Feb. 22 was the beginning of a fight in West Virginia that the Educators of this great state are prepared to win at all cost. This was the day that a State Wide Work Stoppage began in all 55 counties of West Virginia. It was the beginning of the biggest unified battle in the nation. In the days that would follow this would move from the state stage to the national stage.
This began as a battle about getting our insurance, PEIA fixed and turned into a battle over a pay raise. PEIA is still in trouble, but thanks to Governor Justice a task force has been formed in order to look into and fix PEIA. They are planning to have their first meeting on March 13.
As far as the pay raise is concerned well that is another story. Governor Justice promised the Educators of West Virginia that we would get a 5% raise. HB4145 would need to be changed. The bill was amended to reflect the 5% for Educators and 3% for anyone else by the House of Delegates. Then it was sent to the Senate
The Senate Finance Committee took a look at it. They decided that it should be 4% across the board. It was passed as such and sent to the floor of the Senate for voting. At this point the Senate would have to accept the recommendation of the Finance Committee and amend the bill to reflect such.
This is where it gets interesting. At this point after much discussion the Senate believes that they have accepted the 4% across the board and votes. It goes back to the House of Delegates. In the process the Senators realize there is a mistake. It was sent with them having vote in favor of a 5% raise. They had to scramble to get it back to make the change.
It was gotten back to the Senate and the change was made. It was sent to the House of Delegates for them to concur. They did not concur. So now it is in Conference Committee. This committee consists of 3 Senators and 3 Delegates.
Today the Senate discussed in length the events that lead up to the Conference Committee being formed. As part of this it was decided that today was Day #2 of the committee. That means that tomorrow they have to make a decision to either accept the 4% or go 5% for Educators. If that is impossible then they can extend the committee.
I am hoping that the 5% is what is voted on and that Educators will be back in school. However, I don't see that happening. I for see that Senators will drag this out as they have been since the beginning.
I for one would love to be back in school. I miss my students. I know that parents are frustrated and want their children back in school. I know that there are students that want to be back in school. We need to be patient. We need to let this play out to the finish.
It does not help the negative things that are going around. It does not help the misconceptions and the wrong information that is out there. We need the community to be united with us. We need them to support us. We hear your frustrations. We are right there with you. Be there for us.
We don't know how long this will play out. We don't know how this will play out. We need support. Things will go back to normal soon. Just be patient.
