Teaching Profession

Arizona Teachers Set to Strike Over School Funding and Pay

By Madeline Will — April 25, 2018 | Corrected: April 25, 2018 2 min read
Teacher Jennifer Galluzzo casts her ballot outside Paseo Verde Elementary School last week in Peoria, Ariz. Teachers throughout the state voted to strike for higher salaries and education funding.
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

Corrected: An earlier version of this story misstated the pay raise West Virginia teachers received after their strike. They received a 5 percent pay raise.

Teachers across the state of Arizona will walk out on Thursday in the first-ever statewide strike to press for higher salaries and school funding.

The walkout is set for April 26, following three days of school “walk-ins” this week. Walk-ins are meant to be a nondisruptive way for parents and community members to join educators before or after school hours to show their support.

There were about 57,000 votes cast by school employees across the state, and 78 percent voted yes to the strike.

The announcement was made by both Arizona Education Association officials and organizers of the teacher-led Facebook group Arizona Educators United, which has about 45,000 members. Social media has been a driving force for this wave of teacher activism in Arizona.

See Also

How much do teachers make? A primer on teacher salaries, raises, performance pay, pensions, Social Security benefits, and health-care premiums.

“This is undeniably and clearly a mandate for action,” said Joe Thomas, the president of the state teachers’ union.

He added that educators were demanding action—more school funding and a teacher pay raise—from the state legislature and the governor. Gov. Doug Ducey, a Republican, has said he will urge the state legislature to pass a 20 percent pay raise for teachers. But many educators have remained skeptical of the plan, questioning where the money will come from. The state’s Parent Teacher Association has pulled its support from Ducey’s plan, calling it financially unsustainable. However, the Arizona School Boards Association and the Association of School Business Officials still support the plan.

In a series of tweets, Ducey said he was committed to making sure the teacher pay raise passed the legislature.

“No one wants to see teachers strike,” he said. “If schools shut down, our kids are the ones who lose out.”

Noah Karvelis, a music teacher and an organizer of Arizona Educators United, told reporters that he didn’t want to put any limitations on how long the walkout would last.

“We’re truly in a state of crisis right now,” he said, referencing “crumbling public school infrastructure,” broken desks, and outdated textbooks.

The voting took place over three days, after a series of peaceful demonstrations and electrifying protests calling for better pay and more school funding. Arizona teachers, on average, make about $48,000 a year—about $10,000 less than the national average.

Teachers in Oklahoma recently concluded a nine-day walkout, as did West Virginia teachers last month. West Virginia teachers received a 5 percent pay raise after their strike. Oklahoma’s walkout ended on a more mixed note: Teachers received a $6,100 pay raise and some additional funding for schools, but legislators refused to bend to the teachers’ demands in full.

In Arizona, striking is illegal for teachers, according to a 1971 opinion by the state’s attorney general at the time. Teachers could be fired or have their teaching licenses revoked. But according to the Arizona Daily Star, the superintendent of the Tucson Unified district—the largest in the state—said teachers won’t lose their jobs if they strike.

“This is not a confrontation,” Gabriel Trujillo told reporters. “The #RedForEd movement and our teachers have been wonderful. They’ve exhibited great leadership in this movement, and certainly we don’t view any of their actions as anti-Tucson Unified School District.”

A version of this article appeared in the April 25, 2018 edition of Education Week as Arizona Teachers Set to Strike Over School Funding and Pay

Events

School & District Management Webinar EdMarketer Quick Hit: What’s Trending among K-12 Leaders?
What issues are keeping K-12 leaders up at night? Join us for EdMarketer Quick Hit: What’s Trending among K-12 Leaders?
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Artificial Intelligence Webinar
Teaching Students to Use Artificial Intelligence Ethically
Ready to embrace AI in your classroom? Join our master class to learn how to use AI as a tool for learning, not a replacement.
Content provided by Solution Tree
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Teaching Webinar
Empowering Students Using Computational Thinking Skills
Empower your students with computational thinking. Learn how to integrate these skills into your teaching and boost student engagement.
Content provided by Project Lead The Way

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Teaching Profession Law Restricting Teachers' Unions Falls After More Than a Decade
The Wisconsin law, a poster child for efforts to curb collective bargaining over the past decade, was deemed unconstitutional.
4 min read
Wisconsin Education Association Council (WEAC) vice president Betsy Kippers leads a chant during a rally to protest Governor Scott Walker's budget repair bill, at the Brown County Courthouse in downtown Green Bay on February 16, 2011.
Wisconsin Education Association Council Vice President Betsy Kippers leads a chant during a rally to protest then-Gov. Scott Walker's budget-repair bill in downtown Green Bay on Feb. 16, 2011. The law severely restricted the scope of collective bargaining for teachers, but was thrown out by a judge more than a decade later.
H. Marc Larson/The Green Bay Press-Gazette via AP
Teaching Profession The Top 10 Things That Keep Teachers Up at Night
Teachers share their biggest work-related stressors.
5 min read
Teaching Profession 'An Overwhelming Feeling of Guilt': Why Teachers Don't Take Sick Leave
A list of reasons why teachers say working while sick is easier than staying home.
2 min read
Closeup shot of an unrecognisable woman blowing her nose while working from home
Charday Penn/E+
Teaching Profession Data What Teacher Pay and Benefits Look Like, in Charts
A third of teachers report inadequate pay, and Black teachers are the likeliest to do extra unpaid work.
4 min read
Vector illustration of a woman turning a piggy bank upside down with nothing but a few coins and flies falling out of it.
iStock/Getty