Teacher Protests Spread to Colorado As Arizona Strike Begins

A wave of red-clad teachers will crash upon the Arizona state Capitol on Thursday for an unprecedented walkout that closed most of the state’s public school schools, part of an educator uprising that’s also bubbled up in Colorado.

Arizona Educators United has released a list of concrete demands, including a 20 percent pay raise for teachers and certified staff, a return of school funding to pre-recession levels, and a moratorium on tax cuts until the state’s per-pupil spending meets the national average.

Educators in both states want more classroom resources and have received offers either for increased school funding or pay, but they say the money isn’t guaranteed and the efforts don’t go far enough.

Nalani Plunkett, a teacher candidate studying at Northern Arizona University, said she hoped to teach in Arizona but was concerned about state funding for classrooms.

Eight hundred miles northeast of the main #RedForEd event in Phoenix, thousands of Colorado teachers assembled at Denver’s Capitol building for the first of two days of protests.

The most recent figures by Governing Magazine put per student funding in Arizona at $7,205 from all sources, compared with a national average of $11,392.

One critic of the walkouts said it sets a bad precedent for other public service groups such as police and firemen and that a better solution is to redirect money from school administration to teachers.

“So they know it’s been delivered on”, he said. While many teachers are using personal leave days for the walkout, Wenning doesn’t have any PTO left for the year, and will need to carefully budget around today’s lost wages.

“We are a high school of over 2,100 students”, she said.

Colorado’s teacher action is not, the Colorado Education Association (the state’s NEA affiliate union) makes clear, any sort of formal strike; under the state’s decentralized teacher employment system, a strike could lead to serious legal consequences for those deemed to be in violation of their contracts.

Multiple other districts already didn’t have school on Friday or are sending a small contingent of teachers.

According to a 2018 report by the National Education Association, Colorado ranks 31st in the country when it comes to average teacher salaries, falling about $8,000 short of the national average.

Douglas came out against the walkout when it was announced last Thursday with a statement asking teachers to reconsider.

Martinez said she supports the teachers despite the inconvenience because “they are educating our future”. “I think we’re all trying to figure out if we can make that specifically work”.

Her sister Janet Estrada, 24, is a stay-at-home mom, so she was able to keep an eye on her kids without worrying about what they would do while schools are closed. If this is what it takes, then we need to be out here for the next generation. An Arizona Republic analysis found that more than 840,000 public school students will be affected by the walkout on Thursday.

Teachers and some lawmakers say Ducey’s proposal relies on excessively rosy revenue projections.

Earlier this week, teachers answered student’s questions about what was going on and packed folders with homework for them to take home today.

“Our governor refuses to sit down with us and I don’t have much confidence in our legislators”, Karvelis said.

“We want the parents to understand that this fight is for your child”, Thomas said.

“The teachers are organizing, they’re rallying, they’re demanding increased public funding and increased raises but they’re also taking care of business”, Hrizi told show hosts Brian Becker and John Kiriakou.

“I know there are thousands of mothers and fathers today who are anxious about what they’re going to do tomorrow”, Garcia said.

“People aren’t interested in teaching anymore because they can’t afford to live in Colorado“, Esser said.