The outlook for West Virginia public employees, includingteachers, to get any new pay raises this year is gloomier than ever,considering the deterioration of the state's economy and a projectedrevenue shortfall.
Still, that won't stop union officials from calling for raises,which they say are long overdue.
Gov. Joe Manchin's spokesman, Matt Turner, said Monday hewouldn't comment on details of the budget before it's unveiled nextweek, along with the governor's State of the State address. But in2009, Manchin didn't give raises because of the economic outlook,and 2010 is already shaping up to be worse.
"This administration has been careful with its spending, andwe're going to have to be even more careful," Turner said.
Turner emphasized the state will continue to pay out the annual,incremental raises guaranteed to state employees for each year ofservice.
All public employees get $60 a year for each year of serviceafter three years. Teachers typically get a few hundred dollars peryear. Even without a new raise from the state, for instance, someKanawha County schoolteachers who are beginning their sixth year inthe classroom will get a $397 boost in pay, to a total of $31,078 ayear. Other teachers, depending on their degree level, could receiveeven more each year.
Many other states have cut out public employees' pay raisesaltogether, or worse.
Across the U.S., about 132,000 state and local governmentemployees have been laid off since Aug. 2008, according to federaldata examined by the national Center on Budget and PolicyPriorities. That figure doesn't include furloughs, which areessentially pay cuts.
In West Virginia, there still are no plans to furlough or lay offstate employees, Turner said.
But union officials say employees already are dealing with heavyworkloads and low pay compared to other states, and they now facerising premiums from the Public Employees Insurance Agency, allthings they say the governor needs to deal with soon.
"Since the governor broke his promise to share any surplus inlast fiscal year's budget with employees - a surplus generated bynot filling vacancies, meaning more workload for the remainingworkforce - and PEIA is, again, putting its hand in public workers'pockets, it's only fair that there be consideration for employees,"said Gordon Simmons, a field organizer for West Virginia PublicWorkers Union UE Local 170.
Manchin did attempt to give most state workers a $500 bonus lastyear, but the plan fell apart in a special legislative session and,almost weeks after that, the state announced it needed money to fillbudget holes.
Simmons said UE Local 170 plans to ask, again, for a $1,000across-the-board pay raise, which officials call a cost-of-livingadjustment.
State officials point out that under Manchin the state has, infact, given several pay raises. Manchin increased the annualincremental raise from $50 to $60 and provided raises that gave themajority of educators a 10 percent to 19 percent raise since 2004,according to the governor's office. Also, there have been targetedraises for some groups of employees almost every year since Manchintook office, including judges, state troopers and correctionsofficers.
Teachers unions also will lobby for salary increases, though someofficials appear open to ideas other than across-the-boardincreases.
Both major teachers unions acknowledge the governor's fiscalrestraint, which includes not giving the unions as much as theyasked for in years past, has played a role in there so far being nofurloughs or layoffs for West Virginia public employees.
"Under the governor's leadership and the Legislature's leadershipwe have our financial house in much better shape than most states,"said Dale Lee, president of the West Virginia Education Association.
But Lee also argues that the percent of the state budget actuallygoing into the classroom has been on the decline, something thatneeds to be fixed. Starting teacher salaries, he said, are about$8,000 lower in West Virginia than in neighboring states.
Similarly, Judy Hale, the president of the state chapter of theAmerican Federation of Teachers, said she gives Manchin credit forkeeping the state budget in check, but she still plans to ask formore money to make sure the state can attract classroom teacherscertified to teach the classes they teach. About 7 percent of stateteachers are not considered "highly qualified" for the positionsthey hold, according to state data.
"I think he gets credit for being fiscally responsible in thefact that we're not having lay offs and we're not having furloughs,and I understand the situation we're in," Hale said of the governor."But I also think about that student in the 12th or 11th grade whois trying to get the Promise Scholarship who is sitting in achemistry classroom without a teacher certified in chemistry or anyscience."
AFT-WV plans to lobby for a three-year, $5,000 raise. It's thesame compensation package it has lobbied for unsuccessfully inbetter financial years.
Hale said she is aware of dire state revenue projections.
Manchin just announced a $120 million mid-year budget cut thatwill begin this month, and he already has asked for a 5 percent cutto next year's state budget.
Hale said there is room for discussion.
"You could put something in place that could take effectgradually or be funded gradually, but I hope we can at least getsomething started in that direction," she said.
Hale said the union also is exploring alternative ways to raiseteacher salaries based on performance.
The plan, which is still being worked out, could give raises toan entire school full of teachers if the school sets and meetsperformance goals. This is different from so-called merit pay, whichrewards individual teachers based on student performance. Both AFT-WV and WVEA oppose merit pay.
Senate Education Committee vice chairman Erik Wells, D-Kanawha,said he was skeptical of the idea and suggested the state attempt topay high-demand math and science teachers more than other teachers.
Right now, there is a shortage of those teachers in West Virginiaand across the country, a shortage that is only likely to grow worseas veteran teachers retire.
A recent report on teacher salaries by the Committee for EconomicDevelopment, a national group of business and education leaders,noted that uniform pay is partially responsible for such shortagesin the hard sciences "because individuals qualified to take thesepositions have many, often more lucrative, opportunities in theprivate-sector labor market."
Wells said it makes sense to selectively pay some teachers morebecause of supply and demand.
"If you need to pay them more, you pay them more," Wells said.
Even if there isn't the money for it now, there is a growingconsensus that beginning teachers need to be paid more.
A group of state leaders, including first lady Gayle Manchin, amember of the state school board, and the chairs of House and Senateeducation committees, Del. Mary Poling, D-Barbour, and Sen. BobPlymale, D-Wayne, agreed recently that West Virginia should try toraise beginning teacher salaries. Right now, those salaries are thelowest in a 16-state region.
But to raise starting teacher salaries from roughly $30,000 to$38,000 the state would likely have to raise every teacher's salary.If not, new teachers could end up making more than experiencedteachers.
State employees unions also are lobbying for a number of othernon-salary issues.
UE Local 170 President Bruce Dotson said he'd like to see thestate come into compliance with federal workplace safety laws.
He also is worried about the request thousands of state employeesreceived last month informing them to soon outline in detail whatthey do on the job every day.
The state and an outside consulting group asked for theinformation to update the state classification and compensationplans. A spokeswoman for the state personnel department said no jobswould be eliminated as a result of the reclassification, but Dostonsaid he is skeptical.
He said the union has "more questions than we have answers."
"It's something we are concerned about and it's something we'redefinitely going to show our opposition (to)," Doston said.
Union officials also will lean on lawmakers to reverse PEIA'splan to stop paying health care subsidies to future retirees hiredafter this summer. Unions say without the subsidy it will be hard toattract and keep state workers because the workers, if they stayedin West Virginia, would have to spend all or most of their pensionchecks to buy health care once they retire.
"We all know and agree that just taking the subsidy away will nothelp attract and keep people in the system," WVEA's Lee said. "Whatyou will see after three to five years of those people hired (is) arevolving door effect."
Contact writer Ry Rivard at ry. rivard@dailymail.com or 304-348-1796.
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