In the last month, West Virginians slowly turned their eyes to our Legislature in Charleston and then watched as the nation and the world turned their eyes as well. First, we talked about striking; then, several counties held walk-out days while others held walk-ins; then, as a united body, three education unions voted to strike.
In the first eight days of the strike, many of us traveled to the Capitol to protest. We knocked on doors and spoke to legislators. We held up signs along Kanawha Boulevard. We chanted at the top of our lungs in the rotunda, and we sat quietly in the galleries and watched our legislative process unfold.
When the process got overwhelming, we sat down to rest on the floors of the hallowed halls of our Capitol building because there aren’t enough benches to hold us all. However, when we had our rest, we got back up and we took up our signs and continued chanting so someone else could take their rest.
Others volunteered their time and money to make sure students were fed even while we weren’t in school. They stood on picket lines with their signs all over the state in rain and snow, in warm weather and cold. When they didn’t have child care, they helped their children create signs and brought them to the picket lines to protest, too. If they weren’t able to protest or picket, they delivered donuts or pizza to those of us on the picket lines.
Our legislators watched and tried to sow division among us by saying our strike hurt our students. I say to them, you hurt our students by refusing to hear us. We cannot fill over 700 vacancies with qualified teachers in the state of West Virginia because our pay is so low and our health insurance so poor.
Sen. Craig Blair, R-Berkeley, said, “If you’re able to buy food for the packed lunches for our students because of the strike, then you don’t need any money.”
No, we did that because we genuinely care about our students. Many teachers will go without themselves to make sure their students don’t have to. They buy food and clothing for students. They pay fees for sports and buy athletic supplies for kids whose families can’t afford it. They spend their own money to create a warm and inviting atmosphere for students to learn in because, frankly, $200 a year doesn’t buy much when you have school supplies to provide and bulletin boards to decorate.
Our legislators also attempted to sow division between the education and public employees by trying to convince education employees to accept a 4 percent raise so public employees could get 4 percent as well. I didn’t meet anyone who wouldn’t agree to those terms, but we didn’t believe the Legislature would have followed through. Especially the Senate.
We did not go into education to become rich; we went into it to make a difference. Two weeks ago, that meant discussing our culture of beauty and analyzing how that affects the novel I’m reading with my eighth-graders. Last week, it meant standing at the Capitol with my protest sign, setting an example for my eighth-graders on standing up for what is right.
We are not quiet and meek. We have teacher voices, and we have used them; we will continue to use them until we see the change we deserve.
We know how to research and communicate with stubborn audiences. (Have you ever tried to convince a 13-year-old boy to read a book?) We know how to deal with bullies, and we will stand up for those who cannot stand up for themselves.
We also have long memories. Our legislators don’t seem to realize this. We will indeed remember in November. First, though, we’ll remember in May.
There are 20,000 of us, and we are united. We are here to demand what we know to be right for us and our families, but also for the great state of West Virginia.
Krista Antis is an eighth-grade English teacher at Hayes Middle School in Kanawha County.
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