There’s a different teacher pay
raise bill moving through the state legislature.
The state Senate Education
Committee passed a bill Thursday that would provide a $1,000 across-the-board
raise for teachers along with a 2 percent pay increase for service personnel.
The new-look bill was inserted into Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin’s bill that he
announced during the State of the State Address. It would raise salaries
for education employees by 2 percent while all others state workers would get $500
more.
Education Committee Chairman Bob
Plymale said the replacement proposal would help young, generally lower
paid, teachers more than the governor’s plan.
“Across the board reaches the new
teacher faster than a percentage,” Plymale said. “If you do a percentage it only
widens the gap. What I thought we should be focusing on is getting the starting
salaries of our teachers up.”
The bill is supported by the West
Virginia Education Association.
Plymale said his plan would cost
more than the governor’s plan.
The bill would put the $1,000 raise
in the annual increment pay increases that teachers receive. Each teacher
currently gets a pay increase totaling more than $1,000 a year for each year
they teach up to 35 years.
The bill also includes a statement
of intent calling for the starting salaries of teachers to be at $43,000 by
2019.
Plymale said border counties
currently cannot keep pace with starting salaries for teachers in neighboring
states.
“The only area that showed anything
close to our average salary is Wood
County
The Senate Finance Committee will be the next stop for the
legislation.
