02-04-2025
Major West Virginia teachers unions merge to form ‘Education West Virginia'
CHARLESTON, (WBOY) — Two major teachers unions in West Virginia are merging together into one organization.
Delegates from the West Virginia Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers-West Virginia (AFT-WV) voted on Saturday to merge the two organizations and starting Sept. 1, they will be known as 'Education West Virginia'.
Plans to merge the two organizations began back in 2018 when they worked together during the state's teachers' strike. 12 News spoke to the future leadership of Education West Virginia Dale Lee, President of the West Virginia Education Association, and Kristie Skidmore, President of AFT-WV.
'It made more sense for us to with the many commonalities that we had to join together to address these attacks on public education and just be a stronger unified voice for public education, for our employees, for our educators and our students,' Lee said.
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Skidmore went on to say that regardless Education West Virginia will be an organization that listens to its members and their concerns.
'It's tough right now to cover all the bases in public education and to take even more resources away is definitely a concern for both organizations and especially the merged organization.'
Education West Virginia sees a number of emerging concerns in West Virginia public education, including the Hope Scholarship, which proponents say will offer West Virginia families greater choice in how to educate their children, but others say will draw resources away from public education.
The Hope Scholarship could cause a new expense for the state government to the tune of $100 million, and Education West Virginia worries about where that money will come from.
Lee said the planned dissolving of the Department of Education also poses funding challenges. Among the Department of Education's responsibilities is administering funds to Title I schools, and Lee says that 54% of West Virginia schools are Title I.
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