Teachers demanded increased funding on Thursday during a #RedForEd march through downtown Phoenix.
Phoenix police estimated 50,000 people attended the march, which started at Chase Field and ended at the Arizona State Capitol. The crowd began to gather at the ballpark at 9 a.m. and embarked on the two-mile march at 11 a.m.
“It’s really exhilarating,” said Phoenix Union High School District counselor Susan Weiner of the size of the crowd. “It lets you know that we’re not alone, we stand together, whether it’s teachers, counselors, support staff, parents, the community.”
The march commenced a statewide teacher strike, closing more than 1,000 schools and affecting more than 840,000 students, according to an analysis by the Arizona Republic. The expected end-date of the walk out is expected to be determined by response from Arizona legislatures, according to organizers.
“I feel that right now the only way that teachers have gotten any advances in classroom funding and increases in salary, is to show a united front throughout a state and present themself to legislatures and government officials and say, ‘Hey, we need your help, we cannot do this anymore on a shoestring budget,’” said Russell Jurgenson, a teacher from Creighton School District. “And if the only way to present our agenda — our issues — to government officials is to be united and leave school for one day, two days or how many days, then I’m for it.”
#RedForEd is a grassroots movement that aims to secure more funding for public and charter schools. Critics of the movement have questioned educators’ motives for demanding pay raises and need for funding. Teachers from schools across Arizona, including downtown schools have been holding walk-ins and wearing red to call for increased pay and budget allocation.
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“This is my 26th year in the public schools in this state,” Weiner said. “I’m tired of the fact that there’s sometimes holes in the wall or droppings or things that you wouldn’t find if you worked in the private sector.”
Education funding was cut in 2008 at the onset of the Great Recession. In the decade since, funding has not returned to its level prior to the recession.
“The budgets were cut in 2008 and to not be back at that level in 2018 is a disgrace,” said Michele Lipovitch, a parent of Phoenix students and a former teacher. “I think it’s embarrassing.”
Ilene Baker, a counselor from the Murphy School District, said she works in a very low income district, and there’s “never enough”. She estimated about $4,000 of her income goes to supplies for her students.
Governor Doug Ducey previously has offered to raise teachers pay by 20 percent by the 2020-2021 school year. This raise would restore the first portion of previous funding taken away during the recession. The plan has been met with mixed responses from educators, and would still need to be passed by legislatures. The decision to march came from education leaders in the state who have said it doesn’t go far enough.
Without a doubt, teachers are some of the biggest difference-makers in the lives of Arizona children. They need to be respected, and rewarded, for the work they do — and Arizona can do better on this front. 1/3
— Doug Ducey (@dougducey) April 26, 2018
After adjusting for local cost of living, Arizona teachers are almost the lowest paid educators in the nation ranking 49th for elementary and 48th for high school, according to the Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. Additionally, salaries vary widely across the state. The school district with the highest paid teachers pays 70 percent more than the district with the lowest paid teachers, according to an ABC15 analysis.
The call for increased funding has also been met with some criticism about where the money will come from.
“We don’t want them taking (funding) from other areas that need it,” Weiner said. “You can’t take from the disabled to pay the teachers. You can’t take from veterans. You can’t take from medicaid.”
Several teachers also responded to other misconceptions like they don’t work summers. Many Arizona teachers actually work second jobs to make ends meet. Lipovitch said a common misconception is teachers have lots of time, including summers off. She said even in this time off teachers are planning and have to pick up other jobs because of a lack of money.
“I hear a lot lately about, ‘Oh you get summers off, you get weeks off during the year,’ we do. But we don’t,” Jurgenson said. “I might take a half a day to go do errands for my household but the other half of the day is scratching my head, ‘Alright how am I going to present, the latest theory or information on the sun or the earth to my students and make it interesting and make them want to come back into my classroom?’”
Phoenix Union High School District superintendent Chad Geston released a statement Wednesday announcing the indefinite closure of the district’s schools (pending the end of the strike). The district is offering free meals 7:30 to 8:30 and 10:30 to 11:30 in the mornings of walkout days at Alhambra, Central and Cesar Chavez high schools.
Phoenix Elementary School District superintendent Larry Weeks also announced the indefinite closure of the district’s schools on Monday. There will be daily updates at 5 p.m. to inform parents of whether schools will be open or not.
“We would prefer not to do this, but we believe this is the best way to ensure there is not confusion among our families and across our community,” Weeks wrote in a statement. “We believe in the long run that this plan is the best plan for the safety of our students so that parents have a clear message as to whether we are open or not.”
It’s unclear how long schools downtown or schools across the state may be closed. As of now there is no end date for the walkout, but educators will be back at the capital Friday to continue advocating.
“We want all of the schools to be equitable and not the schools in one area to have resources because they have a wealthier base and a school in another area to not have the same resources,” Weiner said. “And we want all staff to be paid fairly. Whether you’re a bus driver or a cafeteria worker, or you’re a classroom teacher or a counselor.”
Contact the reporter at Leah.Soto@asu.edu.
