Dogwood Weekly Recap: Virginia teachers are severely underpaid

Happy Sunday, Virginia. If you’re a civics nerd like us, make sure you’re registered to vote for the June 11 primaries. If you’re not, make sure to register before the deadline tomorrow, and then consider checking out our calendar of upcoming political events in Virginia.

ICYMI: 5 Things that happened this week…

1. Elizabeth Warren visits the Commonwealth and talks corruption – Elizabeth Warren swung through Fairfax on Thursday, where she spoke about the Trump administration’s corruption. Our very own Davis Burroughs was there and wrote about her attacks on the “revolving door” between contractors and the Trump administration’s Department of Defense.
2. Virginians pay their fair share in taxes; does President Trump? – After the New York Times reported that President Trump avoided paying federal income tax for eight of the ten years between 1985 to 1994, we decided to compare the President’s tax burden to that of the average Virginian. It was tricky because Trump won’t release his tax returns, but we gave it our best shot anyway.
3. Virginia teachers are massively underpaid and may strike because of it – Average salaries for all Virginia teachers are $8,483 less than the national average and a 2018 report from The Education Law Center at Rutgers University ranked Virginia’s teacher wages among the worst in the nation. Since it’s not an issue that is likely to go away any time soon, we did a deep dive on the state of teacher pay; what we found was concerning.
4. Republican Del. Bob Thomas wants to completely ban abortion – While Georgia, Alabama and Missouri continued the trend of red states enacting draconian abortion bans, Virginia’s own Del. Bob Thomas (R-Stafford) said he would “love to see Virginia move that way.” His opponent in this year’s elections, Democrat Joshua Cole, condemned Thomas’ comments and said he will protect women’s rights.
5. U.S. House passes Equality Act – The U.S. House of Representatives passed groundbreaking legislation on Friday that would prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. The passage of the Equality Act comes only three months after Virginia’s Republican-controlled General Assembly blocked similar bills that explicitly banned housing and employment discrimination against LGBTQ Virginians.