US teachers demand funding

CAPITALISE ON OUTRAGE TO WIN SEATS Protesters rallied on issues such as gun control, science and immigrants’ rights.

High school physics teacher Craig Hoxie filed to run for the House of Representatives in Oklahoma on Friday, a day after the end of a two-week teacher walkout that had pressed lawmakers for school funding.

“A week ago, I would have told you I wasn’t going to do it,” said the 48-year-old army veteran who has worked in public schools for 18 years, as he drove to the state election board office to submit his paperwork to become a Democratic candidate in the election.

“There is a funding crisis with all public services in our state.”

Teachers and parents in Oklahoma, West Virginia, Kentucky and Arizona have staged actions in recent weeks, seeking higher wages and education spending. They say years of budget reductions have decimated public school systems in favour of tax cuts.

Protests in those Republican-dominated states have encouraged teachers’ unions and Democratic candidates who will try to capitalise on the outrage to score electoral victories.

In November’s mid-term elections, 36 governorships and thousands of state legislative seats will be up for grabs.

“This transcends what has traditionally been viewed as blue states and red states,” said Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, which boasts 1.7 million members. “The deprivation has gotten so great that people are taking the risk to escalate their activism.”

The union, typically aligned with the Democratic Party, has targeted a number of key states with plans to mobilise in statehouse, gubernatorial and congressional elections this US autumn.