I read this article and scratched my head. Many of these teachers in Arizona say they are die-hard Republicans who are anti-union but want their party to properly fund public education. But today's Republican Party goal is to do away with public education. Everything the GOP where it controls all levels of government at the state level has done regarding public education for at least the past decade has this goal in mind. Am I missing something?
34
Sounds like Arizona restaurant servers may soon be taking second jobs as teachers to augment their restaurant income.
16
Being foolishly confident is never a good position to be in. Strategically, it places you in a position of unfounded belief and blindness to your weaknesses. I do not understand what the issues in Arizona are to have an opinion one way or another. There may be legitimate issues that need to be addressed, but you also have to be smart about it.
2
The public school system is a cancer that should be excised. Consider this: As a public school teacher, do you believe that the only way you can earn a living is to have the government's police power force children to attend your class and force adult taxpayers to pay you to teach? If that's truly the only way you could earn a living, then you're really not worth paying to do the job you do.
Put another way: As a public school teacher, do you believe no one would voluntarily and freely pay you to teach their children?
2
Fire these teachers. If they aren't intelligent enough to figure out that voting Republican has eroded that tax base upon which their salaries rest, then they are ill equipped to comprehend, much less teach simple logic.
14
As a retired educator, I can really relate to the plight of teachers in AZ. I respect them for speaking up, not only about salaries, but also much needed supplies, books, classroom size, et. Citizens need to realize how important a good education is to the future of our country. This is not a political issue--it should be of importance to Republicans, Democrats, Independents, etc. I would like politicians who are critical of these striking teachers to answer these questions: 1) Who taught you to read, write and spell? 2) How did you learn to do math? 3) Who encouraged you to explore government, civics, organizational skills, US history, etc.?
Teachers should be thanked NOT criticized!
15
Arizona's Governor Ducey and the state's Republican legislature are in a hard place. On the one hand, they've underfunded education about as much as they can and still pretend to want an educated population (although Trump "loves the uneducated", presumably because they're easier to fool...) it seems lip service is still given to the need to educate the next generation. The problem for Ducey and AZ legislators is that a large percentage of AZ voters are older retired people from out of state, they don't have any need to fund schools (retirement communities property taxes are lower because of a 'no schools' exemption). Convincing AZ residents to pay higher taxes so someone else's kids have better schools will be an uphill push. It seems like it takes demonstrations in the streets and 'illegal' strikes to begin to convince Republicans that their dogma of "always lower taxes" has reached a bit too far. Gee, it seems like some government services really -are- needed, and some taxes really -are- necessary. Who knew?
15
This is a battle between public workers & taxpayers.
Public workers are aligned with Liberal Media, Democrats & Liberal Education ( think colleges).
It is them vs hard working taxpayers.
This fight will worsen as the budget deficits & debt rise.
This is what caused people to vote against Hillary.
2
Why would we expect republicans to support public education . . . they don't believe in government.
Conservatives gleefully talk about "Making government weak enough that it can be drowned in the bathtub". Well Grover, here we are. Government in conservative states is going under for the third time.
Don't expect a bail out from the rest of us!
5
The only thing that puzzles me here is Republican public school teachers ... really? Really? In the era of Trump?
How can this be?
9
Dear republican school teachers on strike.
Kindly practice the rugged individualism you preach. Don't ask for a raise, tell the government to keep its hands away from your paychecks. You believe in free markets, right?
Why on earth are you seeking benefits befitting a communist, when you vote republican? Follow through on your principles, and work to ban all education (exception the religious kind sanctioned by the republican party). Don't surrender to the assault on your family values, on free markets, on religious freedom, the war on Christmas, perpetrated on you by the left; and don't give in to the eight years of tyranny you suffered under Obama. Give up your government jobs, and get into the private sector.
You pile of hypocrites.
Thank you for yet again illustrating that republicans are free loaders, want money for nothing from the federal government, but want everyone else they deem unworthy - squeezed and rendered uncomfortable. How do we know what you are worth, there is no free market in K-12. What about your love for free markets now? Let me see, you also want free healthcare. Right?
14
Being forced to hire teachers who have only a high school degree?? Truly a case of the blind leading the blind. We need know little more to explain a country that elected a lazy ignoramus to lead us.
12
Hello, it's taxpayer money. Public unions--cultural Marxism on the march--are the death knell, at last.
Why would anyone want to pay higher taxes for the marginal students pouring forth from these institutions?
You're fired!
3
The video states, "We are Republican Teachers..." I want to know where they've been. The right wing war on teachers has been going full force for more than the last 15 years. Where were you folks? Were you in those religious right churches where the preacher winked and nodded and said, "you know who pastor's gonna vote for"—yes, I attended a service and witnessed exactly that. Were you so implacably sure that you couldn't live live in a country that allowed other women to choose an abortion if she and her doctor thought it was a prudent decision that you'd vote Republican no matter hoe much they hated your profession? Or were you one of the right wing's dupes for their "we're fiscally responsible because we hate taxes party" message?
Ladies, gentlemen, and the rest of you, you are teachers. That means your brains should be, by definition, in working order. So my question remains: where have you been?
18
Not to state the obvious but the USA spends more to educate each pupil than the vast majority of advanced nations and achieves abysmal results.
So - either the average American student is a moron or there is something with the teaching process that is broken.
And maybe we might start with the teachers.
Maybe answer a simple question: how can over a third of teachers in science and mathematics have absolutely no post-secondary education in - you know - math and science.
6
I just returned from the teacher walkout in Colorado - a top-rated state economy with among the lowest per pupil spending due to dysfunctional funding systems and tax laws. This wasn’t the case 10 years ago, we were once above the national median in per pupil soendong. Now, Almost half our districts have been forced to 4-day school weeks, full day kindergarten requires tuition, and too many teachers can not afford housing where they teach. These teachers are speaking out of love for students and their challenging profession, for the future of our society and democracy. Educators should be driving education policy and the funding mechanisms that support it. Our country depends on free quality education - we have the funds for it. Let’s direct those funds to where they belong.
15
There's a reason why teacher unions were created in the first place. There is a lack of respect for teachers. The attitude is that anybody can teach grade school. If you can't succeed at anything else, become a grade school teacher. In decades past it was a woman's job. No self-respecting man would be a grade school teacher, maybe high school, but certainly not grade school. It was one the jobs that women could get, along with nursing and being a secretary. They were paid less, and in the public's mind deserved no more. So yes, unions were the answer, and they still are!
13
I find it difficult to understand how anyone can be a Republican, much less how a public school teacher can be one. There must be some genetic defect or a serious childhood trauma that the teacher experienced. Perhaps teaching for a Republican is just a hobby to fill the time between dividend or trust fund checks. Anyway, teaching to me is another craft skill that can best be represented by a C.I.O. type union. Teaching may be a labor of love but it is a labor and it requires a labor organization and collective bargaining to represent it. Yes, teachers like to think of themselves as professionals, unfortunately no one else does! Teachers must be organized and prepared to fight for better working conditions, pay and benefits. Teachers need to respect their profession and themselves enough to stand together and fight the repressive forces that are against them.
16
Arizona is not a red state, we are leaning purple. We are not a poor state. And we value education--our state universities are high quality. One of the reasons our education funding is low is that we were hit as hard as anybody by the Great Recession, and it's time to make amends.
In fact, a 2015 ballot measure raised educational funding by $3.5 billion. And, as stated here, the Governor has promised a 20% increase in teacher salaries over the next few years.
So why are teachers striking? They don't believe the governor will deliver on his promise. As an Arizonan, I don't know why the teachers think he's lying. But that should be easy to resolve -- everyone wants 20%, so they just have to figure out how to do it.
Ms. Goldberg's account is deceptive. The school districts vary in pay in Arizona and she presents, as typical, the poorest district in Phoenix l, which most definitely is not. Teachers in my school district are paid much more.
But more important yet is this practice of striking without unions. That causes lack of communication, distrust, and creates an incentive to eliminate teachers' unions because they can secure pay raises without paying dues.
If I were writing this piece, I would emphasize the need for teachers' unions. Non-union strikes are contrary to teachers' interests and contribute to the low-pay situation which is the bottom-line problem.
2
You can only push people so far before they finally push back. Employers and states took advantage of the recession to make cuts that in a healthy job economy they wouldn't have gotten away with. People were scared because of the high unemployment and lack of hiring and weren't in a position to push back. Clearly the tide is changing.
John Adams was clear that a strong democracy requires an educated population. Our schools are falling behind and our kids can't keep up with the rest of the world let alone be expected to be responsible citizens who are capable of making informed decisions. If we don't invest in our schools, especially k-12 we're not going to remain an economic powerhouse. Undereducated people don't create new technology that changes the world while being highly profitable.
If the GOP wants to retain power they're going to need to stop cutting everything. Otherwise Democrats may regain control and if they deliver they will retain power for the next generation. It takes a lot for teachers to rebel and we need to listen to what they are telling us about the state of our country.
7
Don't these people understand that the first things Republicans cut in budgets is education? Look across the country at state budgets and see what takes the hit. Education is an easy target. Republicans get elected by voting "More money in your pocket today" than what are our children be able to bring to the table tomorrow. We should be the leading country in the world in education and we are going backward instead. The argument that teachers don't work a full year is bogus . Their day doesn't end at 3:00pm. they work into the night and weekends reading and grading the work of their students Someday I hope our country will wake up and realize that the bottom line isn't the goal. Our children's future is.
12
Americans, especially American teachers, hate to be held accountable. The solution is simple--pay teachers based on test scores. If kids get more knowledgeable, teachers salaries rise. But teachers resist this mode of compensation in all states.
1
This plan has been tried. It results in teachers teaching to the test. Any individuality of instruction, any adjustment according to the characteristics of the class are lost. There are very good reasons why teachers oppose it. Accountability has nothing to do with it.
13
"Pay teachers based on test scores."
All due respect, but test scores are an excellent indicator of the economic status of the parents and nothing more. The teachers who work in impoverished communities work harder than you do, Mr. Klein, and when the kids start out disadvantaged it is hard to teach them when the home life is chaos. Your children (do you have any?) may turn their noses up at school lunches, but for too many kids that lunch is the only meal they'll have all day. And it is well understood that kids who are hungry don't learn.
Teachers in many schools are put in the position of having to do more than teach a subject. They have to deal with the kids' problems in very real ways.
And remember: the public schools are obligated to take all students. They cannot be selective and choose the cream of the crop. It is very easy for the "no-excuses" charter school to show high test scores when the kids who fail behind are washed out or don't even apply.
Kids fail for reasons beyond the schools' or teachers' control, and that gets reflected in test scores. Low test scores are used as the reason to de-fund schools, rather than as a reason to bring more resources to the school. ("Resources" means more than money, it means specialists to help kids, more aides, more teaching materials. It does not mean "more computers.")
Teachers resist your "mode of compensation" because it simply doesn't work.
You should spend a week in south-side Tucson classroom. If you can.
16
In the mid-1970s a good friend of mine was teaching 5th graders in a public school. One day one of her students told her "My dad says that we must be paying you too much because you were driving a Cadillac." Yes, she did drive a Cadillac but it was purchased for her by her husband who wasn't in education. Imagine a 10-year old telling you that you were making too much money. One acquaintance of mine found out how much his child's teacher was making in the 1980s and said that "she should be ashamed of herself".
There are dozens more examples that I could give from politicians, the general public, and people I personally know but space here is limited. Through out the decades, teachers have been maligned and accused of making more money than they deserve.
The only time a family member reversed her anti-teacher stance was when she became a long-term substitute for someone on maternity leave. Walking in someone else's shoes did wonders for her attitude.
If only everyone could experience the challenges of teaching and be willing to support those who are already working hard in the field.
14
But then how did so many of Arizona and Oklahoma and Kentucky and West Virginia teachers get scammed into voting for Republicans?
This is much more like what they say they want to achieve:
https://www.hillaryclinton.com/issues/k-12-education/
8
Az was paying for its teacher raises with a temporary voter approved 1% increase in the state sales tax. The tax needed to be renewed at the polls.
The State Treasurer then campaigned for sunsetting the tax and it was, hence the crisis now.
Everyone, even Republicans in AZ, know Gov. Ducey's proposed 20% increase in pay, is a political ruse in an election year and meant to turn public opinion against the teachers, which is all they have now. Ducey said he could achieve this pay goal without raising taxes or cutting other services. It is pure Reagan floating asterisk nonsense.
The Goldwater Institute is threatening a lawsuit if the teachers stay out.
The teachers should have put their effort first behind a new proposition to raise the sales tax 1% for the purpose of pay funding. Republicans in AZ have NO ISSUE with raising sales taxes for many things. If the vote went against the teachers, THEN they would have had a stronger argument for labor action.
In the recent AZ CD 8 race the Dem lost by 5 points, education was a MAJOR driver of blue votes.
David Garcia, with a PhD in educational research, an adviser to the DOE and a member of the AZ board of regents ran in 2014 as state school chief and lost by 14,000 votes of 1.4 million cast.
He is running for governor in 2018. It is imperative he be elected if AZ is to fix its schools problem.
BTW, that state treasurer who campaigned on repealing the sales tax increase that paid teachers?
Yup, Doug Ducey.
9
In Colorado, half of all school districts now run on a four day week. How is this fair for students? We have a burdensome amendment to our constitution which makes it next to impossible to raise funding to adequate levels and we are several billion dollars short. That's why teachers are protesting at the state capitol today.
7
Here is a teacher pay solution worth considering:
Tenured teachers (or 3 years of service in right to work states) in Title 1 (public) schools work TAX FREE. If they leave their district, they lose their tax free status. This would produce a de-facto raise of about 20+% without costing local districts any money at all. How is the lost federal revenue replaced? Just skim the few billion needed from the bloated defense budget. This would provide the incentive needed to attract and retain quality teachers in the neediest schools.
5
Is my remember memory dulled or did I just read in the NYT a few weeks ago about state and local government in states like Oregon looking at tremendous budget shortages due to incredibly generous teacher pension plans? This seems less a national problem than one of those relevant to some states.
I do know that with diametrically opposite problems depending upon the state in which one resides; the solution isn't as simple as poor teacher pay.
3
It's about time - I am a teacher who considered moving to Arizona a few years ago because of the low cost of living. But when I saw the paltry salaries they give their teachers, I gave up on that idea. Their low taxes (which they are proud of) are also a factor in lower salaries and benefits. When someone can make more money driving Uber or laying bricks than teaching students, something is definitely wrong!
10
My friends and I booked an entire hotel out this one time for a full month. We agreed to a weekly price in advance and we would pay each night. There were other hotel options, but this was the only one we could find that would accommodate us.
On day two we decided we wanted the hotel to offer free breakfast, so we insisted they offer it for the rest of the stay or we would leave immediately and not pay. There are many hotels all over the country that offer free breakfast, so we should get it too! We had a lot of power, because they would never be able to re-book the hotel on short notice. We saw the movements across the country of people standing up for what they want and got inspired!
How is this made up story not more absurd than teachers accepting a job, committing to do it, then stopping in the middle to demand changes to the terms of their salary agreement? I think it's weird people cheer them on. You agreed to a job, show up and do it.
If you don't get paid enough to do it, then quit and do something else or go do the same thing for someone else. The only victims here are the kids. Unreal.
5
And yet they still vote against their own best interests...I just blows ones mind. No taxation - fewer class room supplies - fewer working water fountains - fewer benefits - fewer teachers - larger class sizes - and on and on.
Well - at least you'll always have your guns.
10
I quit teaching middle school math and science six years ago. It was an impossible job. Every year, we were expected to do more with less. Expectations for test scores would rise while state funds were being cut.
We were working so much with so little support and resources, and we were so demoralized that we could not imagine we had the power to walk out and protest for better funding.
6
As to the video accompanying this article, if you are a teacher watching the results of the policies you have voted for year after year and are still a Republican perhaps your inability to put 2 and 2 together is the problem.
17
Keep voting republican red states.
Your refusal to fund your schools is the reason my children tested at the 98% for the country on their SATs/ACTs.
11
Where does the money come from?
1
From taxes, DUH!! That’s what they’re—actually—for; not for cutting.
6
Stop voting for people who brag about cutting taxes and vote for people who recognize that investing in education is an investment in future doctors, engineers and scientists.
23
If they are republicans - this is what they voted for. Maybe some teachers are not very smart.
11
They start wising up. Better late than never.
1
These schools are nothing but dumping grounds for lower income people. People with assets have their kids in private schools and do not care about people who are not "winners." Teachers who prostitute themselves to their employers have themselves to blame. Dump this state. Change your occupation. The people running this state do not care about you, your students or most of its citizens. Leave.
1
Thank you for telling the plight of teachers in Arizona and the children who are not getting the education they deserve.These teachers are dedicated to preparing the students with skills which will prepare them for jobs in the 21st century.Arizona and its residents will suffer because new industries with new jobs do not relocate to a state with a weak education system.I live in a state with a sales tax and a stiff income tax but we have good schools and many corporations with a need for a skilled work force are headquartered here.
11
The fact that Trump was elected demonstrates the sorry state of education funding in this country. Examine the frothing faces at his rallies. No wonder Trump says he loves the uneducated, including himself.
13
Trump's America. Resist. Vote in November.
8
Maybe the teachers in AZ will stop supporting GOP candidates and policies that are detrimental to the teaching profession and to students.
14
It's worth noting that unions and labor movements have always started off as "scrappy new grass-roots organizations." This kind of energy, harnessed in backyards and living rooms, is what drove the labor movement in the early decades of the last century - and ultimately gave us some of the most important and enduring aspects of the New Deal.
Collective bargaining rights are critically important; without the legal right to organize and use that leverage, fair wages and safe working environments wouldn't exist at all. Unfortunately, the Reagan administration simultaneously gutted union protections, legalized union busting techniques that had been outlawed for years, and publicly smeared the unions themselves, pushing the idea that they're all greedy, corrupt fat cats. It's ludicrous. The AFL-CIO is still fiercely liberal and fighting the good fight - for all forms of labor equality, everywhere. One of their biggest criticisms of NAFTA is that it failed to put include the necessary restrictions that would make it impossible for US companies to manufacture their products in countries where it's legal to exploit the labor of children and other vulnerable groups, like "bonded" workers that are literally just slaves.
Good job, teachers of America! Keep fighting for what you deserve.
10
Collective bargaining is a coercive and brutish form of extortion that is based on the false communist ideal that labor and capital are equals. Such systems are inherently immoral and destined to fail.
1
The crux of the problem is that Arizona has no real industry to speak of that would employ a lot of professionals who have a stake in a great school system. Instead it sells itself as a cheap place to retire for pensioners who have largely earned their pensions elsewhere. The pensioners who retire to Arizona do so to escape the high taxes they would have to pay to support the school systems in their home states. The state has promised low taxes to lure these people and the type of people they attracted are those who are not interested in paying taxes to support the education of children in the community. They feel that they already paid their dues when they were younger and had school going children. On the other hand, the people who do have school going children probably work in the service industry that serves these seniors and many may not make enough to pay much into the system. This is a problem with no solution as the moment you renege on your promise of low taxes, the retiring senior will look into settling in other similar low tax jurisdiction which will also have low teacher salaries and failing schools precisely for the same reason.
10
Perhaps those service workers should realize that if your job doesn’t support a family, you shouldn’t start one.
1
If any teacher is a Republican, then I have no empathy.
14
The title of the attached video shows what the problem is and always has been: "We are Republican teachers..."
Why the heck are you Republicans? Republicans dismantle unions, dehumanize teachers, cut taxes and remove funding for education, deny science, sabotage independent thought, spread propaganda, and want to privatize education to make it a bastion of only the rich. Why would any teacher be a Republican?
True to Republican form, those teachers now speak out when it actually affects them personally in the pocketbook. The conservative inability to feel empathy and to think rationally is once again on ugly display. So, Arizona teachers, go on supporting Arpiaio, Trump, the NRA and all the GOP minions and policies you have favored over the years. But don't come crying to me, a progressive Democrat, just like the forgotten coal miners in polluting states and displaced factory workers in right-to-work states, telling me how bad you've got it. I already know, and I have been telling you to vote Democratic for years. You were all too pig-headed to listen. Your conservative candidate's flag pin meant more to you than truth, fairness, and reality. Your latest lying demagogue was just too irresistible, wasn't he? Good luck with your strike. Maybe if you stopped voting conservative you wouldn't have to fear for your livelihood now.
20
It certainly is no secret that Republicans are anti union and believe the universal answer for everything is tax cuts. I would also wager that a significant percentage of teachers voted for a Republican state government and also voted for tRump. It is truly amazing how union workers or those who, in a rational world, should be union members vote Republican. Perhaps these red state teachers who have reached the point where they will realize their best interests and the interests of their students are best served by the collective bargaining efforts of a strong union. Depending on the good will of Republican politicians is a fools errand.
8
How telling is it that a school principal, fearing reprisals, asked not to be identified? The big chill indeed.
11
“It isn’t just college campuses. The nation’s K-12 schools are also turning into hotbeds of political activism.”
Can you imagine!
Striking to get a living wage for important and demanding work is not “political activism”. It’s normal behavior when government turns a deaf ear to the Country’s needs.
But the comment drips with attitude - education isn’t just disturbing college kids - whaddaya know - the problem is education! Just what the GOP thought all along - hey, what you know can upset the apple cart based mainly upon who you know.
8
The issue is this, none of my co-workers were bothered by this. For people with means, life continues on. My boss showed up, her kids went off to their private school, dropped off in her Porsche.
If you have the money, you get them out of the bottom-ranked Arizona public education system, unless you live in one of the few great public systems.
Arizona also nudges you to donate to Catholic private schools via favorable tax treatment. I wonder who got that in there?
10
The conservative public has been bamboozled into believing a solid education is the privilege of the elite. Consequently, the average person should rebel against taxation which funds, only the elite.
Preceding generations, who survived great wars and saw the possibility of annihilation first hand recognized the value in an educated public - both in the trades, and in the humanities and sciences. They established funding mechanisms to allow the American public access to education which would raise our standards of living, as well as our lifespans.
This ethic has eroded as our institutions of learning have been defunded and mismanaged. And one of those is always used as an excuse by politicians for the other.
It is a cycle which now perpetuates through generations. A poorly educated public distrusts the education system, and doesn't recognize when specific incidents, such as misuse of funds or promotion of bad teachers, as an excuse to reject the entire system.
Beyond anything we can argue in conservative or liberal politics - the death of our education system is a descent into decay that will take several generations of work from which to recover.
5
I wonder what percentage of Arizona teachers voted for Trump and other Republicans in 2016?
7
So K-12 is a “hotbed of political activism.” That’s what asking for a reasonable wage has become??
8
It would be easier for teachers to work with Republican legislators if the AFT and others weren't so clearly partisan in their politics, funding and staffing Democratic campaigns. When a public sector union makes one of the parties its sworn enemy, it is hard to then sit down with that party and negotiate in good faith. The Republicans know that, come the next election, whatever action they take will be thrown in the mud and stomped on by the teachers' unions. And so it is tempting for them to act badly to the teachers. They know they will never be rewarded for doing anything positive for the teachers. This state of affairs was chosen by the teachers' unions, and is neither in the teachers' nor the students' best interests.
1
Republicans could always change their stance and support worker's rights. They've always been staunchly opposed to unions and labor issues. That state of affairs is entirely determined by them - and if their constituents hold them accountable for their actions at the polls, that's just politics.
7
“Conservatives are right to worry: We’re seeing a citizens’ revolt against their policies.”
Actually, we may be seeing something very different, and the exponents of pervasive government may be the ones who need to worry.
Nobody who understands K-12 education in the U.S. questions that we don’t pay our teachers enough, and that we don’t invest enough in the infrastructure that supports them. We haven’t for a long time. However, while federal marginal tax rates, seesawing up and down depending on which party held the congressional purse strings, have nevertheless generally been dropping since about 1981 (Reagan). But while the rates have been dropping, exemptions and deductions on which the taxed depended for decades to offer SOME protection against high taxation increasingly have been written-out of the tax code, while we’ve been steadily narrowing the tax base – prior to 1980, a far higher percentage of American workers paid federal income taxes. Today, like New York, California and some other states, we depend at the federal level excessively on the income taxes of our highest earners.
At the same time, state and local taxes have exploded for everyone. Once trivial by comparison, they are a very significant part today of the total tax bite for those states that impose a state income tax (all but nine of our states, and even those impose property and sales taxes, also rising, and fees that are increasing, as well).
4
With the loss of deductions and the rise of state and local taxes, our highest earners are paying as much as they ever did, and they’ve had it. Increasingly, lower earners hit with exploding state and local taxes, have had it as well.
State governments are finding it as impossible as Congress to increase taxes, while the need for discretionary dollars beyond mandated Medicaid expenses each must pay, even in our reddest states, is making adequate funding of ALL the priorities they must balance, including public education, increasingly difficult.
Do the math. We’re at a point where we really can no longer support the government we have at any level, much less the government that our most strident progressives want – without basically expropriating the income of EVERYONE and ceding to government the power to determine what each American needs to live on. It’s not going to get better: it’s going to get progressively worse. Unless something happens.
The states will cave this time because they have no choice: they will somehow pay teachers more, by starving other priorities or by increasing taxes. However, expect to see a strong movement in the wake of the cave to privatize public education far more universally than a few for-profits here and there. We may well see states negotiate with enterprises to provide K-12 education, most paid by the state, some paid directly by parents.
Exultant liberals are analyzing this movement only to the ends of their noses.
3
I would love to disagree with you - as I normally do with everything you offer here. But to this, I can't.
You're right. Nobody has done a whit about tax waste. In California, where I spent most of the past three decades - we voted in tax increase after increase, for schools, for libraries, for roads. Where did it go?
I have several professional teachers in my immediate family, and they have to subsidize the public schools with their (my) funds to get simple jobs done - like providing pens and pencils to the children of the Silicon Valley elite. Sure, this gets refunded under the table - but why does it happen at all.
As a liberal - I don't mind being taxed for the general welfare. But what I don't truck is being taxed for a specific cause and having all of it simply evaporate into a mismanaged general fund. (Not to mention that my wife uncovered an embezzlement operation that funneled millions out of the school district before it was discovered.)
Frankly, I have zero confidence the private sector will help this - or any public requirement. (See how quickly the banks used public funds for their own P&Ls in the bailout instead of funding loans? What did we expect?)
Perhaps then, conservatives have it right. Cut all taxes to zero. Then rebuild the system from scratch, and fund those things we value - directly. Like education. Like driving on a California highway that doesn't look like the bombed remnant of a civil war.
Do the math.
Okay, let's.
The top marginal tax rate under Eisenhower was 90%. Given the recent handing of at least $1.5 trillion to the highest earners, the chop to 21% corporate tax, and the continuation of the carried interest loopholes, the math says that your claim the richest are paying, "as much as they ever did," is total hooey.
3
This is telling: Jason Riley, a conservative writer, noted with disapproval in The WSJ: “It isn’t just college campuses. The nation’s K-12 schools are also turning into hotbeds of political activism.”
This seems to be a common mentality among the wealthy and their media, think-tank, and political lackeys. It's perfectly legitimate for business owners, executives, and wealthy heirs and heiresses to use political activism to advance their economic interests. If workers use political activism to advance theirs, it's illegitimate. Workers are supposed to be docile and accept whatever crumbs their masters let fall to them.
We're on the road to serfdom, just not in the way Hayek thought.
24
Labor only has equal standing to capital in communist societies.
2
There is nothing more valuable to a neighborhood -- to real estate mark-up -- than a world class public school system. The public would be smart to approve bonds, petition for teacher raises for it gives back tenfold by raising property value, building community, and, not to mention, providing security and EDUCATION for k-8 kids.
13
Three cheers for the teachers in Arizona!
Our teachers in Oklahoma were awesome.
The whole purpose of having a government is to provide services to the public. Failure to due that is dereliction of duty.
16
Teachers in Arizona must learn the lesson that if you want a strong education system you cannot ever vote for Republicans. Period.
For several decades Republicans have been waging all out war on the public education systems both K-12 and at universities. The presence of the very rare pro-education Republicans if elected simply enable the anti-education, anti-science, anti-woman, anti-environment, anti-civil rights, anti-modern world extremists to govern.
21
We do not have Republicans here in Cali, but the education system is not far from AZ's.
1
Well, it is easy for me to say I don’t care about Arizona and it’s third world education system. I don’t live there and neither does anyone in my family.
To be blunt, Arizona has accumulated far too many retired residents who relocated there to keep their taxes low. Their families probably don’t live there, so the sorry state of their educational infrastructure is not much of a concern to many of them. They only need people educated enough to do the landscaping on the golf courses.
If you have kids that need an education, you should just leave Arizona and the rest of these low tax states that make their teachers beg for money and buy their own supplies.
12
There are some very powerful currents running in this tide. Watching the NY Times video of striking teachers who identify as republicans, I was struck by how many of them still stood by their conservative beliefs. They reluctantly acknowledged the role of a conservative agenda in getting them to this untenable point, but ultimately expressed astonishment that they themselves were asking for a tax increase to fund education. Even in the face of objective measures demonstrating the destruction wrought by conservative principles, they still hold tight to those principles and say only, maybe we need to tweak this one thing, give one system a bit more. One teacher said, "I've always voted republican, but now I'm seeing firsthand what that gets us." Nothing will change until those votes change.
https://www.nytimes.com/video/opinion/100000005847432/red-arizona-republ...
25
Maybe those Republican teachers need some re-schooling in cause-and-effect. They join the litany of Trump voters from California growers to WV coal miners to Iowa soybean farmers who couldn't imagine how their vote for the GOP could possibly come back to bite them. Wasn't it only supposed to bite the illegal immigrants and lazy inner city welfare queens? The teachers, at least, should have been more aware, but jingoism, racism, fake Christianity, and false patriotism die hard in the American south.
4
The problem with our education system is that we don't spend enough?
Yeah, right.
FACT 1. According to the OECD, Switzerland spends the most per student at $15,500 per student, followed by Norway, and then the United States [out of 34 major economies].
FACT 2. In math, American 15-year-olds ranked No. 26 out of the 34 participating countries.
Politifact, 9/21/2016. http://www.politifact.com/ohio/statements/2016/sep/21/donald-trump/trump...
3
Fact 1: You're facts mean nothing without context. Like for instance is that money we're spending on education distributed evenly among all the schools? Or how about the fact that given the populations of Switzerland and Norway is a tiny percentage of of our own population what that means is we're actually spending pennies on our kids compared to the actual dollars they're spending on theirs.
Which is why your Fact 2 is true. We don't spend enough on our kids.
I didn't make a big leap here I just thought through your "facts." You should try it.
5
To Jenifer:
You probably have never had a statistics class. On average per student means what it says - some schools spend more and some spend less but the MAJORITY spends the average amount PER STUDENT. The total spending has been divided by the population already, that is what per student means. Fact 2 means that the amount spent per student has a tenuous relationship with the outcome.
And what exactly do you propose to fix the problem?
Oh, I know, appoint an incompetent pro-wrestling maven to lead the Department of Education down the rathole of even more under-funded charter schools. Or better yet, eliminate the whole thing.
You can’t fix dumb, so why bother trying.
4
So the Arizona teachers were offered a 20% raise and said no? Seems like there is more to the story. I suspect that this is part of a progressive strategy to target red states, not a legitimate grass roots movement. Here in NYC, we spend more than $20,000 per student - no that isn't a typo, the teachers unions are strong and control the politicians, and the teachers are very well paid. Guess what? They are also demanding that the government spend MORE. Guess what else? The schools are awful in spite of massive school spending and handsomely paid teachers.
4
Ditto California.
1
Republican politics have long been a race to the bottom. States such as Arizona, West Virginia, Kansas, Michigan and Wisconsin, among others, have arrived.
22
Don't these Republicans teachers favor a low tax, no service kind of government? What is the problem?
Or did they decide to join their president to be hypocrites?
We should exempt employers, public or private, to pay overtime and minimum wage to Republican employees. God knows they earn it.
12
I marched in the women's march in Seattle in January. It was one of the most singularly empowering moments in my life. I finally felt that I was saying enough is enough. This unholy marriage of the super rich and racists is killing our country faster than we can begin to fathom.
The tyranny of the minority has to end. Most of us don't carry guns, most of us believe teachers should be well paid, most of us think if you work full time you deserve a living wage, most of us think people should have access to affordable health care, most of us believe in Social Security......I could go on and on. But none of it is being addressed by those in power. They're busy working to undo all the things Most of us believe in.
What's wrong with this picture? How do we change it?
17
I respect your position but reject its universal application. What’s appropriate for Seattle or LA or NY is not necessarily appropriate for Kenosha, Morgantown or Peoria. Those who wish to be burdened by high property taxes deserve the quality schools that they support but the owner of an $80,000 home with $800 property taxes in the Deep South or Midwest cannot expect the same tax education, opportunities or life for themselves or their children.
3
Are you really complaining about 1% in taxes ?
The racism of the AZ Legislature against all things Mexican or even "Mexican-looking" is the basis for not funding an educational system that includes such children. These dominant Republican legislators often compete in their Trump-like attacks, though most of the students are children of U.S. citizens or legal residents. In addition, the most active (and wealthy) voters are older (some are part-time residents from the wintry Midwest and East) who are dependably Republican, have no grandkids in local schools, and resent paying any tax dollars for them -- an attitude that all the rest of Americans would love to act out toward their taxes when used for war or healthcare...or whatever. Finally, and what is never discussed in the media, over 90% of border crossers are Catholics from Central and South America -- currently far more numerous than Mexican immigrants, also mainly Catholic. State legislators are overwhelmingly fundamentalist Protestants or from the far-right wing of Mormonism.
9
I am really confused. If you are a Republican this was what you voted for. Why are you complaining?
19
It would appear these Republican voters have no idea they are voting against themselves.
2
That is so funny- you only want the opinions that you want!
Rock on educators. You do one of the most important jobs there is and you all deserve to be paid a decent salary and have your schools properly funded.
Thank you for your dedication to children and education!
9
Edina is important for the jobs that truly require it but it is absurd and wasteful to send every student through K-12 regardless of the job they’ll end up with. If 10% of employment is in retail then 10% of students need to prepared only in until the point where they can do such work. Every Walmart employee represents wasted spending on four to six years of education. At a cost of $20,000 per year in NY, one state alone accounts for billions in waste. Multiply that by the 1.2 million workers just at Walmart nation wide and its apparent that the taxpayer is being ripped off.
1
Correction: Education is important...
1
For decades, Republican politicians, especially in places like Arizona, have chanted against taxes and tried to cut them whenever possible. Why? Are taxes evil? Do they represent theft and a loss of freedom by citizens? Where is the freedom in poverty spread by an uncaring society?
One great purpose in focusing on what government takes is to keep attention away from wages. If you are continually upset about taxes, maybe you won't realize your pay, through gradual inflation, is getting smaller and smaller.
This could be the beginning of a great awakening across America, one that has been inspired by high school students marching against the culture of a gun in every hand. They don't need unions to lead the way and, besides, unions are three quarters dead at this point. What they need is outrage and a burning realization that a great nation pays for what it wants and that education is at the center of any aspiration for the future. Corporate power should take fearful note of what is building.
11
I support these teachers 100%. But what did they expect. Many of them identify as "conservative". So they allowed their states to eviscerate unions, cut progressive taxes , cut services. While states with progressive legislatures and teacher's unions aren't perfect they haven't ruined their educational system , something that will harm the children of these states for a lifetime. It's about time that those middle class and working class voters understand that simply voting Republican because of abortion or 2nd Amendment issues, means you have to go against your own economic interests. Funding for education is important, but these teachers waited until the bleeding was critical. Meanwhile who is standing up to the tax cutters and "conservatives" regarding our crumbling infrastructure, our ridiculous costly inefficient health insurance, our ever fraying social net. Take note because the reckoning of all the above is upon us, we have Trump as President.
14
Hegemony- pure and simple.
When you have public school teachers unaware that they are payed through our social contract of taxes, something is amuck. It is fascinating how these citizens think their Republican politicians are physically conservative when they are incapable of bringing in money to pay for basic services. No business could operate on such thin margins. But need $100 million for the military, no problem. You simply get what you pay for.
11
Demonstrations are good, but voting for representatives who support education is better. When will these teachers learn to connect the dots and put their votes where their mouths are? Citizens in states that elect extreme right-wing politicians don't deserve good public services.
13
Makes you wonder why these teachers and their families weren't smart enough to see GOP policies would do to education and their salaries. They kept voting GOP at every level. Maybe they've finally woken up
22
If the Democratic Party had not abandoned the middle class decades ago (Bill Clinton's third way), Republican policies would not hold sway in many of these states. It also hurts matters when Democrats have corruption at levels rivaling those of the Republicans. In short, just voting for Democrats will not solve all woes.
We need a progressive party that eschews large campaign donations and truly supports the middle class.
5
The "middle class" abandoned the Democrats, not the other way around. They fell for Reagan's "free ride" theory - best "________" in the world without having to pay taxes. You can substitute whatever you want in the blank - country, healthcare, military, safety net. In this case I'd use "education". They have been voting flag over country, tax cuts over improvements, and propaganda over reality since Reagan.
3
"A Bright and Shiny Lie"
Why are these movements in states where the state governments have been under republican control for long periods of time?
the answer exposes the fallacy of the republican ideology.
First is the myth that tax cuts (especially for the wealthy) creates more more tax revenue. IF that were true your education systems would be flush full of money. No trickle down economics is a myth.
The second myth is that Unions are bad for workers. Teachers is in "right to work" have terrible conditions in comparison to states that have stronger pro union laws. Unions don't just fight for better salaries. they also fight for better insurance, working conditions, PRO-CHILDREN educational policies etc.
All the Republican party has done is transfer wealth from the vast majority of Americans to a select few who as Mulvaney has pointed out donate to politicians. As more wealth flows to the top the most vulnerable will suffer more: Children, Elderly, Poor, Immigrants, Rural communities, Inner cities, etc.
14
Brilliant! Thanks to the teachers in Arizona, Kentucky and all the other "red" states who are finally speaking out and taking action. That is the only way things will change.
However, higher property taxes are not the answer because only the "little" people will pay them. The answer is severe restriction on corporate welfare - including real estate developers at the local level - and BIG taxes on the wealthiest. OUR governments generally have plenty of money. It just needs to be spent to enrich 99% of us, including investment in excellent education, instead of only enriching those at the top.
15
Only super power in the world is not doing very well. We have so many crisis and deficit is shooting up, manufacturing down and political crisis in unacceptable state. For all these, lack of education , beating the teachers by the politician and cutting education budget are responsible. Specially in red states, our GOP administrations are cutting budget in education to give tax cut to rich ( and to keep teachers poor). The biggest problem is the GOP politicians are winning elections in red states. That is the reason, people living in red states are poorer and disadvantaged than the people in blue states. Teachers woke up already and waiting for others to wake up and smell coffee.
5
I was recently at a birthday party for my 6 year old granddaughter in southern California.The parents attending,as well as my kids and their spouses,were all graduates of elite schools.They all had very good paying jobs.They were all graduates of public K-12 schools.What were they concerned about?..Which private school to send their kids to once they graduate from the 9th(out or 10)rated grade school they currently attended. Whether Berkeley and UCLA were being adequately funded by the state.They accept that public schools are crumbling and they are fleeing from them.They were mostly liberal Democrats with a smattering of Republicans.This group reminds me of medieval royalty,living in ideological castles,surrounded by a moats which keep the serfs on the other side.But they do care about the serfs.....they just don't want their kids to go to school with them.Our society is not divided by different cultures,,,,it is divided by economic classes.The idea of community is a thing of the past.I'm glad I'm older but what about my grandchildren?
11
Your children know that the game has changed and it is much more competitive to gain entry into the top 20 schools than it was when they went.
Beginning in 9th grade it is "game on". Every activity, every class, every grade, they all matter. Which classes to take, which level to take: A, Honor or AP. They need a GPA well over 4.0 and an ACT north of 33 along with leadership in service to break into the top 20.
It is not that they are abandoning their local schools but that their local schools cannot provide their children with the resources that they are willing to pay more for.
3
Your local public school changed. Instead of offering instruction to your grandchildren, children of educated parents, they now only offer review. Your children want their children to learn, so they sent them to the only school that offered to teach them at their level of instructional need. Other people, without private school options, chose to homeschool. No child deserves to have his time wasted, year after year. Children want to learn, not sit on the bench.
1
Why should those with the grades, ambition and support to attend elite universities be expected to fund the public school students who will compete with their kids? They’ve earned the private schools your grandchildren will attend. People who can only afford public schools have not earned that. Why is that so hard for liberals to understand?
1
This teacher revolt is much needed & reflects what happens when teacher's unions are weak & disrespected by private interests & conspiracy theorists.
Sometimes, however, bringing in those without higher education training can be of lasting & memorable importance to a young student. Almost 60 years ago, my small high school brought in a former state representative to teach an Economic Geography class. As an elective, there were only 8 of us in that classroom. What we learned from that older gentleman about the dangers of monopolies, planned obsolescence, abuse of the environment & other factors have stayed with me after inculcation in "positive" propaganda through most of my K-12 schooling in Arizona.
The businessman & legislator who taught us in the level headed days of President Eisenhower would not be tolerated in the radically conservative state Arizona has become today.
5
Decades destroying the power of the union, a conservative focus on small government which results in the destruction of the basic services all Americans deserve. Strike and more importantly consider the impact of who you vote for.
5
I live on Long Island and my local property taxes are $14K/year. 50% of that total or $7K goes to the local Board of Education. The results - 90+ percent of each years high school graduating class goes on to two or four year colleges and universities and 5 to 9 percent of the graduates continue on to the military. In addition, the local school board does a pretty good job with district's special needs students.
You get what you pay for. If you want your children to be literate and numerate and make positive contributions to our society you have to pay for it. It is expensive and there are no alternatives.
23
Living in high tax New Jersey, I pay a lot of property tax, but I truly believe that my home is worth so much more money because those high property taxes translate to a very good school district. I believe there is a high correlation between home prices and the quality of the school district. As always, you get what you pay for, and cutting education funding is a road to disaster for everyone,
16
It's heartening to see true democracy - people coming together for a common cause - and it illustrates the extent to which the major parties have become so out of touch with the majority of Americans. Many of the people who voted for Trump share common causes with those who voted for Hilary, and yet neither candidate really represented these voters. Perhaps it's time we replaced the Republican and Democratic parties with ones that DO represent the People, and not just their donors.
And it is certainly past time to bring an end to the war on unions, which accelerated the eradication of the middle class. It's true that unions contributed to their own demise, and so it will be necessary to rehabilitate them, and require that they adopt rules and charters that prevent the abuses that led to corruption and excess. But without collective bargaining, employers and Wall St. are unchecked themselves, and have grown obscenely rich and powerful, while the majority of Americans, like these teachers, can barely survive.
A reckoning is coming, and these teachers are the vanguard.
5
What coastal elites don’t appreciate is that out here in Real America, the teachers are generally seen as over-educated dupes working at government schools to push the secular humanist agenda on vulnerable children. Folks here support education: Christian education in Christian schools. The situation in WV, OK, and AZ isn’t a side effect of austerity. It’s one of the desired outcomes (end government schools), and that’s why governors and legislators have to throw a few sops at the teachers but not change anything.
8
And the Republicans answer to this is charter schools, as though money will magically appear for the poor people.
5
Charter schools: one of the great corporate welfare scams of the 21st Century.
1
You go, teachers! Like the March For Our Lives movement, what you are really standing up for is our children. During my teaching years, my students and I posted only two rules in our room: 1.) Everyone here will feel safe; 2.) Everyone here will have opportunities to learn. I'm proud to be a member of your noble profession and I stand with you as you stand up for the right to education for all Americans. You go!!
10
It is fine to see this. The state should make it simple, just put a sales tax referendum on the ballot with the monies going specifically to increase teacher salaries and school funding. Let the people who will pay for the increase make the decision themselves.
2
Arizona can get away with poorly funded K12 education and universities and other public goods and a reputation for bigotry because no matter how bad things are the sun shines and the winters are snow-free. Immigration will continue, especially for retirees and for those who service their needs. They bring their Social Security, their Medicare, their pensions and nest eggs to spend here. With no connection to the place many couldn't care less about paying to educate someone else's kids, especially Brown Spanish-speaking ones. As for talent, Arizona can depend on other states (and countries) to provide educated professionals and can send local talent to universities out of state. Throw in the Grand Canyon, the military, Indian Reservations and the border and AZ can get away with almost unlimited abuse of teachers among others. We will see if there are any limits.
9
As a rural Arizona resident, It's clear that the governor's offer is a PR ploy he will not be able to keep. He says he'll fund raises through economic growth. What business in its right mind would move to a state that cares so little about education. The GOP legislature cares more about tax cuts than education. It has stripped education funding $1 billion since 2008 to balance the budget. Having lived in 10 states, Arizona is clearly the worst in properly funding education.
13
Those "terrible" socialist countries like Denmark and Germany have good schools for the working class.
They teach trades and high-tech manufacturing as well as a university tract.
They also spend half as much per person on healthcare and have universal healthcare.
We are the richest country on the planet and have parts of America with infant mortality rates worse than Botswana.
How much more billions do the wealthy need?
Germany has faced the same the same globalization we have. They are still known for manufacturing.
After 35 years of trickle-down Reaganomics, we got an opioid crisis.
14
The German Educational Class System
Although most Germans claim to be against elitism and favoring any social class, their entire educational system is basically a three-class system that divides students into three different tracks: (1) Gymnasium for bright students headed for college, (2) Realschule for the next step down, kids headed for average or better white-collar positions, and (3) Hauptschule for the bottom tier, generally aimed at the trades and blue-collar jobs. By the age of 10 most pupils in Germany have been put on one of these three educational tracks. It has become easier to switch tracks, and this is now more common in Germany.
1
How many of these Arizona teachers and parents of school children voted this past Tuesday?
How many of these same people voted for Debbie Lesko?
Turnout was very low -
12
A strong nation needs well educated citizens. The fact that the Republicans are intent on destroying Public Education with their fake Charter schools, their Betsy DeVoe privatization and their anti collective bargaining stances are just tools in dumbing down Americans so that they will be too ignorant to understand that the Republicans are lying to them. A well educated populace is the enemy of the Trump and Tea Party Republicans.
245
Red states would love to totally defund their states education. Back to the middles ages for the red states. Then, and only then, private schools will flourish. Of course, you'll be charged for this. Anything to help business. The young people(poorer and less educated) who are moving to these red states will soon find out how much they are loved. Would it not be better to stay in a blue state, like California, where education is still valued. Wake up republican voters, your politicians do not care about you. Only your vote. And, if you do not have "money to play, ala Mick Mulvaney, you will lose every time. Vote democratic in 2018.
3
It's actually rather simple. The first step to reversing the effects of 30 years of Banana Republican misrule and corrosive social Darwinism is to vote these people out of office. The rest is sterile chatter and dead-end arguments with rightwing Know-Nothings. Strike a blow for decency and core American values. GET OUT AND VOTE on November 8.
10
Did anyone happen to ask these red for ed protesters why they are red? Curious minds want to know.
1
they wear red to rallies to stand out. It has nothing to do with the Republican party.
1
I saw teacher's protesting a couple towns over in Millburn, NJ today. Something's brewing and in the air ..... also where's Bill Gates? ... take a billion buy these kids some desks and water.. computers .......... man oh man
2
To teachers everywhere,
Why are you Still Republicans?
You should have voted long ago for
education.
You want the poor to pay your salary
and the 1% can go to private schools.
What HYPOCRISY!
5
Who says teachers are Republicans?
They are educated and work in the public sector -- suggesting that they are liberals and therefore Democrats.
Perhaps teachers in AZ and other red states are beginning to realize that voting for Republicans at all levels is not in the best interest of the public good. If so, the solution is easy--vote all Republicans out of office at all levels. For those who remain staunch Conservatives, I have no sympathy. You will continue get the lack of support that you voted for.
9
The decrepit, moldy, dim, crumbling, stifling, freezing classrooms we have seen recently in photographs from across the country are a symptom of a complicated, festering anger.
Wage stagnation, income inequality and other well-documented economic phenomena have caused many in the public school constituency to struggle financially despite their education, hard work and aspirations. Raising taxes to rectify the physical problems with their kids' school facilities will increase their financial burden and there is a feeling that if they struggle themselves with insufficient income, why shouldn't teachers?
Also, there is a belief that with all the taxes they already pay there should be sufficient money to prevent school building decay and impoverished teachers. It's just going to the "wrong people" - undocumented immigrants, the chronically poor, the justice system, etc.
Certain GOP Statehouses and Evangelicals have a vested interest in starving their public schools into decrepitude: waving vouchers around with the promise of shiny newer school buildings with better conditions would be a boon for religious schools.
There are breaking points, however, and many communities in red states have reached them. The GOP tax legislation is not "trickling down" as promised, and the rich are getting richer. People are beginning to realize that teachers' working conditions are also students' learning conditions. Trump may love the uneducated, but parents don't.
139
Hear hear!
Your last comment about Trump loving the uneducated can be even more broadly applied to the entire spectrum of the GOP.
An educated electorate, especially one whose demographics are trending increasingly black and brown, is not the friend of republican policies. There is a statistical correlation between education level and political affiliation. The more educated you are, the less likely you are to believe the unsubstantiated fairly tales of GOP folklore (or religious dogma). An uninformed electorate is easier to mislead, more likely to accept falsehoods as facts, and easier to exploit and manipulate into voting against their own best interests. This is one reason why Republicans at the state (and now federal) levels have been draining our schools for decades. They pass tax incentives onto their rich corporate cronies, and advocate voucher systems to subsidize the private and religious education their elite children receive. Teachers and our children suffer as a result of this. The educators who are by far and large nurturing, selfless people are demonized by the right.
As are all things republican, this is all about the rich getting richer. Rampant greed and lust for power have led them down a path where they have perverted a system to make a select few obscenely rich. The more they accumulate power and influence, the more it's used to legislate a deck that's increasingly stacked in their favor. Just like Jesus would do.
25
Now let's see what happens next time the school budget comes up for a vote.
1
This is the same phony narrative we have been hearing from teachers for years: they are poorly paid and suffer from underfunding across the board. One would think they were forced into that “profession” against their will. Meanwhile, I checked the US Dept. of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics web site (Bls.com) and found that the mean salary for all occupations in Arizona is virtually identical to the mean salary for secondary school teachers. You could look it up.
1
Larry, I am someone who believes that citing numbers without the numbers telling a story is meaningless. The schools and classrooms are in horrible repair, teachers are forced to purchase school supplies, class sizes are too large to allow for good teaching and appropriate learning...and the list goes on. How is this a "phony narrative" and what does your statistic about the mean salary have to do with the ongoing degradation of Arizona's schools and its inevitable impact on the students and their futures?
7
You flamed the fires with this egregious misstatement, "Joe Thomas, president of the Arizona Education Association teachers’ union."
1) An education association is NOT a union.
2) It cannot negotiate for wages, it's NOT a union
3) by throwing in the word "union" you play right into the hands of those who say teachers use their "union" to be greedy
4) quit conflating unions and strikes with teacher's associations and walkouts. Teachers aren't striking; they are protesting through a walkout. Protesting because they've taken the blame, the heat, that ed reformers like DeVos believe teachers are why schools are failing.
You get what you pay for: every good school district has a tax payer base to support them. Because schools without resources and excellent teachers can't match up so the blame goes on the teachers. Why does Arizona have a teacher shortage? Who wants to teach where there are little classroom resources, class sizes are outrageous, and compensation is in the toilet.
4
Why are they complaining? They voted for the GOP and are getting exactly what they voted for.
9
The revolt against the policies of people called conservatives by people in solidly conservative regions makes sense when you consider that the first set of people have retained their traditional label while following the lead of Donald Trump and the crowd he plays to.
Properly speaking, they're not conservatives. They're destructives.
3
Just like they said they would, in times of economic prosperity the GOP decided to blow up the budget with tax cuts for the .01 percent, increase spending on the military, cut social programs and cut education budgets. If you have been voting republican then the crisis in public education is one of your many rewards. You should kick back and enjoy it, but think the next time you vote GOP.
7
Excellent reporting job! Here's to wishing the teachers the best of success in this endeavor. It is about time all America realizes the importance of public education, and the life-quality of the dedicated teachers that are central to America's future.
3
While I support teachers fighting for higher pay and better working conditions, I hope they vote blue in November. Unless they wake up and realize that the party they keep putting in power doesn't care about them, it will be more of the same.
7
The amount of money spent in many districts for better sports and their facilities is outrageous, we are the only country in the world that does this. The stop that and there will be much more money for actual education
2
These teachers' strikes could lead to a national revolt against GOP-ism, an anti-public philosophy. Working-class Americans are realizing that an economy based primarily on tax cuts for the rich works only for the rich and that a nation can't be sustained by making rich people richer and leaving the rest of us to fend for ourselves. More on point, it's a disgrace that teachers in the world's wealthiest country have to make the sacrifices they make: buying supplies and, in some cases, food for their students is something teachers in the United States should not have to do. Shame on us. We're better than that. And if we don't wise up and give teachers the respect and compensation they deserve, we're going to pay dearly.
5
I am happy to pay more taxes for education (healthcare, too).
And I am a strong supporter of unions.
But bloated school bureaucracies and teacher unions in many areas are not perfect.
Republicans use this as an excuse to privatize.
Let's also clean those up from within.
1
It is vital that teachers be paid a salary commensurate with their responsibilities. However, the number of non-teaching staff in the average school system has grown to the point where a large portion of total expenditures go for salary and benefits for purpose other than direct education of the pupils. It would be great to see an accurate analysis of the cost of teachers vs the cost of administrators.
2
Gov. Ducey's plan may seem reasonable at first blush, but it relies too much on gimmickry and rosy economic forecasts. His plan fails to address the real reason behind the woeful lack of school funding in Arizona: excessive tax cuts and tax credit schemes that have been enacted in recent years. Rather than larding on to an already excessive sales tax to fund education, we need to roll back some of these cuts and credits to restore adequate funding for education.
6
Does no Republican holding office have fond memories of the influence of a good teacher on his life? Of a school program introducing him to a subject or interest he would not have otherwise explored? Of understanding something for the first time in a properly equipped arts or science classroom? Apparently not.
I'm the product of an excellent public educational system, and I can't imagine not wanting today's students to have access to what I had, or wanting to incentivize teachers and administrators to provide that. Yes, education involves incurring costs, but there's also an opportunity cost (a concept I learned in Mr. Mullane's 12th grade economics class) associated with not educating our youth -- and that cost is even greater. Or to quote something else Mr. Mullane taught us, "there's no such thing as a free lunch."
9
How could Republicans think of good teachers, school programs and well-equipped arts and science classrooms, when their ideal is private, church-based schools or home schooling?
Failing public schools is a feature to them - shut them down and give parents vouchers to choose from the free market-based schools that will surely blossom all around.
Not much different from their plans for health care. Not to worry, if you are rich enough, you're children will have every opportunity.
8
So much for Republicans and family values.
But we have all known for 35 years going back to Reagan and the culture wars that things like family values was just a talking point to get elected and then cut taxes for the wealthy.
Maybe some of those voters are finally waking up to see this for themselves.
8
What the politicians don't get about teachers is that it isn't a 9-5 job, it's basically 24/7. Teachers leave school and go home to their families and when the kids are in bed they go back to school work to prepare lessons, individual as well as class, for 40 students.
I taught public school for 10 years. I loved it, but it was the hardest job I ever had. I left because I was exhausted.
6
It’s true that the Republicans are the enabling actors in the saga of the vast undermining of the public education system, a system we should all be proud of, want to support and want our taxes to be used to make strong. But there is another set of contributors. They include the well-heeled foundations that make it their mission to promote a web of educational institutions—charter and choice schools—that suck up public dollars in the service of educational improvement, but instead create deficits for public schools to educate kids. Another? The well-heeled families who send their children to private schools even as they claim fealty to a raft of progressive causes. The demise of the teachers’ unions makes fighting the insidious force of campaign contributions to Republicans all that more difficult when foundations are offering plum grants to non profits to talk about how horrible pubic education is and paint “the dream” of charter and choice schools, and when families, who should be champions and powerful voices for public schools in their communities, sit in the shadows congratulating themselves that their children do not have to attend a public school.
132
I regret that I have but one “Recommended” to give for this comment. It is so spot on.
4
It could very well be that that the election of Donald Trump with all its misogyny, corruption, racism and Ayn Randian economic exploitation and the ensuing resurgence of activism that his election has inadvertently engendered signals the beginning of real reform in the United States. As the MeToo movement, Black Lives Matter, the students at Parkland, and now the teachers of West Virginia and Arizona ( spreading to other states) have stressed again and again, the issues we face are systemic. The situation we confront is the logical culmination of largely Republican economic and social policies ( with the sometimes support of the neo-liberal wing of the Democratic party) of the past forty years or so. Trump simply gave a face to the cruelty, greed, and the know-nothingism at the heart of those policies. A more patrician Mitt Romney or a more "compassionate conservative" like John Kasich would have been able to keep the mask from slipping a bit longer. Finally, something I can appreciate about Donald Trump.
4
At least the teachers don't have to walk five miles in the snow both ways to and from the school.
1
This is a great moment in our history. The teachers revolt and the students revolt on guns show us how important our schools are.
I will support them.
2
Thank you for the article Michelle, after Roger Cohens article glorifying Macron(who is himself trying to destroy Unions), I was beginning to wonder what direction The Times was headed in. Whether America or France our workers and educators need support, the era of crumbling infrastructure and the middle class must end. In my seventy five years I have seen our public schools go from being the best on earth to mills hoping to get kids out the door. We can blame the continued drive for small government, (in all but the military), and the defunding and privatization of all public services. In Palm Beach( and Im sure Beijing)those not satisfied with private schools or having to mix with the masses have turned to creating their own ‘ in house “ school, complete with private tutor, coach and dietician. Maybe Thomas Friedman can explain to a member of the great unwashed such as myself how the other ninety nine percent are to compete with these children of privilege,(or as he refers to them “exceptional “), as globalization unfolds, jobs disappear, Unions are crushed and the money goes to the top?
3
Ah, the fruits of conservatism. The professed Republican/conservative dogma has failed every single time it has been tried. First, it was the abject failure of Reaganomics. Then fiscal disaster in Kansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, etc., where radical tax cuts have been passed. Yet, conservative voters, immune to evidence, keep falling for it.
On second thought, it's been a great success for the true conservative agenda - make the rich richer, and everyone else can go fish.
6
Just like all in that State, they vote Republican!
They voted for;
Privatization
The 1% get more money and private schools.
The "right "where we want you poor people to pay for all government handouts, like education.
Teachers, educate yourselves.
Vote Dems and Education of our children a priority!
7
The low salaries and benefits have given the teachers more freedom and power. As the song says, "Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose."
4
Ira: Please explain your comment. As I see it, your theory is that the unemployed living on the streets. are the freest, most powerful people in the world.
It’s a quote from a Janis Joplin song.
Try googling the quote and adding Janis - you’ll get the full story.
Kris Kristofferson wrote it; Joplin performed its most memorable cover.
Arizona Teachers aren't just striking for increased wages. The Ducey small government budget also does not address facilities in dire need of repair and the need for entirely new schools and buildings to be constructed. The use of outdated textbooks and study materials that are old, torn and ripped is shameful! Arizona also has one of the highest student to teacher ratios - in some classrooms there are 40+ students per teacher.
If that isn't enough, the most outrageous part of the "Ducey Act" is that some of the proposed 20% pay increase will come from reduced funding for universities, veteran benefits and programs for people with developmental disabilities, the arts and hospitals.
It's the GOP Kansas Experiment in full bloom and it's long overdue to bring back unions to protect the middle class and stop giving all the benefits and breaks to the wealthy and corporations. Yes, there are benefits to increasing taxes - they guarantee funding for our educational system and the future of our children!
12
Unfortunately, many of those teachers in Arizona most likely voted for the governor and other Republicans in Congress. I will consider this a real promise for change if people resolve to never vote for ANY Republican ever again.
13
our public education has been mistreated from the beginnings of american White society. if it was not for the influx of all those Irish Catholics during the 1800's we would be an even stupider nation.
the Irish arrived and saw how poor the school system in place was and they created the parochial schools. well non Catholics and white people in general did not want to fall behind the Irish so they started to invest in their own children's education. even Robber Barons that have returned today now see the public wanting education..
start treating teachers with respect they TRULY deserve. submitted as the child of a retired school teacher.
1
And, still yet, they voted in another republican congress woman...for education to get better AZ needs to turn blue!
10
(Not) educating the kids of today for the Trumps of tomorrow. Yup!
5
I taught for 25 years and was a member of the AFT...I would never work in a non-union job...my heart goes out to the striking teachers...this so-called country has NEVER financially supported and honored this profession...just consider how Japan treats their education professionals...America doesn't even come close...it's disgusting...
2
I can remember when being Red was a very bad thing in America.
I understand the need for educational reform and I fully support it. Let's just hope that these needed reforms do not lead in a Socialist direction. Let's hope they follow what is best for the student educationally and for the current political agenda.
Please support these teachers. They deserve better than these local governments and their school boards provide. After all, these children are our future leaders.
3
Conservatism isn't working; never has. Why be afraid of Socialism?
1
In Arizona, Right-Wing fanatics backed by the Koch Brothers have held control of the Arizona Government for at least a decade. They favor private schools and to encourage such have starved the public school system of funds. Simply put, they do not care for families, notably Hispanic Americans, who lack the monies to afford private schooling.
Red for Ed, that is Republicans for Education, is a hopeful sign in Arizona. But it has a way to go. Fortunately, Trump's madness is revealing these hard-core Republicans for the radicals that they are and will soon propel this State into the column of solid Progressive control, as happened with California.
7
The Arizona teachers can thank the Republican establishment for their conditions. The Republicans they voted for defend and cater only to the wealthy while disenfranchising the middle class, poor; taking away from education and a myriad of vital services for the people. Republican behavior and actions send a clear message that their values are way out of sync with the values of the average American.
The irony of it all is that many of these teachers vote Republican. These teachers can start by taking off those red shirts and supporting an alternative and it certainly has nothing to do with conservatism or liberalism but rather doing what is morally right for the American people.
7
And what is morally right for the American people certainly has nothing to do with morally-bankrupt GOP conservatism.
1
The quote at the end, coming from an otherwise anonymous citizen, is more inspirational than any slogan or bromide that I have heard from a politician in along time. 'A Better Deal', give me a break. That is an insult to the man and the policies that the Democratic Party used to stand for.
The educations that my parents received, during the Great Depression, no less, were superior to the ones offered in this day of unparalleled wealth and inequality. They were able to rise out of poverty because the country cared about the future of its people. I don't see that in evidence much anymore. Looking back through rose colored glasses as I am is not to say that things back then were so much better, they weren't in many ways. It is useful, though, in constructing a narrative that could help to bind the nation's wounds and create a shared sense of purpose. Education for our children is a value that crosses all social barriers. There aren't many values like that and I can't think of a better one for everyone to rally around.
3
The public school teachers in AZ have been abused by the Reublican dominated legislature for decades. The legislators and a large portion of their constituents send their children to private grade and high schools. Even the U of AZ has suffered funding cuts.
It is the mostly poor or lower middle class chidren that go to public schools and I fear the governor and the Republican dominated legislatures will feel little political pressure to raise the taxes needed to satisfy the teachers.
I admire the teachers but I fear this will not end well.
2
I was a strike captain at my school during the 2015 Seattle Education Association strike--a strike, in my view, that was successful because we stayed unified and gained the strong support of parents, the community, and local politicians. I'm proud to have fanned the heat of our "hotbed of activism." The strike showed how union power can support the education of our children and restore dignity to the teaching profession. I stand in solidarity with the Arizona educators.
Finally, I want to emphasize that our activism served as a positive example of what committed socially conscious people organized for a cause can do--an example not lost on our students. Now, three years later, we're seeing our students rise up to organize against gun violence. They had us as models, and while the students deserve all the credit for their maturity and vision, I'm thrilled to support them.
6
The revolts being led by teachers working in criminally underfunded schools and paid obscenely low wages and the students across the nation who choose life over guns have a central lesson we all have to take to heart. Their causes are the result of two important things. One is the decades-long quest for lower and lower taxes by Republicans. The other is the rampant stockpiling of automatic weapons and other arms led by the Republican-supported National Rifle Association. Central to both is the fact that the most vulnerable victims of these policies are our children. One thing should be clear to all of us. The Republican Party cares not for our children, and thus does not care for our future. It has become grossly un-American and must be stopped. Teachers and students are leading the way. A hearty thank you to them.
10
Have you ever organized a birthday party for your child with twenty-five kids? Did it take time to plan the activities and make sure all the materials you needed were purchased? Once everything was set up and the children arrived, did you handle all the children yourself or did you have other adults help out?
If you've ever had such an experience, imagine having such an event five days a week for six hours each day without any other adult helping you. Not only must you keep the pace of activities at the right level to keep the children engaged, you also have to teach these kids to read, write, do math, learn geography, history and explore the arts.
That's what elementary teachers do every working day of their lives.
During vacation times, do you think teachers just relax and enjoy their days? If you do, you have no idea how much time and effort it takes to plan curricula, design interdisciplinary projects, coordinate as much as possible with families and the community, develop educational materials for your project, and rest enough to be ready once again to handle 25 kids for six hours a day, five days a week.
Anyone who thinks teachers have it made and don't need to be paid adequately have absolutely no idea what it takes to be a teacher.
16
Eventually, no matter how much the powers-that-be try to hide it, reality will smack you right in the face, hard!
I gather many of the teachers in these Red states are Republicans, and many voted for Trump. Now THEY are seeing the consequences of their actions. Still, I support their efforts 100%.
But reality is also smacking the Republican leadership in the face just as hard! Matt Bevin, Doug Ducey et al are seeing that, when you put teachers in a position where they have NOTHING to lose, and they walk out--you've clearly and unavoidably displayed to your voters that you cannot take care of their children, and, yet again, Tip O'Neil's adage and warning that "all politics is local" comes back at you.
The chickens have come home to roost. The teachers have learned that the Republicans, especially the Tea Party Republicans, are their worst enemies. And teachers affect pretty much every child in America--and their parents.
14
Good for the teachers. If anyone can do something about the dumbing down of America -- and the corrosive effect of Republican tax cuts on our education system -- it's those on the front lines of our crumbling public schools.
7
Let's see, what do taxes pay for? Schools, roads, parks and at the Federal Level Military.
Funding for schools, roads, parks (and a bunch of other public works) go down. What goes up? Military spending.
Cui Bono? (Pace, Dwight David Eisenhower!)
8
You obviously don't know that State and local taxes do not go to the military. The largest part of school moneys comes fro the State and local taxes.
Investing in the future is a core conservative principle. Republicans across this nation have turned away from principle to feed their own avarice.
As fell Rome, so shall we.
4
There are pockets of excellence in education. These pockets mostly reside in wealthy areas where the educators have a decent income, the curriculum is comprehensive so as to reach ALL students, the textbooks are up to date, equipment and facilities are current and of good quality, and classroom size is small where appropriate - can you imagine an orchestra of twenty students? But that is not the case across much of our nation where education has been underfunded for many decades. Hey, stick you head in the sand and declare that education is a tax liability so that you keep it weak and ineffective and then complain! The mental myopia of the conservative theology is a study in intentional ignorance and the price we have paid is significant in education, as in other areas.
5
Hope that the teachers get ready for chapter 2 of their protest. Indignation of an egregious situation is a specialty of social media's power to aggregate protesters and create television moments. However the powers that be or the situation evolves that changes the dialogue and these movements, with their amorphous leadership, lose cohesion and flexibility to change tactics and keep their eye on the ball.
The civil rights movement, through the likes of the Southern Christian Leadership Council, NAACP and Martin Luther King Jr. managed a situation that went from bus boycott to lunch counter sit-in to protest marches over multiple jurisdictions over time. Social protests such as Occupy Wall Street, Tahrir Square in Cairo, Giza Square in Istanbul put up a good first act and then peter out, especially if the authorities don't do something stupid like kill people or create indignant TV moments.
Social media protests have a real problem with delivering significant change. Leadership is a real essential element above and beyond indignation and aggregation.
3
K-12 teachers as a "hotbed of political activism," the WSJ shudders. OMG! What do these people want? Democracy or something? Why can't they be satisfied with their peonage? Let them feel the lash of market discipline!
5
Many retired Republicans hate taxes that go to education, certainly forgetting that they once were students. Just this week our evangelical GOP neighbors here in Albuquerque were trumpeting in the neighborhood that they were moving to Phoenix, Sun City, a retirement community, so they won't have to pay taxes to Arizona education. Good riddance, I say. It's going to be a hard road for Arizona teachers to convince voters in that state. Also remember that the AZ Legislature cut 100 million dollars from higher education as well.
My question in all these red states, is how many teachers are Republicans who continually vote for these GOP creatures who hate the poor, and evidently teachers? Maybe they will learn this time, but given brain washing by Fox News and the other ultra-conservative outlets, I doubt it. These educated GOP teachers evidently didn't pay much attention in class.
7
Glad to see some national coverage here. We can't keep cutting funding and expect things to be ok. Starting salaries here in Yuma, Arizona, are barely above where they were in 1999 when I first started teaching. My husband had to leave the state and drive an hour into California so we could have decent, covered health insurance.
My kids have great teachers but EVERYTHING in their classrooms is paid for by crowdfunding/parents. What about schools without parents who can afford it? I'm so proud of these teachers for standing up, finally.
7
There are places that take education seriously and there are places that treat it grudgingly. You can usually tell by the voting patterns which is which.
4
If they don't like the job, why not quit and move on. It is obvious that their employers want them to leave.
I guess you live in a bubble somewhere. Bubble of your own ego.
2
I hope these public educators in red states finally gain the raises and resources that they need and deserve. More importantly, the voters in those states might be wise to stop voting against their own interests. Now, we get to replicate the same failed tax slashing strategy employed by these red states on a national level. Of course, given that congressional Republicans are too cowardly to cut spending to match the cuts to tax revenues that they've imposed, the result will be massive new deficits, especially when we tip into the next recession.
2
The NYT's glee over the teachers' strikes throughout the country tells us this is about far more than teachers' salaries. Teachers' unions are an absolute bedrock of the Democrat party. Getting them roused-up, funded, organized and mobilized is a strategy for building enthusiasm and a ground game for the upcoming midterm elections and beyond.
Our governor understands the state's problems in education -- including the issue of teacher salaries -- and is working to address them. The teachers, in fact, are striking despite the fact the state has already offered the 20 percent raise that initially was the union's core demand.
The teachers' strike will get front page coverage and editorial support because it is a progressive Trojan horse: a strategic element in the "by-any-means necessary" movement to unseat Republicans and return to big spending, big government and the all-out culture war. It's sad that Arizona's children are being dressed up as little "red4ed" pawns to hide the partisan politics at play here.
1
I am curious. Many of these teachers vote GOP. The GOP which promises to shrink government so small, one could drown it in a bathtub. What do the teachers think they are voting for?
8
I wonder how many republicans would be comfortable having surgery done by a Dr that went to some poorly funded medical school?
2
One solution is to move. Come to NY. You will receive a great salary, a great pension and health care. More time off than God and well equipped classrooms. Yes it's time to move.
Ignorant people elect politicians that vote against their best interests. Heck, ignorant people elect ignorant presidents.
I would think the republican party is opposed to giving any raise to teachers for fear that they may actually make their constituents smart enough to vote them out of office.
Fire all teachers - kids can learn from Facebook.
5
"...many schools are already hiring teachers without formal education training, some with only high school diplomas."
Is the moral of this story that you get what you pay for?
I feel awful for every teacher in the US. They don't get paid nearly what they are worth. They deserve so much more than this. So do the kids.
6
I am a teacher in Arizona. I didn't walk out, nor will I walk out on my students. I signed a contract, knowing darn well what the pitiful pay was. I am here to teach students, that's all.
This isn't a state government issue, it's a district issue. In one district there are four "Dr's" at the top. Really? A district needs to pay four people an amazing amount of money to do nothing? How is this translated into student achievement in the classroom again? My guess is they couldn't survive in a classroom. We need to analyze district manning further no?
Oh...one more thing...you keep voting for the party that loves to cut taxes? This is what you get! I know for sure there are plenty of teachers downtown today who love Betsy Devos and her disdain for public schools. This is our state of Arizona.
Have a great day!
4
In addition to this opinion piece, you should watch the Video Doc that the NYT posted yesterday of Arizona republican teachers whining about the lack of pay/funds.
I'm all for higher teacher salaries. Educating our youth is the most important investment we can make in our future. But you can't have your cake and eat it to. It's been known for a long time the gop only cares about bombs and 1% tax cuts while cutting social services and education to pay for them. How many of these teachers voted for republicans and for DT? Now they're shocked to find out what republicans really care about because it's directly effecting them. Teachers voting republican... I thought they were smarter than that.
The cynic in me believes that the gop underfunds schools and teachers on purpose to keep children dumb so they grow up and vote republican.
10
I just watched the video...even supposedly well educated teachers have drunk the GOP koolaid. one woman asks how can you be pro life and not support education, families, etc.? Later she said omg I can't believe I'm saying this, but I support a tax increase! Come on over to the Democratic Party where you really belong, the real pro life party that supports families, teachers, education, healthcare, and fair voting practices.
3
Jeanne:
The "Pro-Life" meddling of religion into politics has created 50 years of stupid voting habits.
1
From what I know of Arizona, its politics are dominated by greedy well to do retirees who have theirs and don't want to pay for anyone else. Their kids are grown up so they don't care about the schoolkids nevermind the teachers, they don't care about the future of the environment, they care little about the future in general. But they vote! The only way to counter this is to outvote them, but there are so many obstacles, money, racism, the pervasive right-wing media....
5
You can’t claim to be valued, educated and professional (and therefore, deserving of appropriate treatment) while employing thuggish blue collar methods like extortion and work stoppages.
1
Extortion? Work Stoppages? Maybe you want to go back to the time of the Company Store and renting from your employer, but I don't. Teachers have the right to protest when they are being shortchanged.
4
School districts, historically, can never find the money for teacher raises or equipment until the teacher's stay out on strike. Then the money miraculously appears.
4
Don't discount the role of conservative Evangelicals who hate public education and the "Secular Humanist" values it teaches (read evolution and support for LGBT rights).
11
The sudden interest in teachers salaries nationwide, and appearently only in republican run states, as we enter an election cycle is fascinating.........Arizona.....average household income=53k. average TEACHER salary= 48K.....substantially higher in the large urban areas(68K) and, as expected, much lower in the rural areas (perhaps 38K). If you roll in administrators padded salaries for basicly sitting in an office and lookin' good....the average salary goes even higher...........Conclusion? This is a stunt organized by National Interests, and serve no good purpose for the local teachers, the local students, the citizens of Arizona......the narrow-minded objective is clearly for the DNC,Inc.....MORE POWER over local jurisdictions.
1
People, especially retirees, move to Arizona because of the low tax rate. Well, taxes are needed to pay for schools, to pay for supplies, to pay for teachers.
It’s hard to respect a state that has obviously turned it’s back on their youth while seniors brag about their low tax rate while living a happy life.
Aren’t there some communities in Arizona where kids are not even allowed? What does that tell you?
6
Caveat emptor, Republicans. You hate taxes. You despise regulations. You want total freedom from government rules and oversight. You are suspicious of anyone with more than a high school education. You believe that if you coddle the wealthy they will, out of the generosity of their hearts and the magic of "Reaganomics," create an economy where life is wicked good and cost free.
Red states, you get what you pay for. Very little...if anything beyond misery.
Most Americans paying attention know from recent stories that education in red states is not just underfunded, it is abysmally funded. But, wow! Arizona hiring high school grads with no teaching experience to teach in their schools? Why not go all the way and hire high school dropouts (who you can pay even less) to teach? Arizona's education budget is more than sad, it is a statement of what Arizonians hold dear...not their kid's future.
An so what are we to believe about Republicans across the nation? Look to Arizona, Oklahoma, West Virginia, Mississippi, etc etc., to see where Republicans want to lead the country. These red states are the products of distilled, filtered, pure 100 proof Republican ideology.
Not just red state children's education suffers. Their economies are weak; they suppress wages; the workforce has no unions, workers must knuckle under. Their standard of living stagnated.
This is what Republicans are selling and Republicans are buying. Is this the future we want for all Americans? I hope not.
5
Is their any evidence that their anger at their red state govt. that they will now vote for Democrats ? November will tell.
2
Democrats and Republicans both want educated students, but differ strongly on the best way to reach that goal. Democrats think that maintaining the current structure of schools, but just better facilities and more highly paid teachers, will make the difference. Republicans believe that the current model for education is antiquated and needs a complete revamp, with school choice, charter schools, and more differentiated instruction making the difference.
So I ask, which is the conservative approach, and which is the innovative approach?
Nice try. Look at states where conservatives have had their way. It doesn't work.
7
Under the guise of "innovative" separate non-public schools is the Republican and religious right's march to teaching what they believe, not what science or history would say. The past forty or fifty years have brought about an incredible destruction of the public school system in those states that deny evolution and other sciences. Starving the schools so they are falling down and depriving the teachers and students of books and supplies is so bad for America's future it hardly bears saying. Personally I never thought I would see such a thing in this country. And some of this is news, sadly. Hard to know how to keep informed about these terrible trends. Read one story and then the issue disappears. So march on, teachers and students around the country, to protect your future and the future of the country itself!
5
A few problems with your obvious Republican bias.
- There is no evidence charter schools provide a better education.
- The Republican agenda is geared toward providing a new revenue stream for the for profit educators. Tell me how draining money from education to provide a corporate profits is going to improve schools as the issue in many red states is a lack of resources.
7
Teachers as a professional group long ago gave up any serious interest in fighting back against the assault on public education going on at least since Ronald Reagan ran on a platform to abolish the Department of Education. Kentucky, Oklahoma, Arizona and West Virginia became and have remained red states because of the support of teachers. Now, after decades of the havoc wrought on schools and other public institutions by Republican policies, teachers have finally realized they've been duped. I am glad to see teachers agitating for better salaries and working conditions, but this hardly a revolt. And the absence of teacher unions from many of these demonstrations is evidence of the continuing self-serving blindness that binds organized teachers to the very sources of power that seek to eliminate them.
8
This is a good thing. An America that has been very effectively de-educated since 1980 needs to swing that pendulum the other way. Fund our public schools. Pay our teachers. No really, PAY them! Give our educators the tools to run truly great public schools for our entire country.
If we have to raise my taxes that's okay. If we have to raise taxes on corporations and the wealthy, that's even better!
9
I believe there are only a handful of countries that spend more money per child in the world. Our problem is that we do not spend the money wisely. Would I like to see teachers make more money? Absolutely! My mother is a retired teacher and my wife is a teacher. Could my wife make more money doing something else? Sure she could. Could my wife make that kind of money with a week off for Thanksgiving, two weeks at Christmas, one week for spring break, and 10 weeks during the summer and 10 days of pto? NO. She made this choice because she wanted a profession that allowed her be off when our kids were out of school. She is generally happy teaching, but her biggest issue is the enormous amount of red tape that has followed more government layers in education.
4
Teachers are not paid for the two weeks in December, the one week of spring break, the ten weeks in summer. They are laid off with no unemployment benefits. You can teach for thirty years and you will never get a paid vacation day for Christmas, New years, Fourth of July. There is a satisfaction in making a direct difference in children's lives.
3
Teacher's strike, however temporarily disruptive in suspending classes, is on the right side of history. Republican politicians seem to disregard the importance of education, and the teachers in charge, by denying them fairness in their ongoing 'hunger wages'. As to why politicians in congress earn more that an infinitely nobler profession, a 'calling' really, that of teachers, is beyond me. What this country needs is a more rational body of enlightened leaders to re-distribute the pie according to a scale of priorities that makes sense. Having said that, is there any doubt that developing the best a country has to offer, it's human talent, via education, must be at the top? Regaling the military with excessive billions so a few more bombs may be 'used', instead of seeking cooperation by creating more jobs, better schools, and healthcare facilities, is not the answer. And we all know that instinctively.
10
"Republican politicians seem to disregard the importance of education."
Republican politicians understand exactly the importance of education. Republican politicians know that educated voters vote for progressive ideas and candidates, therefore an educated public is bad for republicans. So republicans have been doing their level best to destroy our once stellar public education system. Republicans are against good schools, against good teachers, and against you knowing what they are up to.
9
For some reason, there is more arm chair quarterbacking of Teachers than quarterbacks. Everybody is an expert. Until Red States are at the point where no one wants to teach in their schools, and students sit in Teacher-less classrooms, the RePubs won't understand how important public education is to their future. And no, private religious education will not pick up the slack, their teachers are underpaid and that's how they get by, though they want those public tax dollars , too.
8
I am sorry, but I have reached my limits of sympathy for teachers in such states as W. Virginia and Arizona.
Many, if not the majority, of teachers in these states voted for Republicans together with their mantra of cutting taxes and a lack of support for public education.
The teachers ultimately have gotten what they have voted for!
13
"Many, if not the majority, of teachers in these states voted for Republicans together with their mantra of cutting taxes and a lack of support for public education.'
Could you please quote a reference for this.
7
I just retired from teaching, for 29 years in three "red" states: Mississippi, Louisiana, and North Carolina. Few teachers I worked with in those states voted Republican. Surely you know that in each of those states where teachers are now protesting, a sizable minority of voters has never supported regressive policies. Your comment seems a form of victim-blaming.
3
I agree. Did they not read the "fine" print when they voted for the party?
1
Hooray for teachers acting and not just complaining. The conservatives have had much to much control for far to long in the Grand Canyon State. Will gladly pay more taxes for something as important as pay/benefit increases for those who prepare our children for their paths into being productive adults.
10
The not-so-secret dirty little secret is that the modern conservative 'movement' disdains public education and really wants it to go away. This is in keeping with the devolution away from public funding for anything, the rise of 'gated communities' where owners don't want to pay school taxes because they've already had their kids and they sent them to private schools anyway, and the lack of support for any public infrastructure spending. It is interesting and hopeful to see pushback in places like Arizona and Oklahoma but we'll see if it is sustainable. Absent a significant political change at the state level, I doubt it.
18
It's OK for the US Government to spend $ 1,000,000,000.00
on the Armed Forces, or spend $ 2000.00 for some toilet on a jet, but education is poorly funded!
14
The U.S. Government is not responsible for paying for local school systems. Look to the states who decide to spend or not spend money on education.
2
Not everywhere. Many of us value education and are willing to pay for it.
1
We are living the logical progression of Reaganomic's and the Gingrich contract with America. The greatness of America has been in the destructive clutches of pecuniary Republican politicians for the better portions of the time since Reagan's first term. Not to say that everything was peachy in 1980 nor to say that Democrats haven't played a role because they in a minor part have. The Ayn Randian idea inherent in Reaganomic's that you can increase egg production by strangling the chicken may be gratifying at first but leads only to failure.
It would do Americans well to consider what the revenue system was that made us great. The federal money that built the interstate highway system, helped to subsidize schools and towns and cities came from those that had it. It came primarily from coastal 'elites' and the highly unionized great lakes states. Paying tax or having strong government that delivers to the people via private sector enterprises is not socialism and is not an implicit danger.
The danger we face is the unwillingness of those that have a great deal to share. If the power of that wealth directs government for their own personal financial gain the needs of the nation go for want.
Taxes, well spent, are not evil, they are not socialist and don't abuse liberty or freedom. Unless and until we as a nation see the value of and attend to the collection and distribution of taxes we will likely see our systems, once the envy of the World, continue to degrade.
20
Teachers who vote republican should consider the efforts the GOP is making toward ensuring the census under counts residents by scaring the undocumented and minorities from participating.
If the census under counts the residents in your state - guess whose educational funding gets cut along with the number of representatives from your state?
Voting republican is very good for really wealthy people and terrible for everyone else. Their austerity policies don't make your town better or safer- they never did.
19
I'm a lifelong liberal Democrat who has always lived in states supportive of my politics (Maryland, New York, and now California). I'm also a union public school teacher, which in and of itself is a political act in this age of for-profit, non-union, largely unaccountable charter schools.
I've always wondered about the conflict between the idealism that helps someone want to teach, and the ruthless anti-worker politics that characterize red states. I'm happy to see my fellow teachers around the country marching for the good of their students and declaring that enough is enough.
If I were a Republican politician, I'd be very afraid of this.
38
The pay increase is a trap. No one ever minds a raise but Ducey can use it against teachers after he's secured reelection. Imagine the narrative: Teachers walkout on children for own selfish benefit. That's how the story will get spun in conservative echo chambers. Meanwhile, teachers are really only getting compensated for out-of-pocket expenses. That's not really a raise. That's a business expense.
Educators need to stick to the point. The school system is underfunded. If the public wants the school system to function properly, the public needs to fund the school system. That's how public finance works. Get some public figures to run PR and stay on message. Ducey will either cave or get booted. Education is definitely open for debate this election.
21
Thank you to the teachers for protesting against turning our country into a third world state. This is not just a salary dispute, this is a reminder of the value and necessity of good education for everyone, not just those who can afford "private academies." It's also interesting that the majority of teachers are women. Perhaps this is a sign of the new women's movement to insist on fair treatment and equal rights. Support this movement, vote Democratic.
21
The sad part of Red states voters is that they vote against their own best interest. It is likely that the teachers in Az. vote Republican. The anti union sentiment in these states has no logical basis. They tend to have lower standards of living and poorer education than blue states. The common denominator is that red state voters are uninformed. The powers to be support conservative media and there is little unbiased news available to the voters.
15
How do you know it's likely that most Arizona teachers voted Republican?
1
What do you base this statement on? Please cite a source that says that the majority of teachers in any given state vote Republican.
1
This teacher action has historical roots. Several years ago, Arizona held a referendum that required the state government to support education with more funding. It passed with a solid majority of voters supporting the funding. The GOP "super-majority" of politicians in the state capital of Phoenix delayed and delayed and simply refused to do this. The will of the people was conscientiously and deliberately ignored. For Republicans in power in such a majority, people voting in any opposition do not matter.
17
No one is doing more to help Arizona education than Trump. With his fierce anti-immigration and anti-Mexico rhetoric, he is helping to accelerate the demographic trends in Arizona voting, which already are shifting toward more numerous younger Hispanic voters. Hispanic turnout is up by 89% since 2008 and more early voting is helping to overcome the well known obstacles to voting created by the AZ GOP.
Since education typically represents more than half of state budgets, state legislative control is everything when it comes to schools.
The most important class in high school is civics.
16
America's Republican right-wing has systematically succeeded at regressing and retarding the country's education system, infrastructure, voting rights, healthcare system and common good for decades.
The fruits of their right-wing efforts are a rotted-out country featuring religious zealots, Randian psychopaths, rural resentment and Republican ringmasters parroting empty bankrupt slogans that belie the comprehensive intellectual, moral and economic bankruptcy of endless tax cuts weighted disproportionately to fabulously rich and corporate people while the vast majority are relegated to trickle-down poverty, near-poverty and daily economic humiliation.
Taxes are the cost of civilization, and Republicans consistently refuse to pay for civilization.
If you vote Republican, you're also voting for your nation to be undereducated, your fellow citizens to be sicker via less healthcare, your roads, bridges and airports to be dilapidated, your water, air and soil to be dirtier, and democracy less likely to occur.
Look at what Sam Brownback did to Kansas - what Bobby Jindal did to Louisiana - literally torpedoing entire state budgets and destabilizing them with tax-cut nihilism until the citizens woke and smelled the Republican bankruptcy.
The GOP adores shredding the common good while painting the toenails of the rich a brighter shade of gold.
Paying taxes is patriotic....raising taxes is patriotic...and Republican policies disembowel America.
D to go forward; R for reverse.
265
Dear Socrates-Every time I read your comments on I am inspired. Please don't stop.
26
Socrates,
D to go forward; R for reverse is brilliant.
Please keep this as a sign off, along with the 'remember to vote advice', every time you write.
Thank you for taking the time to comment every day.
27
Hear hear!! Well said
5
Our public education system is drowning in the GOP bathtub. Along with everything else that requires decent government.
17
I am so heartened by what I participated in yesterday. By many estimates there were 75,000 teachers marching in Phoenix yesterday in 100 degree heat. We certainly would not have joined together to protest our situation if it was good or even acceptable. The truth is that teachers are leaving the profession in droves and very few college students are choosing to become teachers. In fact, from what I understand, ASU has only one person slated to graduate this year with physics credentials. One.
I am a high school science teacher and I often buy the materials for my laboratory experiments. I also buy tissues and hand sanitizer, bandaids and soap, paper and . . . well, the list goes on and on. My largest purchase, however, is my continuing education. I paid $8000 out of pocket from June 2016 to December 2017 on 18 graduate-level science classes so I could maintain my DE (dual enrollment) certification.
DE is a big deal here in Arizona. It allows high school students to simultaneously enroll at a college to earn credits at both levels. Recently, the college-level certification requirements changed which meant that I either earned the new certification or let my program die. DE is supported by administrators because the colleges kick some of the tuition the kids pay back to the schools. This is great for kids and great for schools but not so great for teachers. I was never reimbursed.
Arizona needs to show, via sufficient funding, that what we do for our students is valued.
75
This didn't happen overnight. Do you vote? Are you active in local politics? Are you manipulated by false issues from Faux News? It's time to take responsibility for your community and state.
11
Tom, I’ve voted in every election since I was eligible in 1992 and I am politically active and am well-informed. I spend a considerable amount of time educating my friends, family and, yes, students as well. Note that living in AZ I subscribe to the New York Times. I do my best but Fox (I do prefer Faux) News has a lot of sway in my neck of the woods. I counter it as best I can.
22
I apologize for inferring that you haven't been active. Thank you for your efforts and you make teaching a proud profession!
How much does the U.S. spend on K-12 education per child? How does this compare with what other modern countries spend? We already know that the U.S. achieves horrible educational outcomes when we examine comparative test results, so perhaps we are merely getting what we pay for. But what if we spend more per student and get worse results (similar to the situation with our healthcare spending)? In that case, don't we need to look at more than just low teacher salaries to explain the anomalous result? Could it be that too much of our education spending never hits the classroom because it gets absorbed by low-value-added layers of administration and other waste? The solution to every problem doesn't have to be to blindly throw money at it. It's much smarter to first understand root causes and then systematically attack those.
4
You're not wrong. But there are layers to this.
How much is spent per child varies from state to state. And better school infrastructure funding and teacher salaries might need to come at the expense of administrative layers.
5
No, it doesn’t, but one vital component of any human endeavor is a motivated individual. We cannot expect that good people who invest a minimum of four years of their lives to prepare themselves for the classroom should have to look forward to scraping by on some of the lowest salaries for college educated professionals. For those who work two or three jobs just to make ends meet, $40,000 a year may seem like a lot of money, but to someone who has invested the time, effort, and costs of a bachelors degree to prepare themselves for the demands of the classroom, it is a paltry sum.
Today’s teacher do not get the respect they deserve from the public. As a retired teacher, school psychologist, and administrator at the high school level, I can attest to the fact that far too many parents and school board members treat teachers like worker bees with little appreciation for what they know, what they do, and how much time they put into the very important job our democracy cannot do without. Few, if any teachers, go into the profession to make a bundle of money, but for far too long many teachers have found that they need to work a second part-time job at low wages to make ends meet. If it were solely up to me, I would ask teachers across the nation to walk out and not come back until government, at all levels, recognize the important work they do, changes the environment (psychologically) they do it in, and compensates them in a more reasonable manner for salary and benefits.
11
Take care not to enshrine your suspicions as conclusions. International budget comparisons are complicated because other advanced nations have more sophisticated social welfare systems than we do in the United States. That's even more true in places like West Virginia, where education is notoriously, perennially underfunded.
American school budgets include breakfast and lunch, counseling, transportation, and sports. Schools are required to cope with a variety of social ills — poverty, homelessness, domestic violence, addiction — that in other countries are addressed directly. The child who shows up at school unprepared and unfed imposes costs on the school (not to mention the child). The school cannot tackle the root problem by hiring a tutor or social worker or au pair.
How much you pay people also depends on what you need. Teachers salaries can be lower, and still provide a decent standard of living, when college is free, health insurance paid for, and housing costs reasonable.
2
Next time you march I hope it's straight to the voting booth, where you quit voting against your own self-interests. Start voting for people who will support you. Taxes are not villains-they are how we finances segments of our society. You deserve better pay, better working conditions, and a better life.
77
Why do you assume teachers have been voting against our own self-interest? Most teachers I've worked with in three Southern states have never voted Republican. We are outnumbered.
4
I was referring to the teachers in the video who all voted Republican. One of them said she couldn't believe she was saying that she wanted higher taxes. This low tax drown the government in a bathtub is not working.
I vote for every increase in school funding that I can. We all benefit from an educated population.
Republicans have forgotten how important public schools are to a community. From football games to school plays they bring families together generation after generation. Adults love to tell stories of their school days. Sometimes they will talk about the teachers they loved, the ball they they hit or a book they read. Some will fondly remember how much they hated school or a particular teacher but that doesn't change how important these stories and experiences are to people in this country. Americans will support the teachers because school is a shared experience that touches most of us. Teachers live in our communities. They are married to plumbers and cops, not investment bankers. Republicans have forgotten what really makes people believe America is great.
29
I recently retired after 32 years of teaching. Would I do it again? Never! I sacrificed my life and gave it my all but as a teacher you are so unappreciated so undervalued by society as a whole. At the beginning of my career, I was offered good health benefits, but I actually made more money waiting tables at a nice restaurant than during my first year of teaching and I didn't have to take loads of papers home to grade, make phone calls to parents of misbehaving students, make plans for the next day, and a myriad other tasks. My workday never ended. Teaching is a wonderfully satisfying profession, an important one, but also dispiriting when not compensated as it should be. My daughter, in her chosen profession, earned more in her first year than I had in the last year of my career working many less hours per week! She saw how hard I worked through the years, and although she had entertained the notion of becoming a teacher she decided against it. Smart girl.
85
An average first year AZ teacher (source: the US Dept of Ed) makes just under $47K. He / she / it works on average 6 hrs / day, 8 months out of the year. Benefits include pension after 20 years, paid sick leave (3 weeks / year) and vacation galore, plus the so-called "admin days", plus professional training, tuition reimbursement, etc. Medical insurance premiums are under $100 / month. Furthermore, teachers do NOT pay into the social security system, but, instead, purely toward their own pension system. State pension payments are currently 18% of the state budget and are projected to hit 30% by 2030. Think of it: one third of the state budget (read: of your taxes) is soon to be paid to a bunch of retired 50-somethings. And they have the guts to strike?! Michelle Goldberg, wake up! There is a reason an average opening for a teacher's position in this country draws upwards of 8 applicants. If the general public knew the numbers above, it would revolt.
8
My Mother was an elementary school teacher. She left for work at 7 am and returned at 5:30, spent many hours grading papers or working on lesson plans on evening and weekends, and never had 4 months "off" - there were 3 months in the summer when she took courses to improve her skill level and she was back in the classroom two weeks before the students returned. Her "Annual" salary was a 9 month salary spread over 12 months. Parent-teacher interviews were held in the evenings (most parents worked) so that her students could be well served. Stress was high, but so were the rewards. She loved her work but she was underpaid for her value to the community/
38
Teach for one week. Then revisit these numbers. My earning power when I retired was lower (due to inflation) than when I started—$17,000 in 1979. I worked nearly every waking hour during the school year, stopping only to take care of my health through exercise, eat, and care for my own children. Everything else gets relegated to the summer: Doctor/dentist appointments, vacation, house repairs, additional training. Under the “standards” movement reams of paperwork—which had NO bearing on instruction were added to the day while students had time to learn less and less because of mandated assessments imposed to make sure they were ready for the assessment. Meanwhile piles of money have been siphoned to the test making companies who have profited off the bait and switch perpetrated on the taxpayers. Additional tax dollars have been spent enriching tech companies who are peddling their products and even more screen time to youngsters to replace real time hands on experiences that develop the kind of knowledge that learning builds on. We are way past time for a teacher revolt in EVERY state.
35
Teachers work more than 6 hours a day. They are required to lead a club or extracurricular that puts many more hours on their schedule and all grading and lesson plans are completed outside of school hours
Every state that does not let teachers participate in social security is state with teachers living in poverty in retirement - that is a fact.
8
The Republican's subtle but strong streak of anti-intellectualism over the past several decades was bound to translate into anti-education. And, finally, the problem has gotten so bad that it can no longer be denied or ignored by Americans, including teachers, who care about educating our children.
They say you can't fix education "throwing money at it." Perhaps not. But I bet education can be fixed by throwing money at teachers.
22
I don't suppose you're a teacher, are you.
One reason teachers don't have the money they need in Arizona - Medicaid. Since the introduction of ACA, Arizona's responsibility to Medicaid has increased 40%. That money has to come from somewhere. As entitlements eat up more of each state's budget, there will be less money for schools, roads, infrastructure. Unless states are willing to reform their entitlement plans - not just Medicaid but their pension structures - these problems will only get worse.
1
States do not HAVE to reform Medicaid policies. They could raise wages so that full time workers no longer qualify for Medicaid. But paying workers a living wage does not seem to be a not a popular idea.
8
There are many wealthy retirees in Arizona. Why? Low taxes. And they don't care about education quality as their kids are grown, and likely grew up elsewhere with private schools. They resist any increase in taxes that benefit the 99%. This is becoming a problem in our area of PA as well - with no State tax on pensions, retirement communities have sprung up everywhere around us. They vote against any increase in property tax directed at school improvements. Luckily we parents are still a tiny bit bigger as a voting block but I see this changing soon. Then our schools will start to decline as well. We see it everywhere.
35
Precisely. Taxpayers of the past paid for their education and that of their children, but all too many retirees think they shouldn’t have to pay for the next generation. And they expect today’s kids to pay into social security so they can live the good life. Talk about entitled!
4
Now if all States teachers would march in unity with the Arizona teachers, just maybe local and State Representatives, plus the voters will actually sit up and take notice and realize that our children all need a great education that only teachers can supply.
These teachers should not have to take money out of their meager salaries to supply their classrooms with what is needed.
What white collar job expects you to bring your own pens and other supplies to the office?
Viva the protests.
25
Republicans have always applied some kind of cost benefit analysis to everything in life, especially anything provided by the government. What is the profit margin for raising a child? What is the return on investment of a life well lived? How do you place a monetary value on the joy of experiencing art, music, craftsmanship, creativity, or making a child happy? What is the value to society of extending someones life from 65 to 80 years?
There is no way these things can be priced. But yet, Republicans believe that the magic of the markets will bestow them on all. No it wont.
Republicans claim that there is waste in government, especially education. They believe if the budgets are squeezed, the waste will be eliminated and market efficiency will result. There is waste in every household, business, and school. That doesn't mean you let your family starve or roof cave in or let your business collapse in the quest for efficiency. Ditto for schools.
There is no way to measure the economic output of a school. There is no way to gauge its efficiency like a factory. There is no way to gauge the appreciation of literature monetarily, or music or theater or dance. These are the first subjects to be cut in market utopia schools.
Schools are not factories. Children are not objects of economic output. Life is not the Dow Jones. Teachers understand that. Why don't Republicans?
436
I wish someone would look into where our politicians that have school age children send their kids. I am guessing it isn't to public schools.
36
Republicans, ie their big donors, pretend to apply a cost benefit analysis to anything others need, not what they themselves need. The ‘cost benefit analysis’ is followed by ‘Nah, not needed, now disappear you dirty bums’.
21
Because the party has devolved into a heartless force for evil?
15
Even 40-years ago I made more money as a cocktail waitress at a posh resort during summers than I did the entire nine months as a teacher.
52
I support the teachers. And this is not new. I have known special ed teachers ended up to getting into different professions several decades ago.
However, with so many teachers - and parents too (after all, their children's education is a stake) - voters in these states keep turning in Republicans and Libertarians election after election. These politicians see education is an inconvenience at best; worse, they think it is a good political scapegoat . Why?
True, the teacher unions were helping these pols by fighting the wrong battle. By allowing seniority to sidetrack the negotiation, the unions got played. Instead, they should demand quality education, period!
This is the teachers' moment. They need to be both strategic and tactical. Revolt is tactical; teaching integrity and the future of our children are strategic. Scott Walker was able to pit labor unions against public unions. I hope the teachers across America won't fall for that kind of mistakes. The only way to guarantee the teachers' as well as children's welfare is to throw out the pols who don't see education is important. Take a look at Kansas but Brownback was able to cling to his governorship till the end.
36
Every time I think about the gratuitous cruelty of the GOP in trying ( and failing) to completely get rid of a tax deduction for teachers who increasingly, due to chronic underfunding, spend their own money to supply often vital classroom materials, while at the same time doling out millions to corporations and the uber -wealthy, my blood boils. In the end they grudgingly agreed to keep a $250 deduction even though many teachers (including my sister) spend considerably more-particularly in schools in the most deprived school districts.
I simply do not know how the GOP congressmen and women can look at themselves in the mirror.
157
Apparently they like what they see.
2
Something huge this piece was missing out on was how much of the thrust was on restoring spendind per student to 2008 levels. One of the teachers on the march is a friend who was taking an unpaid day not for himself but for his students. teaching with books from the 90s is not okay.
My cousin loved teaching in Arizona until she tried to live on the paycheck without a 2nd job. She left purely for the need to pay rent. Five year pay freezes and the demonization of your profession along with low pay is not a way to live.
102
I would bet if you asked, the majority of these teachers have voted for GOP policies for years. If they did, then they are ignorant because they did not understand GOP policies & they have only themselves to blame for their situation.
23
And they probably will again, go figure.
1
Better late than never.
These teachers' actions are as much social movements as they are strikes. In West Virginia, for example, they organized meals and child care for their students, and involved broad sections of the community in their cause. That's why they scored some victories.
These actions provide insights that counter the view of many liberals who think that people who voted for Trump are racist, backward, and "deplorable" dunderheads. The "Red for Ed" folks were desperate for change and voted for the candidate who appeared more likely to "drain the swamp." When it turned out that the swamp was repopulated with dreadful monsters from the deep lagoon, they took matters into their own hands.
More power to them!
23
I’d say the response looks like this Tuesday’s election of a Republican House Representative in AZ, that could have gone to a Democrat.
Fast forward to November, and let’s see how the voters in WV feel about their lives being disrupted for a week over similar antics. They’ll show it at the polls. They’ll also help grow the GOP’s representation.
The case in AZ has been particularly egregious though. The “red” talk, the blatant communistic and socialistic associations, turning down a 20% raise? It makes them look really unhinged and irrational. It’s not a good look, and it’s not boding well for the broader movement’s prospects in November. Which I’m more than fine with.
I’ve always predicted that the Democrats won’t wake up and tone down the irrational progressivism until after they get shellacked by Trump in 2020. But that’s probably being over generous. 2010, 2014, and 2016 have never been reckoned with, and I suspect they’ll spin any gains in 2018 into a moral victory, so who knows if they’ll ever cut the primal rage stuff and come back to earth. From all I’ve seen, being dejected and outraged is a lifestyle choice they’ve made. Protest is what they do now, protesters are who they are. Political efficacy seems to be a much lower priority. I feel sorry for them. They don’t seem very happy, or hopeful. And that’s never a winning position.
3
Many of the Arizona teachers voted Republican and they demand a better investment in education from their Republican lawmakers. Twenty percent doesn’t even match inflation over 10 years and salaries have been cut over that period of time. Why do you think Arizona cannot attract teachers anymore?
22
I disagree with your point about turning down the raise. It appears they applied their teaching skills, saying in effect "show me your work. How are you going to pay for this?" If the governor and/or legislature can't answer that basic question, the offer is not realistic.
14
Highly likely that the offer of 20% was a bluff- set out for all to see while an election was in the wind, but an empty offer that the teachers saw right through. This is the benefit of being educated - sadly many voters did not "do the math" themselves on how this would play out. Election won, now they can go back to offering little, too late
9
The AZ teacher offer is 20% over 3 years and the teachers want a restoration of school funding - 400 million was cut in recent years. Education achievement in the US is behind the rest of the world. Foreign students fund US colleges and universities- declining because of immigration laws. DeVos wants to give the meager amounts that schools now have to for profit charter schools. Go teachers -,
58
Surprising? Americans have been told over and over again that the reason you are not climbing the economic ladder is workers in America are reaching into your wallet and taking your money. The sight of tens of thousands of teachers marching in Arizona is evidence that they have reached the breaking point. This didn't happen over night. The American economy is growing and has been since the recession started. But to make it grow and to allow the wealthy and corporations to get a larger piece of the pie, someone had to get a smaller slice. And if you think teachers are an isolated group, talk to a nurse. If they work in a hospital, ask them how many patients they have to take care of versus how many they were told they would care for when they were hired. Ask them how often they are verbally or physically abused. Ask them how often management listens to their concerns. Ask them how much of a pay increase they have had or what their benefits are , and if they have enough to save for retirement. And then ask how much profit insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies made AFTER they paid exorbitant executive salaries. And make sure, like with the teachers, you stand there and yell at the nurse caring for your loved one. That ought to do the trick. And then watch as one by one the nurses head for the exits. By all means , tell yourself the nurses, like the teachers, are the problem. Then pull the lever for Trump once again.
256
Funny how this seems to be particularly acute in the traditionally "women's" professions.
32
Well, we can always open a can of immigrants to teach and nurse for a pittance... oh, wait...
9
The salaries of the pharmaceutical company executives may be exorbitant, but I'd imagine that the price of continual television advertising would far outweigh the salaries.
11
So teachers are finally acting like educated people! Let's see how their new civic commitment extends to the voting booth.
10
Whether it's red states or blue states, people are feeling squeezed economically.
It would be nice if there was a party that could say with credibility that it stands with average workers, blue collar and white collar.
Can you imagine the response? Can you imagine the turnout?
Unfortunately, both parties have drunk the Wall Street donor Kool-aid.
Look at 2016: the Democrats had one candidate with a strong economic message that could unite everyone living paycheck to paycheck and the DNC turned its back on him for a Wall Street suck up.
And the Republicans... they don't even pretend to care about average folks.
But maybe there is hope for us after all. I'm not sure how this all shakes out, but the next few years will be interesting.
6
Hillary Clinton would have strengthened public education instead of giving a 1.5 Trillion tax cut to the wealthy. Please stop the false equivalence!
3
The lionized economist John Kenneth Galbraith pointed out many years ago that every successful economy must exploit some groups of people; it must get more value from them than they are rewarded for their work. Slavery got the US started. Teachers are one of the the modern paradigmatic examples of Galbraith's observation.
We as a nation seem to be caught in a frenzy of selfish me-firstness. Unwilling to see how vital a quality education for everyone is to the health of the nation. Maybe that's because we've forgotten how it once was?
We've produced a generation of leaders more interested in obtaining and preserving their own wealth, power, and egos than they are in the country (believing, I suppose, that if they are doing well, so will others). That has to change, we need to spend real money on providing a great education for our children. #RedforEd #Enough!
32
I doubt Galbraith said that. It's not sound economics. Care to supply a citation?
3
I read it long ago, but it has stuck with me. Maybe "The Affluent Society" or other in that trilogy? His point, I believe, derived from his view that the US economy favors private production over public services - producing market failures and externalities. In a way, the rich become richer not because they work harder but because they have economic power that can be used to exploit others, i.e., from the differences between what's paid the less powerful and the greater value they return to the more powerful.
Nearly every protection enjoyed by American workers is a direct result of labor unions and the power to strike.
The emasculation of labor unions is a direct result of the war on them by the Reagan Administration.
Although much of the country has swung Republican since Ronald Reagan, I hope that workers in those states, including public employees, start connecting their pathetic treatment to Republican protectionism of employers through anti-union policies.
To borrow a phrase from long ago: "Workers of the world, unite!" or, as Franklin observed, "We must, indeed, all hang together, or most assuredly we shall all hang separately."
33
What did the parents and teachers in these red states expect when they presumably voted in large numbers for republicans? Right wing media, led by Fox News and embraced by the GOP, has waged a decade long war on public education. teachers' unions, and teachers themselves. If your goal in life is to pay as little in taxes as possible, then by all means live in a state like Arizona. You'll get what you pay for. I feel very bad for these kids, who have been sold out by their own parents.
78
School of choice is a way to denigrate public schools, take money from public schools, break the teacher union and keep costs down. What politicians should be doing is trying to make education better and more effective. Making public education more effective, means tackling tough to solve social issues and reducing the cost of higher education. You can't do this on tax cuts and by being stupid and lazy. It requires hard work not slogans, like free enterprise will solve all problems.
15
This is the wrong kind of revolt. It's not teachers who should be marching--it's taxpayers.
For generations now, we have spent more on education than any country--and consistently have settled for mediocre results. Test results, compared to other advanced nations bear this out.
In particular, our inner-city youth have been consigned to lives greatly marginalized, by schools that would embarrass some 3rd world nations. There are many causes--including the breakdown of the traditional family--but there is one cause which is more consistently found--and more destructive. Teachers' Unions who oppose all change.
And we need to change everything.
--We need longer school years, and longer days--to match other advanced nations.
--We can non longer be tied to an old agrarian-inspired 180 day calendar--which gives kids 3 months off for the harvest.
--We need more experimental & charter schools, which have worked miracles in some urban areas--to improve results, learning--particularly of poor minority students.
--We need more internet learning--by having our nation's most inspired, innovative, & effective educators, create lessons that can be beamed into every classroom--so our kids can be taught by the best and the brightest.
--Let's have more trade schools--to give options to students to pursue more "hands-on", physical careers.
The obstacle to positive change? See that photo--those folks marching in red? Let's ban teachers unions from our schools.
3
What we need is to determine the appropriate minimum level of education required for every job then limit that portion of the student body to what is necessary to meet employers needs. Collecting shopping carts in a Target parking lot can be accomplished with a fifth grade education. Brewing coffee at Starbucks can be accomplished upon finishing the eight grade. The only qualification for doing oil changes at JiffyLube is being of sufficient size to use the equipment. Yet, currently, we put all of these future employees through an expensive K-12 curriculum. The approximately 100 employees in a typical Walmart represent a waste of $8,000,000 of our tax dollars PER STORE!
I have been discouraged to read about school districts cutting back hours and even days from the school year due to budget constraints. So, what would be your proposal for increasing these in the face of reduced funding. Sooner or later it comes back to the same issue. If you think teachers are poorly paid now, imagine making them work 20% more for what they are being paid now. There will be 0 new teachers then.
2
Speaking up but only anonymously because of fear of reprisal is a sign of the times. Talking to a journalist is job threatening.
Sounds like repression to me. Trump is leading the fight against a free press. Murdoch gives him the only forum he needs to continue pulling the US's open culture down into the drain.
At this point, the teachers and the young are leading the way.
16
I believe people that live in red states and people that vote GOP need to understand the old saying "you get what you pay for". If you defund education your children will get a substandard education, period. I have come to realize our deal leader and the GOP at all levels want to take America back 100 years and more, do they want kids to do their homework on the back of a shovel as Lincoln did or use a computer as the children in China do? Its your money people, pick a road!!
10
This smack of greed......
Walking out in their students, not a lot of respect for that. They chose to be educators, it was NEVER a high paying job.
3
They are also walking out for their students. Who deserve buildings that aren't falling apart and textbooks that aren't older than they are.
17
Teachers are greedy? Tell you what. Quit your job. Right now. Then spend the next 4-6 years compiling debt to get a teaching license and be a benefactor of all this greed that these awful teachers make by "scamming" the public.
4
Truth is that very blue areas dominated by "elites" and those aspiring also turned their back on the teachers and the kids. They missed golden opportunities to change the way schools are funded. Their kids got a great education in the "better" neighborhood and/or town. This problem did not begin yesterday. Bill Clinton had many years with a Congress that also did nothing. How about the lack of political effort in numerous states ( Dem) to change the way property tax works? I am a "boomer" who benefited from the great education delivery of the City of NY in teh 50's and 60's. Boomers are guilty of pulling up the lifeboats. Let's use this chance to redeem ourselves. Past is prologue. Back to the future my friends.
10
Mark, this is about Arizona, and funding cuts by Republicans there that started long after Bill Clinton was president. What should Bill Clinton have done to prevent the current situation in Arizona? Also, I think Arizona teachers would have fared a lot better under Democratic State governance. I agree though that Americans in general could do a better job understanding the value of a strong public education and invest in it more through appropriate taxes. It’s an investment in our future and children’s future after all. It’s a crying shame that teachers have to buy school supplies from their own meager salaries in what is arguably the richest country in the world. Something is very wrong with our priorities.
11
Thanks Michelle for the "word wealth" lesson with "immiserate" which describes so perfectly what happens when, to fall back on Karl Marx, labor is exploited. It seems that red state Republicans have so immiserated teachers across the country who used to represent the backbone of the middle-class and were essential to providing a public education that is vital to democracy that they have organized and are fighting back against the "tax-cuts for the wealthy" Republican Party. This is class warfare and teachers are at the forefront now in the battle not only for their economic well-being, but that of their students--our nation's future. So, "teachers of the nation unite; you have nothing to lose but your chains," to fall back on Republican Teddy Roosevelt, forged by "the malefactors of great wealth" and the ability to educate our children and grandchildren.
26
Primary education here has been not just immiserated, but sacrificed, eviscerated and emulsified. Our secondary institutions are actually quite excellent, but for a large faction of the GOP, also a target rich environment. Private, for profit charters are nearly as popular as private prisons. Most mornings I see groups of young children in uniforms heading to their bus stops like ranks of baby Quail marching in file, and can't help but think of Big brother. In 2014 AZ was ordered to restore some funding, to the tune of $317 million, but that still left us woefully behind the per pupil expenditure level of 2008, and I believe they weaseled out of much of the mandate.
Ducey is not quite as tone deaf as Trump but is playing with fiscal fire with his proposals. He's walking a tightrope as AZ gets more purple, like Texas. We'll see what happens at the voting booths soon enough.
6
There are no words to describe the intentional neglect of the legislators in very Republican legislatures for the children who learn in their state. Every year that a state budget remains at level funding, or reduces funding, is a state, that after ten years of this theft, is no longer in the business of government. These school districts, students, and their teachers will have spent an entire career as token cost items to be reduced. Eventually, these states will eliminate public schools, as evidenced by four day school weeks. If these teachers believe that one strike will remove, or intimidate an entrenched, myopic, and purchased political power structure that has punished and denigrated public service, for decades, then all for naught. On the other hand, the strike will be remembered, and perhaps, in another ten years, these teachers will receive one more pay raise, and their students will share one new textbook.
34
As long as teachers do not strike solely on the basis of wages, they will garner the respect and support of most Americans . It demonstrates their committment to their advocation and its professional outcomes...not simply personal gain. It is principled behavior whether you agree with them or not.
While it is easy to say and hard to do...kudos to Arizona teachers for not being bought off. Don't stop!
In the meantime, if organized labor and progressive wannabes are looking for a credible model for change that will capture America's attention and imagination, this is it. Principles first...money second.
20
In other words, it’s wrong to want a living wage but it’s
OK if you add asking for a decent working environment to go with it.
22
What an inspiring column, Michelle Goldberg!
I was taken aback by the fear of the school principal you interviewed being scared of reprisals if you named him!
Stuff like reflects the horrible tenor of our civic life under this mean-spirited administration that red states seem to be emulating.
but your comments about the rise of citizen protests--akin to "Network News" chant, " I'm mad as he'll and not going take it anymore."
And do they have a right to be mad! its abominable that they're paying so much out of their own pockets for essential resources. They're furious that conservative officials keep throwing teachers under the bus, as if their work was akin to babysitting or a throwaway because, likely those without the resources for private schools could
care less about public school kids.
But the real story here is how a while bunch of "little guys" are finally seeing the evil of GOP priorities, agendas, and prejudices.
They're mad as he'll and not going to take it any more! As are many of us, whether we can march or not, have decided to start taking back our country and certain red states who have been throwing our values and policy preferences under the bus.
Thank you Indivisible for inspiring so many unhappy Americans to productive action.
76
The teacher meanness issue started with NCLB...when data driven, test prep curriculum took over and became an administrative obsession. Many teachers went along because it benefitted their career. This teacher meanness issue knows no political party... no excuses...we brought in on ourselves for not standing up to the gutting of academic freedom and teacher lesson discretion in the name of College Board, snake oil, test gaming education.
2
There is little question that teachers have borne the brunt of right-led criticism, just about forever. These public 'whipping boys' have had to survive blame for many of society's ills, while receiving barely survivable pay in many states. Like it or not, Albert Shanker had the right solution to solve the basic issue: strike!
Teachers should take their concerns to the street. There is nothing else that will change the way the system treats teachers. In America, money talks. When teaches earn more money they will be more respected and everything will improve.
52
In most countries, even or especially poor and developing countries, teachers and education are valued. An educated population serves to uplift, to develop competence, to plan and dream, for the future.
How sad, in this rich, rich country, to see the dismantling, by steady cuts on funding, of our public education system, once a model for the world.
You might wonder, I wonder, who doesn't want our children to get the best education they could? Who wants our kids going to schools with desks but no chairs.. inadequate heat or AC, mold and vermin, underpaid and overworked teachers, and teachers and parents having to buy necessities out of their own pockets.
The pushing of private charter schools at the same time as public schools are starved of resources is particularly craven and further impoverishes public schools.
I am glad the teachers are finding their backbones. Finally. Because they are not the only ones suffering - also the children suffer.. and their lack of preparedness and lack of development of critical thinking skills bodes poorly for all of our futures.
140
Who wants this, you ask. The radical libertarians led by the Koch brothers are at the heart of this scheme to put American democracy in chains. They view taxes as evil and seek to dismantle our society. They have found a home in the Republican Party hiding behind the racism, homophobia, and misogyny that have put them in power. The whole scheme is enabled by the anti-abortionfervor of the Evangelical christians.
Given this diagnosis the cure resides in the polling booth and nowhere else,
12
Republicans have been on the warpath against public employees for the past 30 years - a direct result of their “no new taxes policies” are cuts to education, infrastructure neglect and zero investment in our future. There are fewer government employees today than in the 1980’s yet the cutting must go on as there is never a point where they have reached their goals. Why would any public employee vote for this?
Paying taxes is patriotic. A large stable middle class is the backbone of the civil society. These tax paying public employees should be demanding more taxes not less, and they should demand transparency in state budgeting, spending and tax breaks to the wealthy and corporations.
There is an election November 6th. Know your candidates and vote against tax cuts and for real leadership.
188
Teachers do not work a full year; period. For the amount of time they work per hour they are paid adequately. If they want to make more money, extend the school year to twelve months and not get every holiday, religious holiday, teacher convention days off, etc.
2
I am a retired elementary teacher in Tucson, Arizona. You have absolutely no idea what you are talking about. I arrived in my classroom every day around 630 am and remained there often until 9 at night. I hosted the "Breakfast Math Facts Club," which began at 730, an hour before school start time. I stayed late to prepare for the next day's learning adventures, which were often time, labor and resource-gathering (provisioning in education-speak) intensive. I always worked at least one of the weekend days and spent more than half of any break (Winter, Spring) in my classroom. June, the first month of summer "vacation," was devoted to required professional development and continuing education classes. Yes, I did usually take July off, but many "civilians" take as much if not more vacation time with their companies. August was spent preparing for a new class, going over reams of data from the previous year to help make improvements in delivering the curriculum to the new crop of students, writing "I can't wait to meet you," letters, attending endless meetings and fielding many calls, emails and texts (yes, parents usually get our private phone numbers) from concerned parents...the list goes on and on. I favor year-round school: better for students, teachers' paychecks and precludes the need for a second job. Don't pontificate on things you know nothing about.
389
This is not about wages, it is about funding the schools. It is a shame that classrooms in this rich country are not adequately furnished and provided with basic tools for earning. new textbooks, papers, computers, proper lighting. Have you been to some of thee schools? And have you been to some modern schools in other parts of the country where education is respected and where teachers and parents strive to make education a modern undertaking and prepare the children to lead in industry, commerce and international relations, preparing them for competitive colleges/ If not then go do go and visit these schools and compare what happens in your state.
57
Teacher salaries are typically pro-rated for the nine to ten months of school, but distributed over a twelve-month period. Don’t worry, your tax dollars are not paying us to lounge around the pool all summer. Besides, we’re much too busy scrambling to do all the profession-related things we can’t cram into the frenetic academic year. Summers off? You must be joking!
114
Conservatives, generally Republicans, see government and government workers as an economic liability; something to control and hold back. Teachers are the perfect body to assault, and have been economically battered for the past generation. State legislatures and local school boards stripped bargaining rights and held down wages and benefits. Public workers, especially teachers, are seen as a commodity; begging for their wages, but not worthy, and clearly not able to fight back. These strikes may change that perception, but I wouldn't bet on it. Teachers are going to have to walk out for more weeks in more states to get their stature back. Please note that all of these walkouts have been held in Republican majority states. Learn from that, and prosper.
106
My sister in law teaches in NC, funding the things she needs for her classroom with DonorsChoose. The community won't pay for classroom supplies, let alone her salary and benefits. When the community tried to increase taxes, the state legislature enacted laws that prevented it.
And they had support from a lot of the state's citizens - like everything else in the US ,the community was split about 50/50. The driver, of course is declining wages and benefits for a lot of the taxpayers, who then just resent having to pay more for someone to get what they lost.
This is the battle we are all fighting. Teachers deserve more, students deserve an education. But many people don't have the bandwidth to pay more in taxes. This is what happens when you spend 30 years bifurcating wages and killing the middle class. As we work assiduously to return to the days of Robber Barons, we are destroying the very things that made the nation strong, such as a good education.
People think that patriotism is "My country, right or wrong." That is jingoism and an example of why we need good teachers to show us the difference. We should be chasing the dream of "My country, working for right."
459
Every teacher I have ever known pays for needed classroom supplies out of their own pockets. Not goodies but the basics, like paper and pencils.
29
When teachers do this, they are subsidizing the governments lack of commitment to education. Change professions. Move to a state where teachers are paid well. Do not, do not bow down to an employer who is not paying you a wade based on your education. Because teachers have been so "nice" everyone is suffering.
"many people don't have the bandwidth to pay more in taxes" is the entire problem in a nutshell. When the top ten percent are worth more than the bottom 90 percent, the only people that can afford to pay for public education are exactly the one not in it and/or trying to destroy it. Why? Maybe they are worried about the competition, or maybe it is just their elitist mentality. In either case, it has been the Republican Party that has done the most the abet this situation.
36
Though I can empathise with the teachers, in most cases I have no sympathy for them, since many of them (as another Times article recently noted) vote Republican. If the teachers don't see the connection, that in itself is worrying.
166
I know it's weird. They are experiencing EXACTLY what they voted for over the years.
43
Danny,
I think it is a big mistake to think that teachers can't learn.
In fact at this point the learning needs to go both ways. The teachers have been remarkable and there is much to learn from the connections they are making and from the ways they are fighting back.
12
Robert,
Having been a teacher, and being married to one, I have no doubts that teachers, as a whole, are able to learn. What struck me was that in neither of the Times articles did any of the teachers make the connection between voting GOP and the parlous state of state finances; the same applies to the teachers in W. Virginia and Oklahoma. Perhaps I missed it in the articles, in which case they have my apologies.
However, given GOP priorities (ie, tax cuts for the wealthy and reduced services for everyone else), what the teachers, in Arizona anyway, are basically saying is rob Peter to pay Paul. So, barring a tax rise, where would the proposed extra 20% come from? It would come out of the emergency services budgets, or public libraries, or health-care, or...
In sum, once the teachers start voting for their own interests, I would lend them all possible support; until then, there's not much one can do to help them.