WVEA's Salary Plan

For the first time in a number of years, preliminary estimates indicate that the ranking of the average teachers' salary in West Virginia will increase.  When the rankings are released later this year, it appears that West Virginia will climb to 45th in the national rankings.  The increase in rank is due to a number of factors – the final year of filling in the gaps in the salary schedule, a 3% increase from the legislature last year and the reduction in local share.

“It’s progress,” states WVEA President Dale Lee. “We have moved up three spots in the rankings, but  it is not enough and we cannot afford to let up.  We must continue our commitment to get WV salaries to the national average.  We still lag far behind the national average and our surrounding states in terms of salary. Many of our school systems have vacancies that can’t be filled by fully certified people and our college graduates who have chosen education as a career are leaving the state to find higher paying jobs or choosing to find another profession upon graduation.”

"It will be easy for some to say the economy is in a slump and wait until next year," states Lee, "but that cannot happen. One thing does not change despite the economic ups and downs - students are still in our public schools and need highly qualified education employees to be there. The products and services of some businesses may have dropped off, but our children await us every day in the public schools.  They are dependent upon education employees to assist them in becoming successful adults.  West Virginia must compete with other states and other professions within our own state for highly qualified employees.  If we don't act now, we will continue to lose the race due to lower salaries and lackluster benefits."

“We must continue to address the issue of salary and it must occur this legislative session,” continued Lee. “WVEA has a thorough plan to achieve our goal of reaching the national average.  In addition, we are asking for another reduction in the local share in order to free up additional money to the counties for salary increases at the local level.  This will aid all counties in the state, but would be of particular assistance to those in the eastern panhandle. WVEA recognizes the special needs of the eastern panhandle counties and will once again this year attempt to work with the legislature to ease some of the burden that education employees face in that area of the state. We all need to work together to make our plan a reality.”

The stark reality is that West Virginia’s public education employees rank far behind most other states in the country in salaries.  “In 1992-1993, West Virginia’s teachers achieved their highest ever national ranking of 30th  A dozen years later, we found ourselves ranked 48th and now we have climbed back to 45th. We need to stop the rollercoaster ride, get salaries to the national average and find a way to maintain the ranking,” states WVEA Executive Director David Haney.

“It is unacceptable that we have fallen so far,” states WVEA Executive Director David Haney.  “We are clearly headed in the right direction but we cannot let up. Our employees have sacrificed enough and our students will suffer the consequences of the beginning stages of a teacher shortage.  We must act and we must act now.”

NOTE: WVEA’s salary plan is for all public education employees - professional employees, education support professionals and higher education faculty and staff. The data and the statistics used in this campaign will refer to teachers because reliable comparative data for education support professionals and higher education employees is not available. The differences in job descriptions, reporting etc., make those comparisons invalid. When the term ‘education employees’ or ‘educators’ is used it refers to all the groups - professional, ESP and higher education.