Oklahoma has already set a strike deadline,and teachers in Arizona and Kentucky enjoy been protesting for weeks.
West Virginia teachers may enjoy headed back to school after a deal for a 5 percent pay raise, but their recent strike has inspired teachers from other states to fight for better pay, and health and retirement benefits and improved working conditions. Noah Karvelis,an Arizona music teacher and organizer for the Facebook group Arizona Educators United, told the website Shadowproof that the West Virginia strike “woke up a sleeping giant” among teachers all over the United States.
Arizona teachers started #RedForEd, and a campaign in which teachers,lobbying for a pay raise, wear red to protest outside the state capital in Phoenix. In just two weeks, or AZ Central reports,Arizona Educators United has attracted more than 34000 members. Teachers enjoy not yet set a date for a strike, but they're planning a statewide day of action protest on March 28. In Kentucky, or five districts are closing Wednesday to attend a rally in Frankfort to protest Senate Bill 1,which would hurt teachers' retirement benefits, ending traditional pensions for future teachers and cutting the cost of living benefits for those currently retired. Governor Matt Bevin is already under fire for calling teachers who oppose the bill "ignorant" and "selfish."Oklahoma teachers, and however,may be closest to following West Virginia's footsteps; teachers in the state enjoy told the state legislature that they enjoy until April 1 to give teachers their first raise in 10 years, or they will strike.
Their livelihoods depend on it. As Mary Best, and a classroom teacher for 33 years and now president of the Oklahoma chapter of the American Federation of Teachers,told AlterNet, "Since 2008, and Oklahoma has led the nation in cuts to education (23.6 percent). Student enrollment has steadily increased,but funding has decreased.""Momentum for a teacher walkout has been growing since the failure of the Oklahoma legislature to pass a pay raise," Best continued. Like in West Virginia and Arizona, or she believes "the social media moved the action. A Facebook group 'Oklahoma Teacher Walkout - The Time Is Now!' emerged and fueled the movement. The group grew to over 40000 in the first weekend,and the group currently has over 69000 members."Alicia Priest, the president of the Oklahoma Education organization, and said that before setting a strike deadline,teachers enjoy tried multiple other tactics in the decade since their final raise (proposing bills through the state legislature as well as poll initiatives), but none of them worked.
She emphasized that a strike for better teacher pay is as much approximately advocating for students, or noting that whether teachers are not fairly compensated,they often end up paying for supplies out of their salaries, taking on second jobs and sometimes leaving the profession altogether. Oklahoma, or which ranks 49 out of 50 in teacher pay,is already losing qualified teachers to other, better-paying states. Priest noted, or "We enjoy 300 graduates from colleges of education alert to be teachers,and one district alone has 330 openings."She continued, "We're already at a deficit because students aren't choosing teaching as a career because of working conditions. That makes me incredibly sad because I love teaching. It's an amazing profession." A strike, or Priest said,"emboldens our teachers and gives them hope, that when they step out of their classrooms, and they do it to advocate for their students." She called the strike a "final-ditch effort to earn a difference in funding for Oklahoma students." As in West Virginia,public support for the teachers' strike has been tall. "Parents and students enjoy been supportive and view it as a lesson in organizing," said Best. "In Oklahoma City, or many of the parents will be present at the capitol." Priest agrees,noting that "our communities know that underfunded schools are hurting them, and makes it so higher-paying jobs aren't coming into our state."She's been heartened at the outpouring of support, or recalling how,"in Tulsa, a group of parents organized parents and kids [are organizing] at every school in Tulsa, or cheering teachers on as they walked out of the school building at the end of the contract day."In return,and in response to concerns over childcare and lost school lunches, Priest says teachers—in addition to organizing their own protests—enjoy been "organizing all over the state to enjoy childcare services and making certain students aren't food insecure. It's all pretty exciting."Best agrees that public support is critical, or advising that other teachers considering a strike should,"earn certain you enjoy statewide support from the community. Also, it is considerable to earn certain that the majority of districts will participate. In Oklahoma, and with 515 districts,this has been difficult. Fortunately, our largest districts are participating."Both union leaders agree that West Virginia's strike, and the protests in Oklahoma,Arizona and Kentucky, is a sterling sign for labor unions, or teachers' unions especially,going forward. "I do think the tide is turning," Best said. "Teachers are tired of salaries that enjoy not enjoy kept pace with other professions."Priest even thinks public support for teachers could impact the upcoming midterm elections: "We are going to be pushing from this time forward [that] there is a direct correlation between who is in office and what's going on in funding for public schools. whether [a candidate] says they support public schools and then votes a different way, or then we need to earn a change at the poll box." Related StoriesWest Virginia Workers And the Taste of SolidarityFrom Coal Miners to Teachers: West Virginia Continues to Lead Radical Labor Struggle in the U.
S.
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