Arizona teachers ‘band’ together for #RedForEd

Twisted Sisters’ “We’re Not Gonna Take It” has become the fight song of Arizona’s #RedForEd movement, thanks to the influence of a band of teachers dubbed the RedForEd Spirit Band.

The band, comprised of different kinds of teachers and students from all over the state, was at the #RedForEd walkout rallies Thursday and Friday. It performed various songs that typically involved chants of “Red for ed!”

Participants played a variety of instruments, including violins, French horns, cow bells and recorders.

Deer Valley Unified School District music teacher Ryan Rockey is among the band members. He said he’s worried Gov. Doug Ducey’s pay raise proposal won’t apply to non-classroom educators such as counselors, speech pathologists, physical education teachers, special-education teachers and music teachers.

Ducey has not publicly released details of his pay raise proposal, which would require a vote of the Legislature. His 1 percent stipend last year was targeted at certain certified teachers.

“I’m not a real teacher by their standards,” Rockey said, “even though I’ve been teaching for 15 years.”

That’s what motivated Calle Treppiedie and Sherri Lindsey to come together and form the band.

“We’re here to represent because the first thing that gets cut is the music programs, it’s the arts,” said Lindsey, a teacher in the Paradise Valley Unified School District. “And that’s a big thing for us because we’re the first to go usually.”

The women estimated that the RedForEd Spirit Band consists of about 300 educators from across the state. They said everyone in the education community is represented in this band, from music teachers to classroom teachers to students.

“I’m an elementary school teacher, she’s a middle school teacher, he’s a high school teacher,” Treppiedie said, pointing to other members of the band. “And we’ve got music teachers, orchestra teachers, physical education teachers — everyone is represented in this band.”