The U.S. is currently filled with all kinds of protests: the #metoo movement, the planned school walkouts against guns and now, the West Virginian teacher strike. This week, teachers and other employees working for public schools in the state of West Virginia protested and walked out of their jobs. Low pay and the lack of benefits for the teachers led every single public school in West Virginia to close. About a quarter of a million students are currently at home without schooling, and teachers say that they will not return until better conditions are enacted.

Although the governor of West Virginia did give a pay raise to the teachers in the state, many said it was not enough to help with insurance and other benefits, so the teachers went on strike. West Virginian teachers and administrators lack the benefits and salary that they deserve, and teachers decided they were going to do something about it.

“There were a lot of times where we got to choose between groceries and health coverage for my family,” said Jacob Fertig, a teacher in West Virginia, according to CNN. “This isn’t just an issue of a bunch of people squabbling over a little bit of insurance benefits or a little bit of pay — we are really in a bad place here as far as that stuff goes.”

In 2016, West Virginia was ranked 48th in the nation for average teacher salary, according to the National Education Association. Along with West Virginia, South Dakota was also ranked disappointingly high on the list– 51st in the nation for average salary.

The unusual situation about West Virginia, though, is that most people go on strike before they are given a pay raise. West Virginians were given a pay raise before the strike occurred, so future agreements that satisfy both West Virginia and the strikers might be hard to settle on.