Teachers Column

West Virginia teachers are being accused of looking a gift horse in the mouth. Citing the state's commitment to public education, Gov. Gaston Caperton proposed a $500 pay raise for all public school teachers during his State of the State Address last month.

But when a teachers' group representative responded by panning, rather than praising, the governor's proposal, one Democratic lawmaker launched a counterattack against teachers' "arrogant, self-centered greed."

The flap began when Judy Hale, the president of the 5,000-member West Virginia Federation of Teachers, told reporters that the Democratic governor's proposed pay raise was "insulting," given that West Virginia teachers lag $5,000 below the national...