CHARLESTON, WV – “While everyone is
focused on the mistakes, my focus is solely on getting our children back to
school,” said Gov. Jim Justice.
After the State Senate on Saturday rejected his proposal to
raise the pay for teachers, school service personnel and the state police to 5
percent and reduce it to 4 percent, Gov. Jim Justice said it’s time “to quit
playing politics” and “get our kids back in school.”
“This wrangling needs to stop right now,” Gov. Justice said.
“For crying out loud, we are putting our children at risk. I will not be a party
to pitting our state employees against our teachers. I strongly feel we are
blessed to have both.”
Gov. Justice went on to say, “Education should
be our centerpiece and I have worked tirelessly to get our teachers the 5
percent pay raise. Additionally, I truly want goodness for all of our state
employees and all West Virginians. If revenues continue to improve, I will move
quickly working with the Legislature to bring the remaining state workers from
3 percent to the 5 percent raise level. But again, the bottom line is we have
to be able to fill teacher classroom vacancies and we MUST get our kids back in the classroom.”