Educators want details on proposed raises
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The Tucson Weekly reported that every Wednesday morning, educators across the state have been holding morning rallies, or “walk ins,” outside their schools. The Red for Ed movement, which began in early March, is calling for a raise for educators and additional funding for schools.
Facing mounting pressure, Gov. Doug Ducey announced on Thursday that he would give teachers a 19 percent raise over the next three years, but Arizona Educators United, the grassroots coalition of educators that launched Red for Ed, isn’t settling for a vague promise that addresses just one of their demands.
Educators want more details about the proposed raises. They’re asking for a 20 percent raise for teachers and competitive pay raises for all education support staff, such as librarians, bus drivers, counselors and teachers’ aids. The AEU’s demands also include an additional $1.1 billion for education funding—to restore it to 2008 spending levels—and no new tax cuts until per-pupil funding reaches the national average.
Arizona ranks 49th in the nation for high-school teacher salaries and 50th for elementary school teachers, according to an analysis by Arizona State University's Morrison Institute for Public Policy.