Education activists argue that American educators are not paid enough for shaping the minds of future leaders, and Arizona teachers are now calling for action. The teachers and supporters that marched on the state capitol in Phoenix have caused quite a stir in recent days in hopes of attracting national attention to their cause.
Arizona Educators United (AEU) wants teachers to have a 20 percent pay raise by the end of the upcoming school year and expects their salaries to continue to rise until they meet the national average. The AEU has sparked a national conversation regarding better pay for teachers in order to improve their students’ education quality. In their #RedForEd movement, around 50,000 supporters have donned the color red while protesting at the capitol in hopes of inciting change.
According to the website Glassdoor, the average base pay of a teacher in the Phoenix area is only $38,869 a year; this is 15 percent below the national average. “I read stories and know of teachers here (the Pleasant Valley school district) that have to have side gigs just to survive,” said history teacher Jeff Meyers. “When you are a young teacher and need to have two to three jobs in order to survive, then there is something wrong with the system.”
Although the strikes were done with the intent of improving the education qualities of the students, some are concerned that it is doing just the opposite. While Governor Doug Ducey has proposed solutions to the protesters, the strike still has not stopped. Many schools throughout the state were closed because of the strikes on Monday – including the state’s largest districts, Mesa Public Schools and the Tuscon Unified School District – with some even expecting to stay closed for much longer, according to CNN’s Chris Boyette.
With the closing of the schools due to protests, parents wait impatiently for their children to get back to learning. Supporters of the movement claim that a few days of missed education will be made up over time if the teachers get their funding to create better curriculums. Until then, the teachers and their supporters plan to keep on marching until their demands are met.
