read the entire article: http://www.herald-dispatch.com/news/justice-proposes-raise-for-teachers/article_ddd2ca1b-e170-5465-9092-40583de17d49.html

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