February 20th, 2019 by WCBC Radio

This time the teachers’ strike was only hours old when lawmakers acted.  Just as the strike began Tuesday, the West Virginia House of Delegates effectively killed a complex education bill that sent state teachers to the picket lines nearly a year after a nine-day strike closed schools. The Republican-led House voted 53-45 to approve the motion to table the bill indefinitely. It means the bill won’t go to the next step: a committee of Senate and House members who would try to come up with a compromise. Cheers erupted from the House galleries where hundreds of teachers were in attendance. It wasn’t immediately known whether the vote would end the strike, but teachers started leaving the Capitol afterward. Prior to the vote, Mineral County School Superintendent Shawn Dilly told WCBC News that it is frustrating to see  state lawmakers playing politics with education- choosing to debate among themselves while ignoring input from educators and administrators.