The Senate Education Committee met this morning to advance several bills addressing teachers’ compensation, employment classification, and benefits within county boards of education.
Senate Bill 516 would raise the state minimum salary for teachers with a bachelor’s degree or above to $50,000 beginning in school year 2026-2027.
Each teacher with a bachelor’s degree or above would be granted an additional $2,000 annual salary increase, and a minimum salary increase of $1,200 for teachers providing math instruction and special education services.
The overall anticipated cost is estimated at $70 million should the bill pass.
Following a discussion, the chair of the Committee, Amy N. Grady (R – Mason, 04), decided not to take action on the bill today.
Senate Bill 155 would let those with adjunct teaching permits fill open teaching jobs or offer new classes if no qualified teacher is available.
This bill would require county boards to post adjunct teacher vacancies and notify parents when one is open.
The bill was reported to the full Senate with a recommendation of passage.
Senate Bill 196 would change the minimum amount of insurance that county boards of education must have for liability to apply.
This bill would require that the county board of education obtain insurance from a company licensed to do business in the state of West Virginia.
The bill was reported to the full Senate with a recommendation of passage, first being reported to the committee on Finance.
Senate Bill 11 would grant teachers the opportunity to sell up to 10 of their unused days of personal leave to the county board in exchange for monetary compensation paid on or before June 30.
This bill would apply to teachers who first became members of the Teachers Retirement System on or after July 1, 2015, and once the teachers sell their unused personal leave days, they will no longer be available to the classroom teacher.
The bill was reported to the full Senate with a recommendation of passage, first being reported to the committee on Finance.
