If Rep. Whitmire were still teaching, what would he do?

Walhalla’s state representative Bill Whitmire, a retired teacher, says if he were still teaching he would not leave the classroom tomorrow for a statewide teachers’ rally in Columbia to press for better pay and better education. The reason, he says, is that May—the last month of the academic year—is an important time for teachers to be in their classrooms. Whitmire supports a four percent teacher pay raise starting in July and hopes for an even better raise for the following year. As to the teachers’ call for education reform statewide, Whitmire says he has already voted in favor of reform, especially as it benefits the poorer districts in the state.