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A "no pay for snow days" provision inserted into the school calendar bill at the Legislature last week has lobbyists for the state's teachers unions hopping mad, according to the Charleston Gazette.
Intended to assure that West Virginia schoolchildren receive 180 days of classroom instruction, even in bad-weather years, the bill (SB249) arrived in the Senate Finance Committee with a $10 million a year price tag, according to the Gazette.
That's the estimated cost to pay schoolteachers and school service personnel for additional workdays beyond their 200-day contracts.
The amendment essentially says that teachers and school personnel would not get paid for days when school is canceled, if the closing announcement is made prior to 6 a.m.
Representatives of the West Virginia Education Association and the state Federation of Teachers were irate Thursday about the proposal.
"What audacity this committee has to write a bill to give superintendents the discretion to withhold pay," WVFT President Judy Hale protested. "This is a bill we don't think we can even work with in the House."
WVEA President Dale Lee said teachers should get paid for snow days, since they work on instructional plans and homework on days when school is canceled.
"It's not like they sit home and do nothing," he said.
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