#RedForEd Campaign Fuels Second West Virginia Teacher Strike in a Year

Thousands of Arizona teachers march through downtown Phoenix on their way to the State Cap
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Dr. Susan Berry

The #RedForEd campaign has spurred West Virginia teachers to walk out of their classrooms Tuesday nearly one year since their last teacher strike.

Leaders of the West Virginia Education Association (WVEA) – an affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) – and the West Virginia School Service Personnel Association announced the strike Monday.

The #RedForEd social media campaign is the mantra of a socialist movement supported by the national teachers’ unions and first launched in Arizona by Marxist teacher Noah Karvelis.

The campaign has sparked teacher strikes in cities such as Los Angeles and Denver. Oakland teachers are planning to strike on Thursday as well.

Though the state agreed to give West Virginia teachers a five percent raise and personal incentives after last year’s strike – which AFT President Randi Weingarten said was a “huge breakthrough” for school employees –  according to pbs.org, the unions say the current strike is “over complicated education legislation that they view as lacking their input and as retaliation for last year’s strike.”

Weingarten is rallying with the West Virginia teachers again.

According to West Virginia Metro News, the unions say they are striking against the Republican-led state legislature’s “introduction of charter schools and education savings accounts, which set aside taxpayer dollars for students who are leaving public school for private education.”

“We are taking action,” said Fred Albert, president of American Federation of Teachers-West Virginia. “We are given no other choice.”

Education Week notes that though teacher strikes are illegal in West Virginia, last year’s strike received support from school leaders and the community.

 

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