Teachers rally for education funding

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Thu, 03/29/2018 - 08:15

Cronkite News reported that thousands of Arizona teachers angry about pay rallied as part of the Red for Ed movement at the state Capitol on Wednesday and demanded a 20 percent raise, but organizers stopped short of calling for a statewide education strike.

Organizers from Arizona Educators United, the three-week-old grassroots organization behind the Red for Ed movement in the state, called on Gov. Doug Ducey and the Legislature to meet a list of demands that included the pay increase for teachers and the restoration of education funding to 2008 levels.

Arizona Department of Public Safety officials estimated about 2,500 teachers arrived by late afternoon, joining the crowd marching around the House and Senate buildings. They waved signs at cars, their numbers stretching across several blocks.

Median salaries for Arizona teachers are about $47,000, according to a 2017 analysis by the ASU Morrison Institute for Public Policy. Pay for high-school teachers ranks 49th in the U.S., slightly above elementary-school teachers, who rank 50th, the analysis from the Arizona State University institute shows.

Some teachers said they are inspired partly by a successful bid to increase teacher pay in West Virginia, where educators went on strike for nine days and successfully bargained for a 5 percent raise. Educators in Oklahoma are threatening to strike Monday over the issue.

Some lawmakers left the House of Representatives to speak with the demonstrators, listening to concerns that the Legislature would do nothing.

READ: RedForEd teachers demand 20 percent salary hike, more money for education