Red Revolt; More Teacher Walkouts Out West

In Donald Trump’s America, protests are in.  Women, students and now teachers are marching and organizing like it’s the ’60’s.  Educators in GOP-dominated states dogged for years by budget cuts are becoming the political story of the year–closely ahead of students protesting against gun violence. The teacher revolt started small in West Virginia, didn’t receive the attention it deserved but other teachers were watching.  And suddenly educators were walking off the job in Oklahoma and Kentucky.  Yesterday it was Arizona, and, a new state, Colorado.

In Arizona, 1000 schools were closed Thursday.  But sometimes we need to back up and take in the wide shot, listen to the teachers and why they’re marching.  From The New York Times:

• “The wildfire spread of the teachers’ movement — in parts of the country that are singularly hostile to organized labor — is one of the more surprising and exciting developments of this otherwise bleak political moment. Conservatives are right to worry: We’re seeing a citizens’ revolt against their policies.”
• “Because of a series of tax cuts, particularly over the last 10 years, Arizona teachers are among the worst paid in the nation, and they have some of the country’s largest class sizes — up to 40 students to a single teacher.”
• “…because of its abysmal salaries, Arizona has such an acute teacher shortage that many schools are already hiring teachers without formal education training, some with only high school diplomas…”

One teacher told the Times:

“I’m at a breaking point,” she told me. “We don’t have the resources. I’m spending more and more money out of my own pocket, and I can’t have the impact that I want to have with the way things are now. Something needs to happen.”

And what better way to illustrate the fissure between teachers and some GOP dominated legislatures than a bill introduced by Republicans in Colorado that would jail teachers who strike.