Teachers' salaries must be competitive!

[theHandpuppet]

We must urge our lawmakers throughout Appalachia to stop the "brain drain" of our best and brightest who leave for better pay in neighboring states.

http://www.wvgazette.com/News/201403120175
The Charleston Gazette
March 12, 2014
Teacher pay still a factor
By Caitlin Cook

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Joseph Makolandra, human resources director for Montgomery County public schools in Virginia, came to the 44th Annual Teacher Job Fair Wednesday at West Virginia State University for one reason.

"We know we can offer higher wages than what they earn here [in West Virginia]," he said. "The biggest thing we have over West Virginia is salary." ...

...In Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin's State of the State address in January he said he would work to make starting teachers' salaries more competitive with neighboring states. He proposed a 2 percent pay raise for all teachers and service personnel. It would be the first across-the-board pay raise for teachers in three years.

West Virginia's starting teacher salaries ranks 48th in the country, according to the WVEDA.

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