Arizona, Colorado educators join uprising
PHOENIX — A sea of teachers clad in red shirts and holding “Money for Schools” signs reached the Arizona Capitol to press lawmakers for action Thursday, a key event in an unprecedented walkout that closed most of the state’s public schools and built on an educator uprising that bubbled up in other parts of the U.S.
Tens of thousands of teachers and their supporters headed through downtown Phoenix to a rally to demand increased school funding on top of big pay hikes offered by the Republican governor. Widespread walkouts also were underway in Colorado, where teachers protested at their own Capitol and some schools were shut down.
Educators in both states, who want more classroom resources, have received offers either for increased school funding or pay, but they say the money isn’t guaranteed and the efforts aren’t enough. The walkouts are the continuation of an uprising that spread from West Virginia, Oklahoma and Kentucky.
A lack of resolution led Arizona educators to launch the first-ever statewide strike to force their demands. It comes as about half of all Colorado students will see their schools shuttered over two days as teachers take up the Arizona movement’s #RedforEd mantle.
The crowd, many of whom carried water jugs and umbrellas, walked 2 miles in heat that reached the mid-90s as employees at courthouses and office buildings left work to watch. The state Department of Public Safety estimated the crowd size at 40,000.
In much cooler Colorado, several thousand educators rallied around the Capitol, with many using personal time to attend two days of protests expected to draw as many as 10,000 demonstrators.