CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A statewide strike by West Virginia's teachers entered a new week Monday with no resolution in sight. Teachers are waiting for state lawmakers to agree on a pay raise, and the state House and Senate haven't scheduled a meeting to resolve their differences.
Many teachers said they'd rather be in the classroom, but they believe they've come too far to back down.
"We feel like we're under attack constantly," said Cody Thompson, a social studies and civics teacher at Elkins High School. "Eventually whenever you're pushed into a corner, you've got to push back."
That leaves West Virginia's parents anxiously trying to fill their children's idle hours with something besides playing video games, and teachers showing rising discontent as the strike drags on amid concerns about their income.
The teacher walkout over pay and benefits in this Appalachian mountain state shuttered classrooms February 22 and shows no signs of an immediate resolution. Classrooms were expected to remain closed again Monday as angry teachers return to the Capitol to press legislators to raise their pay, nearly the lowest in the nation, after four years without an increase.
"What we're seeing is a movement in the U.S. Not just a labor movement. It's a class of people rising up," said Sam Brunett, an art teacher at Morgantown High School.
The walkout began after Governor Jim Justice signed a 2 percent pay raise for next year. The House of Delegates later approved a 5 percent increase, negotiated last week between Justice and the unions.
Then on Saturday, the state Senate approved a 4 percent raise, prompting angry union leaders to vow to stay out of the classroom indefinitely. The House wouldn't agree to the Senate's move, sending the bill to the conference committee.
House of Delegates spokesman Jared Hunt said Sunday no committee meeting has been scheduled. So the wait continues.
Keeping schools shut for 277,000 students and 35,000 employees has been determined on a day-to-day basis. In a state with a 17.9 percent poverty rate, teachers and volunteers have gathered food for distribution to students who rely on free breakfasts and lunches at school.
Many of these teachers have side jobs to make ends meet.
Brunett does freelance art work on the side. Thompson has sold pizza, served tables and worked at a discount store. He now also works in a federally funded outreach program to help prepare students for college.
Kristie Skidmore, an elementary school reading specialist, has an adult clothing shop at her home.
"You're looking at people here who every day care about other people, other families. People's kids," Skidmore said. "But at the end of the day, now we're forced to be able to figure out how to care for our own families. That's what it's all about."
As for the students, it's not like they can go with their families on a long vacation.
At a Charleston mall, Cheryl Carty said her niece — second grader Zoey Lanier — has filled the void with activities that have included a visit to a museum children's exhibit and a trip to the movies. Between licks of ice cream, Zoey said she was disappointed she couldn't return to school to turn in an art project she worked hard on that was due.
Elsewhere, Brady Stafford and about a dozen of his friends got in some extra practice at a South Charleston soccer field.
Stafford, a Charleston seventh grader, said that since the strike began, he's attended sleepovers and played Xbox games. His friend, seventh grader Ben Jamerson, admitted he's had bouts of boredom.
At a nearby ice arena, Melissa Hodges took her two daughters for regular skating lessons. Additional bonding with mom aside, fifth grader Kelsie Hodges is ready to get back to school. "I miss my friends," she said.
Meanwhile, sixth grader C.J. Napper signaled he's in no rush to return to classes.
"I don't like school. It's not fun," Napper said. "I don't mind" the walkout
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