The President of the West Virginia Board of Education, Thomas W. Campbell, says the board has no plans of taking legal action against teachers.
On Saturday, West Virginia Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Steven Paine, issued the following statement:
“Today I met with all county superintendents regarding the planned work stoppage for next week. Many asked whether the state was planning to pursue legal action in this matter.A decision will be made on Monday (2/26) if an agenda item will be added to the State Board of Education meeting scheduled for Tuesday (2/27) to discuss legal action. If an item is added and the agenda is amended, the public will be notified on Monday (2/26).”
West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey issued the following statement during a press conference at the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington:
“I think that we’ve talked about this back home in West Virginia, that it is unlawful to have a work stoppage. I know that the Governor and the Legislature are trying to work through a number of issues right now.
The way the system works in West Virginia is the Attorney General awaits authorization from the relevant state agency before he can pursue that legal action and that is in process right now so we will await the state board of education meeting.
I believe that this is an unlawful action and we need to enforce the laws of our state.”
We will continue to update this story as more information becomes available.
