They came by bus and car, dressed in red, carrying signs and chanting, “It’s not enough!” They mean it. Nearly 5,000 West Virginia educators gathered at the state Capitol in January to show the governor his proposed salary raise won’t pay the bills.

The 2.5 percent raise proposed by the governor for teachers (but not education support professionals) wouldn’t even generate enough money for him “to buy a flat screen TV for [his] mansion,” said West Virginia Education Association (WVEA) President Charles DeLauder. The WVEA has called for 6 percent for all and a minimum salary of $30,000 for every teacher. Currently, the state’s average teacher salary, $38,284, ranks 47th in the country (down from 30th in 1993), and is about $5,500 less than its neighbor, Virginia. That difference makes it hard to recruit and retain teachers—and they made that clear on the Capitol steps, shouting, “Six percent or I won’t stay!”