Board won’t weigh #RedForEd sanctions
The Arizona State Board of Education will no longer consider punishing teachers who participated in the #RedForEd walkout at its Monday meeting, the board president has announced.
The Monday discussion item, in which the board was set to receive legal advice on whether it had any authority to discipline striking teachers, incited outcry from educators and their supporters.
Some parents online posted their support for punishing at least some of the organizers of the six-day walkout.
Dozens of people on social media had commented that they planned to pack Monday’s 9 a.m. meeting to either speak for or against disciplining teachers.
Lucas Narducci, the board’s president, said in a statement that he believed it was “premature at this time” for the board to have the discussion.
In the statement, Narducci did not directly address the strong public reactions the agenda item stirred, but sought to reaffirm the board’s support for educators.
“I have decided to pull this item from the board’s agenda because I believe it is premature at this time, as the board does not have enough information or legal advice to have a constructive discussion,” Narducci said in the statement. “The board will seek more guidance through legal counsel in due course.”
Narducci’s statement continued: “As president of the State Board of Education, I believe our role is to develop policy to support our hardworking teachers, parents, and to ensure that Arizona students are afforded the access to be successful with the best educational experience.
“We have great esteem for our educators’ work, commitment and the positive impact of their voices on the lives of our young people and our public education system.”
The 11-member State Board of Education is Arizona’s top education governing body. The Arizona governor appoints 10 of the members, and the 11th seat is reserved for the state superintendent of public instruction.
The board can discipline teachers found guilty of misconduct by censuring them in minor cases and suspending or removing their teaching certificates in more severe cases.
More than 1,000 schools across Arizona shut down during the #RedForEd walkout, impacting more than 850,000 students.
The protest, at its height, drew more than 50,000 teachers and supporters to the state Capitol. Participants advocated for more education funding and higher teacher pay.
Narducci at the May 21 Board of Education meeting had asked for a presentation Monday to discuss what — if any — authority the board had over disciplining teachers “in light of past and ongoing conduct of #RedForEd.”
“For something like that to happen in our state, I just think we need to have something reviewed so that due diligence on our part is accomplished,” Narducci said at the May meeting.
“If we can’t do anything, that’s fine, too. But if we can, let’s look at what we can do for now and the future.”
Alicia Williams, executive director for the state board, said the item was included in Monday’s agenda at the request of state Superintendent Diane Douglas, a staunch critic of the #RedForEd walkout.
Douglas said in a statement to The Arizona Republic that she understood the decision to remove the agenda item.
“After seeing the information provided the Attorney General’s office at the last minute, I agree with the President’s decision to table issue,” Douglas said. “This is an important issue and the handling of it should not be done in a hasty manner.”
The statement gave no details about what information was provided by the Attorney General’s Office that tabled the discussion. A spokesman from the office said there were no further details available.
Douglas, who is seeking re-election, criticized teachers for walking out the week of the #RedForEd protest, calling it illegal. She has said repeatedly in television interviews and public appearances that the Arizona Department of Education, which she oversees, would investigate any complaints it receives about teachers who walked out. The law requires it, she said.
Spokesmen for the department have refused to comment on whether they’ve received any complaints against teachers related to the walkout.
The state superintendent’s race will have one of the most crowded ballots heading into the Aug. 28 primary.
Four other Republicans are in the primary: Frank Riggs, Tracy Livingston, Jonathan Gelbart and Bob Branch. David Schapira and Kathy Hoffman are running on the Democratic ticket.
The board’s planned discussion ran counter to how local superintendents and school boards responded to the teacher walkout.
There have been no cases of teacher discipline by schools, and several school boards and administrators publicly supported the teacher-led activism movement.
Joe Thomas, president of the Arizona Education Association, the state’s teachers’ union that helped coordinate the walkout, criticized Douglas in a Facebook video Thursday.
Responding to news reports about Monday’s board meeting, Thomas called the discussion “unfortunate” and an attempt to create a “political circus” he said he believed was incited by Douglas for political gain.
Douglas has criticized #RedForEd organizers for coordinating the walkout. One of the organizers, teacher Noah Karvelis, is also the campaign manager for Hoffman, one of the state superintendent candidates.
“I think they (#RedForEd organizers) were politically motivated,” Douglas told The Arizona Republic in May, “and I think that’s a shame, because our teachers and our parents deserve better than that.”