Legislators reduce proposed teacher pay raise

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Lawmakers ratcheted back a proposed pay raise for teachers to $1,000 Wednesday.

The House Education Committee changed the Senate bill earlier in the week from an $837 raise to a $6,000 raise over three years.

Teachers unions did not expect the larger raise to stay in place. Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin didn’t think the raise — $1,000 in the first year, $2,000 the next and $3,000 the year after — was feasible.

“I do not think it’s a realistic number,” Tomblin said Wednesday morning about the education committee’s proposal.

http://www.charlestondailymail.com/News/statehouse/201403050198