News

Leaders of the state’s two education employee organizations, AFT-West Virginia and WVEA, will hold focus groups to generate solutions to improve our public schools in ways that best support student success.

Click here to read the press release. 

Delegates at the 2022 AFT-WV Convention approved three resolutions put before the voting body.  

Click on the titles below to read the resolutions: 

Resolution on Retiree Activists

Resolution on Planning Periods 

Resolution in Support of Local Control

Congratulations to the following AFT locals and members who were presented with awards during the 2022 AFT-WV Convention: 

Membership Growth Awards 
 
Net Re Growth Awards:
2nd place-- Nicholas County Federation of Teachers 

Percentage  Re Growth Awards:
2nd place-- AFT- McDowell   

In AFT President Randi Weingarten’s latest New York Times  column, she describes what it is exactly that unions do. Though unions are the most popular they have been in decades, anti-union sentiment still thrives in red states and across the nation. “Several years ago, The Atlantic ran a story whose headline made even me, a labor leader, scratch my head: ‘Union Membership: Very Sexy,’” Weingarten writes in the column. “The gist was that higher wages, health benefits and job security—all associated with union membership—boost one’s chances of getting married. Belonging to a union doesn’t actually guarantee happily ever after, but it does help working people have a better life in the here and now.” Click through to read the full column.

Congratulations to the winners of the 2022 AFT-WV Student Artist Contest!

High School:

1st- Jamie Wilcoxen, Parkersburg South High School/ Wood County (Teacher: Abbie Burge)

Honorable Mention- Michael Murphy, Morgantown High School/ Monongalia County (Teacher: Sam Brunett)

Middle School:

1st- Lucille Dahle, Suncrest Middle/Monongalia County (Teacher: Larry Bright)

Honorable Mention: Athena Cheng, Suncrest Middle/Monongalia County (Teacher: Larry Bright)

Elementary School:

1st- Emma Miller, Fairdale Elementary/ Raleigh County (Teacher: Karen Daniel)

Honorable Mention- Ella Morgan, Fairdale Elementary/

2022 General Election- Proposed Constitutional Amendments on the Ballot Affecting Education

FACT SHEET

Amendment No. 2: Property Tax Modernization Amendment Summary of Purpose

This amendment would give the state legislature the power to provide personal property exemptions for equipment and inventory directly used for business.

Summary of Purpose: “To amend the State Constitution by providing the Legislature with authority to exempt tangible machinery and equipment personal property directly used in business activity and tangible inventory personal property directly used in business activity and

The WV Association of School Administrators has passed a resolution against the passage of proposed constitutional amendments 2 and 4, both of which are on the ballot in November.  AFT-WV also opposes both proposed amendments. 

Click here to read the WVASA resolution. 

Proposed Constitutional Amendments 2 & 4

What would they mean for education and public services?

Join AFT-WV, WVEA and WVSSPA for a joint information session to learn the impact of these proposals

October 18           7 PM                    Raleigh County

 Woodrow Wilson High School
 

October 19          5:30 PM              Monongalia County                                                             

                                                            Mountaineer Mall Community Room 

October 24          5:30 PM               Berkeley County

Hope Scholarship ruled unconstitutional!

Statement from AFT-WV President Fred Albert on ruling July 6, 2022 by Judge Tabit on the Hope Scholarships:

“AFT-West Virginia is pleased that Judge Tabit granted the plaintiff’s request for an injunction to put a hold on the Hope Scholarship program. Judge Tabit’s ruling that “the Legislature has violated its constitutional level obligations regarding public education and funding by enacting House Bill 2013 for the Hope scholarship fund” aligns with our organization’s belief that public funds should be used for the benefit of public schools and the