Arizona teachers hope to return to class Thursday, ending walkout

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Leaders of the Arizona Educators United group and Arizona Education say they will end the walkout on Thursday if the budget is passed.
Thomas Hawthorne, The Arizona Republic

PHOENIX — Arizona teachers will return to class Thursday if the Legislature passes the budget by then, organizers have announced, marking the end to the largest walkout in modern American history.

At a Tuesday evening news conference at the Capitol, the leaders of the Arizona Educators United group and Arizona Education Association, the state’s teachers’ union, credited the teacher’s movement for the additional education funding lawmakers are expected to approve. 

But they also acknowledged all of their funding demands haven’t been met and vowed to continue the unprecedented wave of teacher activism beyond this legislative session.

The organizers of both groups said the realization that state lawmakers were unlikely to budge on addressing more of their funding demands outweighed stretching the walkout beyond Wednesday.

In vague terms, organizers said they would continue to fight to restore the $1 billion in cuts to education funding made since the recession.

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“This movement is not over,” said Rebecca Garelli, a Phoenix teacher and Arizona Educators United organizer, “and we will not stop until we get enough funding to get the schools our students deserve.”

Historic effort

Arizona’s teacher walkout will have lasted five school days. On the first day of the walkout, nearly 110 Arizona school districts and charter schools closed their schools, impacting more than 850,000 students.

More than 50,000 educators and supporters marched and rallied at the state Capitol, a sea of red.

As of Tuesday, more than 768,000 students — more than two-thirds of the state’s 1.1 million public-school students — remained out of school because of closures.

April 26: Teachers strike in Arizona for more education money; protests spread to Colorado

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Noah Karvelis, organizer with the Arizona Educators United group, and Joe Thomas, president of the Arizona Education Association, urged the state’s educators to return to schools once the budget is passed.

The Legislature appeared to be on track to vote Wednesday.

Mixed feelings from teachers

It remains unclear how the rank-and-file teachers fueling the #RedForEd movement will respond to organizers’ Tuesday announcement.

Dozens of educators, clad in red, testified against lawmakers’ budget plans during public hearings Tuesday, urging them to vote against them.

Mary Schuett, a teacher in Peoria Unified School District, said she had “mixed feelings” about ending the walkout.

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Arizona’s governor puzzled on why teachers want to walk out: ‘We are delivering … what we believe they deserve’

April 20: Arizona educators vote to strike, a first for the state

Arizona Educators United organizers have not formally supported any education funding proposals, though they acknowledged the possibility of supporting the Invest in Education Act initiative. 

That ballot initiative, which was introduced late last week, would add about $690 million in additional education funding by increasing income taxes on the wealthiest 1% of Arizonans. 

Touting wins, progress

Organizers touted the impact of the grassroots, teacher-led #RedForEd movement that erupted from a wave of teacher frustration just eight weeks ago.

Garelli said the #RedForEd movement should be credited for “creating the largest increase in school funding since the recession.”

Arizona Educators United organizers said the movement pressured state leaders to extend Proposition 301. 

Legislation extending the soon-to-expire sales-tax measure, which accounts for $680 million annually in education funding, sat idle until lawmakers fast-tracked it days after hundreds of teachers staged a sick-out at the Capitol.

April 16: Arizona teachers planning three-day vote to decide whether to walk out for higher pay, education money

April 13: Arizona teachers skeptical of governor’s raise proposal

Garelli said that while Gov. Doug Ducey’s proposal to give teachers 20% pay raises by 2020 and boost school funding by $100 million falls short of the demands organizers laid out in late March, it marked a significant improvement from what the governor had previously proposed.

Just days before the announcement of his #20by2020 announcement, Ducey publicly appeared to stick to his January proposal to give teachers the second half of a promised 2% stipend. 

“It’s a huge deal,” Garelli said. “#RedForEd has made some waves. We’ve done an excellent job of getting more funds for K-12 education. The #RedForEd movement created the largest increase in school funding since the recession. Just think about that.”

Watching the budget

Educators and protesters at the Capitol on Tuesday — day four of Arizona’s #RedForEd teacher walkout — said they would stay late into the night as state lawmakers discussed budget-proposal details.

Garelli said educators staying is part of their tactic to “continue to put pressure on the Legislature.”

Educators are demanding the restoration of $1 billion in cuts to education funding since the recession, immediate 20% teacher pay raises and competitive pay for support staff, such as bus drivers and classroom aides.

April 11: With peaceful walk-ins, Arizona teachers gauge support for walkouts, closing schools

April 10: Arizona teachers, schools prepare for a walkout over salaries, education money

There is no indication that Republican legislative leadership would support such additions to the current budget proposal. 

Sarah Simpson, a kindergarten teacher in the Balsz Elementary School District, called the demands “lofty” and said she viewed Ducey’s #20by2020 announcement as a win for the #RedForEd movement.

“To be quite honest, we’ve gotten Ducey to offer something he’s never been willing to offer before — a 9% pay increase,” Simpson said of the #RedForEd movement’s power.

“Before this happened, he was saying, ‘Let’s give them 2% over five years.’ So now, we’re getting some movement on that, which is nice. But we’re not ready to settle.”

Simpson said once legislators passed a budget, teachers would be back in the classroom.

“Then we’ll move on to our next phase of activism, which probably is more toward the ballot box,” Simpson said.

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Laurel Irwin, 52, a kindergarten teacher from Tucson, said teachers are holding out until the governor listens to representatives of the movement, guarantees funding over the long term and expands raises to special-education teachers and support staff. 

“We are frustrated that the governor has not met with teachers. It’s not a deal if you don’t talk with all parties concerned,” she said. “From my perspective, (what’s missing) it’s a sustainable funding source that does not take money from other areas, and it is a broadening of the definition of teacher.”

Follow Ricardo Cano, Rebekah L. Sanders and Catherine Reagor on Twitter: @Ricardo_Cano1, @RebekahLSanders and @catherinereagor

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