Thousands of Arizona teachers and supporters of the RedforED movement continue their strike at for a third day at the Capitol on Monday. Again, hundreds of schools serving more than 800,000 students are closed because of the walkouts.
On Friday, Gov. Doug Ducey announced that he reached a deal with the majority Republican leaders in the state legislature. According to him, his plan for a 20% raise for teachers by 2020 and restore recession-era cuts are real. They are working to introduce a budget early this week.
Earlier this month, Gov. Ducey also promised to provide $371 million in funding for schools over the next five years.
Arizona teachers remain skeptical about the governor’s plan. They said it failed to meet their demands including restoring the $1 billion funding for education and providing competitive salary for teachers and all support staff.
In a statement, the Arizona Education Association (AEA) and Arizona Educators United (AEU) said, “We have a press release and a tweet from the governor. We have no bill. We have no deal. The devil is in the details.”
Arizona teachers need response from legislature
AEA President Joe Thomas said, “We really hope to see the governor’s budget today. He’s been on Twitter, he’s been everywhere but in the public saying, here’s my plan. If they don’t get a budget, that’ll be a third day of frustration.”
