West Virginia gov. signs teacher pay raise

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice signed a bill to give teachers in the state a raise, ending a statewide teacher walkout that last nine days.

Justice spoke at a Tuesday afternoon news conference after the Legislature passed a 5 percent pay raise for teachers and others in a deal to end the walkout that closed schools.

Justice said it's important to stop seeing education as a necessary evil that just needs to be funded and start seeing it as an investment.

West Virginia's teachers have been among the lowest paid in the nation and haven't had a salary increase in four years.

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Teachers had been on strike since Feb. 22.

Some West Virginia counties are reopening schools after the Legislature passed a 5 percent pay raise for teachers and others in a deal to end a statewide walkout that closed schools for nine days.

Union leaders haven't said whether they're calling for an end to the strike, pending a ceremony at the governor's office later Tuesday.

But Kanawha County's school system announced in phone calls to parents that schools would reopen Wednesday. Several other county school systems made similar announcements on Twitter.

It wasn't immediately clear whether all 55 county school systems would reopen.

A state Department of Education spokesman didn't return an email message.

Both the House of Delegates and the state Senate unanimous passed the pay raise for teachers, school service personnel and state troopers.

Other state workers will have to wait for a budget bill to pass before getting their 5 percent raises promised under the deal.

Associated Press