AFT-WV President Responds to State of the State Address
Charleston - AFT-West Virginia President Kristie Skidmore responded to Governor Patrick Morrisey’s State of the State address:
“While we are glad the Governor mentioned the top three issues for our members-- PEIA, student behavior and salaries—we need more detail about what his proposals will look like. We are pleased to hear the Governor listed PEIA as an issue that absolutely must be addressed and his goal to create both short and long-term solutions. However, it’s still the details of any solution that everyone needs to hear. Our union is looking forward to hearing about the Governor’s plan to make PEIA a high-quality healthcare plan that is affordable for teachers and service personnel.”
Regarding the proposal to address student behavior by permitting schools to ban cell phones:
“While cell phones certainly can be a distraction, this is not what our union is continually hearing from our members as being the biggest problem. Teachers and service personnel are being hit, kicked and bitten every day by students, only to have many of these students return to their classroom the next day, if not sooner. For the safety of staff and all students, we need alternative placements, social-emotional supports, and other interventions for our schools. If we want to address classroom distractions and interruptions, our elected leaders need to get serious about passing legislation to keep our school staff and other students safe from physical harm and stop the constant interruptions to learning.”
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The AFT in West Virginia represents education and public employees in West Virginia and is affiliated with the AFL-CIO. Nationally, the AFT represents 1.6 million pre-K through 12th-grade teachers, paraprofessionals and other school support employees, higher education faculty, nurses and other healthcare workers, and state and local government employees.