STATE TEACHER UNION WANTS EXTRA PAY FOR SNOW DAY EXTENSIONS

(02/17/2009)

Charleston newspapers are reporting that a state teachers' union wants West Virginia teachers and school employees to be paid twice, once for staying at home on snow days and again for the make-up days. Paying for five extra add-on snow days could cost the state $45 million in salaries. Gov. Joe Manchin has proposed making the legal starting date of school five days earlier in August and allowing counties to schedule classes later into the summer to compensate for days lost to bad weather or other emergencies. The governor says it is a "simple fix" to a recurring problem related to the 180 day rule. UNION SAYS EXTENDED DAYS VIOLATE CONTRACT But the proposals do not include any provision to extend the contracts for teachers and other school employees, according to the Charleston Gazette. "I definitely can't be supportive of anything that adds days to the calendar without compensation for those days," said Dale Lee, president of the West Virginia Education Association, although teachers and school employees have apparently been paid for their snow days. Union officials told media that while school employees technically wouldn't have to work any extra days, there would be at least five and as many as 10 days each year when they couldn't schedule a vacation, couldn't hold second jobs and couldn't take summer classes. Only four of the state's 55 counties got in 180 instructional days last year.

Hur Herald ®from Sunny Cal The information on these pages, to the extent the law allows, remains the exclusive property of Bob Weaver and Dianne Weaver The Hur Herald. All information may be freely used but must not be sold or used in any type of commercial endeavor, or used on any web site without the express permission of the owners ©Bob and Dianne Weaver, The Hur Herald, 1999, 2000, 2001