When a business is looking for a location for a new facility, one of its primary considerations is the public school system in the area. Businesses want an educated workforce. Businesses also want good public schools nearby, so they can attract the best workforce possible.

This is a problem for many areas of West Virginia. West Virginia’s state school system is at the bottom of most rankings. U.S. News and World Report ranks West Virginia’s schools 41st among the states. WalletHub has us ranked even lower, at number 44.

A key to good schools is getting, and then keeping, good teachers. Pay rates are, of course, important. On U.S. Route 9, just outside Martinsburg, there is a billboard advertising jobs for teachers in Maryland. The pay rate offered on the billboard is between $66,000 and $100,000 per year, with an additional stipend, if the teacher is board certified. In West Virginia, a teacher with 35 years experience and a doctorate degree tops out just above the bottom of Maryland’s pay scale. West Virginia is not a wealthy state, and cannot afford to pay competitively with that scale.

So, why would a teacher stay in the West Virginia system, when she could just drive up the road a bit for a big raise? Because, as West Virginia Senator Hannah Geffert has often said, our teachers are dedicated to our young people.

There are many in the state Legislature, especially in the Republican party, who do not recognize the dedication of our teachers. Instead, the Republican majority acts as if there were a plot to undermine our children. One Republican sponsored bill imposes additional responsibilities on a teacher who supplements basic texts with other materials, including meeting with parents under penalty of a complaint system, without regard to a teacher’s other responsibilities and time constraints. Senator Geffert opposed this bill. Her opponent in the upcoming election voted for it. Unfortunately, the bill passed and is now law.

Republicans also pushed the false notion that public school students were being told by their teachers that they should be ashamed of their race, because of critical race theory. At a Senate Education Committee hearing, a witness for the teacher’s organization got up to refute that claim, but was cut off, because of a “lack of time.” Fortunately, the bill under discussion did not pass. Senator Geffert had opposed it. Her opponent in the upcoming election voted for it.

Our teachers deserve our support and our respect. Senator Hannah Geffert knows this. We need to keep people like her in the West Virginia Senate.

Tammy Offutt, of Falling Waters