Teacher Accord Reached in W. Virginia

The state’s two largest teacher unions Saturday urged striking teachers to return to work Monday after reaching a tentative agreement with legislative leaders in the 11-day-old walkout.

The agreement came after House Speaker Chuck Chambers and Senate President Keith Burdette said they would recommend that Gov. Gaston Caperton call a special legislative session to address teacher pay and long-term education needs.

The teachers had faced increasing pressure from the courts to return to work. Several circuit courts had ruled the strikes illegal and ordered the teachers back to the classroom.

In addition, the state Supreme Court scheduled arguments for Tuesday on the legality of a statewide back-to-work order issued by a Kanawha County circuit judge.

The tentative settlement was announced Saturday afternoon by presidents of the 16,000-member West Virginia Education Assn. and the 3,000-member West Virginia Federation of Teachers.

“We’ve moved education to the forefront so it just isn’t something that you pay lip service to during elections,” said Kayetta Meadows, president of the education association.

“Our state has been bitterly divided over this strike and the healing process must begin,” Chambers and Burdette said in a joint statement Saturday.

The announcement came after Burdette, Chambers and the unions agreed to develop a plan to improve the state’s public education system that would include pay raises, better benefits and teaching conditions.

After the plan is developed, the lawmakers are expected to recommend that Caperton call a special legislative session to approve it, Meadows said.

Under the agreement, teachers will be asked to return to work Monday, said Meadows and Bob Brown, executive director of the West Virginia Federation of Teachers. Teacher groups in each county will decide whether to return.

Teachers in Greenbrier and Jackson counties had already voted to return after local boards threatened to fire them. Educators in other counties had votes scheduled for the weekend before the tentative agreement was announced.

The walkout, which affected two-thirds of the state’s 22,000 teachers, began March 7.