CHARLESTON, WV – “While everyone is focused on the mistakes, my focus is solely on getting our children back to school,” said Gov. Jim Justice.
After the State Senate on Saturday rejected his proposal to raise the pay for teachers, school service personnel and the state police to 5 percent and reduce it to 4 percent, Gov. Jim Justice said it’s time “to quit playing politics” and “get our kids back in school.”
“This wrangling needs to stop right now,” Gov. Justice said. “For crying out loud, we are putting our children at risk. I will not be a party to pitting our state employees against our teachers. I strongly feel we are blessed to have both.”
Gov. Justice went on to say, “Education should be our centerpiece and I have worked tirelessly to get our teachers the 5 percent pay raise. Additionally, I truly want goodness for all of our state employees and all West Virginians. If revenues continue to improve, I will move quickly working with the Legislature to bring the remaining state workers from 3 percent to the 5 percent raise level. But again, the bottom line is we have to be able to fill teacher classroom vacancies and we MUST get our kids back in the classroom.”
