Arizona teacher walkout appears near
They say spending has plummeted since 2008
PHOENIX — Arizona teachers who have organized to push for big raises and a restoration of school funding are threatening a statewide walkout, following the lead of educators across the country — including Oklahoma, where schools have been closed for more than a week.
Leaders for a new grassroots group called Arizona Educators United say they could announce a date for action at any time. The group of about 40,000 members says Gov. Doug Ducey and Republican lawmakers who control the Legislature have not responded to requests for negotiations.
Teacher and organizer Noah Karvelis said the group sees no choice but to move to walkouts.
The likely walkout is part of a wave of teacher rebellions in states led by conservative leaders. In Oklahoma, classes in the state’s biggest school districts were canceled Tuesday for the seventh day. Classes in Oklahoma City and Tulsa have been scrubbed for Wednesday.
Leaders of Oklahoma’s largest teacher’s union want a capital gains tax exemption repealed and for the governor to veto a repeal of a proposed lodging tax as they push for more education funding. They already won pay raises of about $6,100, but many educators say their classrooms need more money.
Other states, including West Virginia and Kentucky, have seen teacher strikes or protests this year as education advocates revolt against years of cuts and lower spending.
Arizona education advocates say the state is spending nearly $1 billion a year less on schools than before the Great Recession.
The state’s teachers, like Nevada’s, are among the lowest-paid in the nation. The teachers group that sprang up in March is demanding a 20 percent pay hike and annual raises, higher pay for support staff, a restoration of school funding to 2008 levels and an end to new tax cuts until per-pupil funding reaches the national average.
Republican House Speaker J.D. Mesnard warned Tuesday that a strike could be “a bit of a mutual self-destruction scenario.”
Democratic Rep. Rebecca Rios, the minority leader, said she doesn’t fault educators for wanting to walk out because they’ve been pushed to a “breaking point.”