West Virginia’s two teachers unions have officially voted to combine and form new representation called Education West Virginia.
Union representatives made the news public today on MetroNews “Talkline.”
“Now we are together. We’re Education West Virginia. We’re stronger, we’re bigger we’re better than ever,” said Kristie Skidmore, who was elected president of AFT-WV in November 2024.
The West Virginia Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers-West Virginia announced last year that they would start to merge into one organization.
This represented a step for each the governing bodies of WVEA and AFT-WV to vote on the merger. The vote took place this weekend at the Embassy Suites hotel in Charleston.
The new organization officially starts Sept. 1.
“The delegates from across the state voted to, for lack of a better term, dissolve our current organizations beginning Sept. 1 and merge into a brand new organization called Education West Virginia,” said Dale Lee, president of the WVEA since 2008.
“It’s the first merger in the NEA and and AFT in the world of non bargaining states and deep red states. So it is very historic day for us.”
The teachers union leaders described a transition period over the several more months. Skidmore and Lee will jointly lead the new organization over that time.
They said a combined voice should carry more weight.
“Both of our organizations have a long history of competing against each other. And many times the Legislature would come to us and say, ‘Well, we would give you this, what you’re asking for, but the other organization wants that’ and play one side against the other,” Lee said.
“Now we’re in a world where there seem to be more and more attacks on public education, and it didn’t make any sense for us to continue to battle with each other. It’s time for us to unite and have a strong united voice.”
Skidmore described a new start.
“I’m just really looking at this as a really fresh opportunity for us to work together and have a bigger, better existence, to battle all those things that we need to battle together,” Skidmore said.