Arizona teachers go on #RedforEd strike to demand pay raises and increased funding for public schools. Photo by NPR
Perhaps you have seen news reports about the teachers #RedforEd strike that is currently taking place in the state of Arizona.The Arizona teachers join their colleagues in Kentucky, Oklahoma, and West Virginia who in recent months have conducted similar strikes to focus attention for their demands for increased support for public education. In Arizona’s case, 50,000 teachers and their supporters clad in blazing #RedforEd T-shirts marched on the state capital in Phoenix last Thursday in 98 degree heat to make their point. The action forced the closure of over 1,000 schools statewide.
The teachers and their supporters are demanding higher pay and more funding for Arizona’s public schools. According to National Public Radio (NPR), federal statistics show that Arizona teachers are among the lowest paid in the country. They say that average teacher salaries last year were actually $8,000-$9,000 below salaries in 1990, when adjusted for inflation. (See NPR article at Arizona Teachers Strike).
In other states, #RedforEd strikes like the Arizona job action have yielded positive results. Teachers in Kentucky scored a victory when their state legislature increased money allocated for schools and overturned unpopular changes to the teachers’ pension system. Striking Oklahoma educators won a pay increase of about $6,100 and additional funding for their schools. The West Virginia teachers ended their strike in March when that state’s legislature signed a 5% pay raise into law.
I fervently hope that a solution that is fair for teachers and students will be found soon in Arizona, and in other states where declining financial support for schools and teachers has become a boiling point. I agree with Ira singer, author of What’s the Real Point of a Nation at Risk? He once commented, “The public schools are America’s children and require the continuing encouragement, nurture, and support of America’s people.”
