by Brittany Dolly, 6th grade Social Studies teacher, CCMS; AFT-Clay President

When I attended college, I had no idea what path I wanted to take. While taking the general courses I received a work study position. That work study position changed my life. I started working with diverse students in an afterschool program. Shortly after, I declared my major (History, Interdepartmental Studies, and Secondary Education) and began working toward acceptance in the Education Program at West Virginia University.

While studying at WVU, I had the pleasure of learning from specialists within my content area (Dr. Shannon Frystak), who deepened my love and learning of history. I was also mentored by one of the best K-12 educators in the state, Traci DeWall, who prepared me to have my own classroom.

After graduation from WVU, I moved to Clay County, West Virginia, to begin my career as an educator. I moved there, where I had never been and knew no one, to teach sixth grade social studies. I love what I do! I love teaching history and social studies. I love spreading the love of reading historical fiction and nonfiction. I love teaching my students to think critically about the world around us. I love having debates and discussions with students who never cease to amaze me with their thoughts and ideas. I love collaborating with my coworkers to help our students learn and grow as citizens. I look forward to spending the rest of my teaching career there. I have grown to love my community and want to continue to serve it both inside and outside of the classroom.

Outside of my classroom, I have made an amazing group of friends who are truly like family. Friends who have my back and that I can count on for anything. Also during these last eight years, I met the love of my life and although he isn’t from this area, he feels the same way about it as I do. He has started his own successful career here so that we can stay among the people and place we love. We’ve bought our dream home, we’ve adopted another dog, and we were in it for the long haul.

Until this year. As we see my pay stagnate and my benefits erode, we suddenly find ourselves asking if we have it in us to stay. We have thought about our aunts, uncles, and cousins who grew up in West Virginia, many of whom have left and never came back. Are we destined to become them? We are highly qualified, young professionals who could easily find higher paying jobs elsewhere. Why should we stay?

We are fortunate: our family has it better than many in this state, but how long can we continue to live in a place that does not value education or in attracting and keeping young professionals? How long can we continue to struggle, knowing that our lawmakers do not value us? I don’t have the answer right now, but I hope that we can all work together to demand that the legislature make changes that attract young and highly qualified educators and state employees to the state and keep the ones that are already here by fixing and funding PEIA and passing raises that approach the national average.

I was inspired to become a teacher by teachers in West Virginia, but talented teachers also inspire students to become so many other things. When inspiring and talented educators begin to feel that they are being underappreciated or taken for granted, it is only natural for them to begin to look for somewhere that will understand and reward them for the value that they bring. Unfortunately, West Virginia is not currently one of those places.

During this time of struggle for West Virginia teachers, I would like the public to understand that this is a time of crisis. Not only a crisis for teachers who find it increasingly more difficult to support their families, but a time of crisis for the state as we face a future where quality educators no longer come to or stay in West Virginia. For now, I will stay and fight for all West Virginians because this fight is more important than a pay increase or benefits for state employees. This fight is about making a better West Virginia.