How striking West Virginia teachers’ salaries compare with teacher pay in other states

Teachers in West Virginia have been on strike for more than a week, closing schools in the state as they push for better benefits and higher wages.

“As a West Virginia teacher — and I’ve been teaching 10 years — I only clear right under $1,300 every two weeks, and they’re wanting to take $300 more away from me” for health care, high school teacher Katie Endicott told the New York Times. “But they tell me it’s okay, because we’re going to give you a 1 percent pay raise. That equals out to 88 cents every two days.”

West Virginia high school teachers made an average of $45,240 a year in 2016, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That is the 47th-lowest salary in the 50 states and the District of Columbia, better only than Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma and South Dakota. Elementary and middle school teachers do slightly better — they’re only 46th lowest.

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