Teaching in Appalachia
Voters Remember Teacher Strike at the Polls
From Morgantown to Matewan, educators and their supporters pledged to “remember in November” the Republican state lawmakers who held out on the raise they demanded this winter during the teacher strike. On Tuesday, they went to the polls to, as some put it, “make them pay in May.” Carmen Soltesz, […]
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Turning Tobacco Money into Tech Jobs in Virginia
In journalist Beth Macy’s “Factory Man”, the slow demise of the manufacturing industry is meticulously and beautifully chronicled. Despite its main protagonist John D. Bassett III’s personal success in beating back the tide of globalization and other factors that have contributed to the atrophy of the backbone of Appalachian economic […]
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Lesson Learned: Teachers Across the Country Follow West Virginia’s Lead
Teachers across the country are going on strike after West Virginia’s teachers successfully secured raises in a standoff with state officials that shut down schools in all 55 counties last month. The widely-covered walkout in West Virginia is pointed to as a source of inspiration and empowerment by many teachers […]
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Not Just Red vs Blue: What the Teacher Strike May Reveal About West Virginia’s Political Landscape
The nine-day teachers’ strike in West Virginia made headlines across the country, and some are wondering what the events mean for state’s political landscape. How did a widespread labor strike, a practice normally associated with Democrats, happen in a state that voted so heavily for Donald Trump? We wanted to […]
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Changing Course: Coal Country Students Working For A Power Switch
Arlie Boggs Elementary sits between Kentucky’s two tallest mountains in a remote area that once had a booming coal economy. Ten years ago there were over a thousand coal miners employed here in Letcher county. Today, there are just 28. “We were left with many unemployed miners,” eighth-grader Nicholas Sturgill […]
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