Arizona teachers mull strike

Possibility raises confusion in state

PHOENIX — Arizona teachers on Tuesday began weighing whether to walk out of their classrooms to demand more school funding after weeks of growing protests — a vote that’s raising questions about how an unprecedented strike could play out across the state.

The walkout vote comes after Republican Gov. Doug Ducey offered teachers a 20 percent raise by 2020. Teachers in a grass-roots group that’s mobilized tens of thousands of their colleagues say the plan doesn’t address other needs, including raises for support staff and a return to pre-Great Recession school funding levels.

Arizona teachers are among the lowest paid in the nation, and their actions came as educators in many Republicandominant states have demanded higher pay. The movement started in West Virginia, and spread to Oklahoma, Kentucky and, most recently, Colorado.

The potential for Arizona educators to walk out en masse is causing some confusion about how school districts would respond and what the repercussions could be in this right-to-work state, where unions do not collectively bargain with school districts and representation is not mandatory.

The Arizona Education Association, the largest teacher membership group, has supported the so-called #RedforEd movement.

The association said it has informed its 20,000 members of the risks of a walkout under a 1971 Arizona attorney general opinion. It said no law bans a teacher strike but that a statewide strike would be illegal under common law and participants could lose their teaching credentials.