Day 4 of the #RedForEd teacher walkout ends with a counter-protest

Arizona educators and #RedForEd supporters gathered at the Arizona Capitol on Tuesday for a fourth day of teacher walkouts.

Organizers have announced walkouts will continue Wednesday, as the Legislature continues to debate the budget.

Participants are fighting for more education funding and teacher raises.

#REDFORED BUDGET NEGOTIATIONS: Follow our live coverage here

IS YOUR SCHOOL CLOSED? Some Arizona schools announce Tuesday closures

A team of Arizona Republic and azcentral.com reporters and photographers is covering the historic #RedForEd walkout in real time.

6:30 p.m.: Verbal clash between red and purple supporters

Two men from the opposing factions exchanged heated words. A #RedForEd supporter, who said he was a veteran, disputed claims that he had a legal obligation to be in the classroom.

A #purpleforparent member objected, saying the teacher had betrayed his students. He said when you're a veteran you have to fulfill your terms of service. He said the teacher would have been court-martialed if he had walked out on the military.

The two men yelled back and forth for a few minutes and then went their separate ways.

By 7 p.m., most purple protesters had left the Capitol, while a few remained in small groups and continued talking.

6 p.m.: Counterprotest by #purpleforparents begins

A group of about 40 people opposed to the walkout gathered in front of the Capitol, saying that #RedForEd represents a socialist movement and that teachers have betrayed their students.

The group, made up of members of the self-described Patriot movement, stood in a circle and passed microphone around and denounced the walkout.

Retired teacher Jennifer Hill, who works as a substitute, said the walkout has cost her income that can't be made up.

Hill, also a Patriot member, said the teachers who walked out are selfish and violated their teaching contracts.

5:10 p.m.: Teachers likely to return to class Thursday

Arizona teachers will return to class Thursday if the Legislature passes the budget by then, organizers announced Tuesday evening, marking the end to the largest walkout in modern American history.

Noah Karvelis, organizer with the Arizona Educators United group, and Joe Thomas, president of the Arizona Education Association, urged the state’s educators to return to schools once the budget is passed. The Legislature appears to be on track to vote Wednesday.

4 p.m.: Awaiting news

Arizona Educators United and the Arizona Education Association have announced a news conference at 5 pm. at the Capitol.

According to the release, they will respond to the budget proposal and announce next steps.

3:45 p.m.: Child-abuse reports

Since the walkout began, calls to the state’s child-abuse hotline have dropped 28 percent.

That’s not surprising to officials at the state Department of Child Safety, as teachers comprise the second-largest category of people who are required by law to report suspected cases of child neglect or abuse.

The decline, tallied over the first three days of the walkout, is similar to the drop seen when school lets out for the summer or close for holidays, said DCS spokesman Darren DaRonco.

The 28-percent reduction means the hotline is getting about 400-plus calls a day, compared to the low 600s, statistics show.

3:30 p.m.: Shrinking crowd

People are beginning to tear down their tents and most of the food trucks are gone. The line to the House is still more than 50 people long.

3:30 p.m.: Letters to lawmakers

Jon Bowen, a school psychologist at Paradise Valley Unified, and his colleagues have a station where people write letters urging their legislators to support increased school funding.

He said a second-grader spent an hour writing a three-page letter.

Laura Anderson, another school psychologist, said she heard that legislators value physical letters over phone calls or emails and wanted to make sure everyone at the Capitol made an impact.

Anderson said the group collected 401 letters since Friday — not counting the ones constituents hand-delivered.



3:15 p.m.: Registering voters

Lots of volunteers are walking around with voter registration forms.

One group of young women from The Arizona Center for Empowerment said everyone they’ve encountered is registered, but they are helping to get people on the permanent early voting list or updating personal information such as addresses.

3 p.m.: 'Much more momentum'

Richard Gross retired as a full-time teacher, but now works part-time and is still teaching his students during the walkout.

“I have been a teacher for 40 years,” Gross said.

Gross now works part-time and is still teaching his students during the walkout. At Millennium High School, his students have Chromebooks and can see their assignments online.

Through the years, Gross said, he has seen a lot of broken promises and has demonstrated several times. But he believes this time is different.

“This one has much more momentum,” he said.

His four children graduated from Arizona schools and he believes they “stood on the shoulders of great teachers.”

Gross has been at the Capitol since the first day of the walkout.

“As long as there are people out of school, I feel obligated to be here,” he said.

2:30 p.m.: 2.5 hour wait to access House

Security just opened the Arizona House of Representatives for a new batch of teachers to enter the gallery. They said they waited in line 2.5 hours. When the door opened, one responded with a "Hallelujah!”

2:30 p.m.: Support from students

“Our teachers were really bummed out when this started because they felt they were abandoning us. But they knew they had to," said Chandler High senior Dakota Smith. "So we wanted to come here and spread some love and support our teachers. They were really happy to see us."

2 p.m.: Opposed to the ballot measure

A group of four family members — mom, dad, aunt and daughter — who teach in Flagstaff and Tucson arrived for the protests. They said they are all conservative Republicans.

None of them support the proposed ballot initiative known as the “Invest in Education Act,“ which would raise income taxes on Arizonans earning more than $250,000 a year.

“It’s unbalanced. You can’t expect (high earners) to foot the entire bill for the state. It’s not equal and it hurts small businesses (owned by families). They will get hammered,” said daughter Claire Corcoran, 35, a middle-school art teacher. “I don’t think people should vote only other people’s money for it. We’re all stakeholders.”

Instead, she said, there should be a mix of small tax hikes on personal income, corporate income and sales.

She said she is conservative and supports the concept of low taxes, but that Arizona’s taxes are so low it is hurting the state’s ability to produce qualified employees and prohibiting business growth.

“Cutting taxes any more is not going to encourage more business,” she said. ”Amazon didn’t come here, despite the tax breaks."

The family members said taxing online purchases would be another good way to fund education spending increases.

“That would be an untapped source of revenue,” said mother Kathy Corcoran, 57, a high school special-education teacher in Flagstaff. “If you’re selling merchandise online and not paying online sales taxes, it hurts small businesses and brick-and-mortar stores.”

2 p.m.: Criticism for Kelly Townsend

The Corcoran family expressed extreme frustration with state Rep. Kelly Townsend, one of the most vocal critics of the #RedForEd movement.

“I am a registered Republican and last weekend I called the Republican headquarters with my three issues. Two of them were Red For Ed and the third was that the Republican Party needs to get Kelly Townsend under control," Kathy Corcoran said. “When she goes on attack, it’s personal and unfounded. She accuses all of us of being communists?”

Aunt Laurel Irwin, a kindergarten teacher from Tucson, said she has been impressed by the mix of people on the left and right involved in the grassroots organization Arizona Educators United.

“The AEU has definitely been very neutral, very bipartisan,” Irwin said, though she said other organizations such as the teachers' union, the Arizona Education Association, have been more partisan.

1:45 p.m.: Helping moms, babies

After sharing space at the Capitol on Thursday with a group hosting a “nurse-in,” Michelle Hottya thought of ways to support mothers and teachers.

She decided to place a tent at the walkout.

Educators are able to use the tent’s power and supplies to pump breastmilk and change their child’s diaper.

“She saw a need and filled that need,” said Sharon Zolondek.

1:30 p.m.: Hoping to make change

Paisley Martin stood near the end of the line waiting to get inside of the House. The mother of two is a teacher in the Gilbert school district.

“I’m hoping we will make some changes to the proposed budget to include all teachers and support staff,” she said.

Martin is prepared for the walkout to go longer than Tuesday. She said her children are a reason.

Her son’s kindergarten class was too big and had to be split up. His class still has more than 20 students.

According to Martin, anyone who thinks teaching is an easy career doesn’t understand.

1 p.m.: Long lines into the House

As House budget hearings continued, there was still a long line to get inside. Lily Del Valle stood with a group of teachers from Tucson.

“I’m here for my students,” said the Gallego Primary teacher.

Del Valle had to think about walking out for days. However, she is prepared for the walkout to last as long as it will take for her students to get the funding to have a “high-quality education.”

12:30 p.m.: Staying through the night

Music teacher Sarah Jones with Phoenix’s Creighton School District is planning to spend the night at the Legislature.

“As long as they are in session, they can’t kick us out," she said as she walked towards the Capitol with her trombone. She had just finished playing at the walkout with other music teachers.

“We want the Legislature to hear us and hope our music gets their attention," she said. “I want to see the legislature come up with new revenue source to pay for education. I don’t like plans to take money from other programs. Stealing from Peter to pay Paul won’t work. “

Jones said the plan is for as many teachers as possible to stay the night at the Legislature.

12:15 p.m.: Seeking sustainable funding

Around mid-day, teachers sat on blankets on the lawn and in folding chairs underneath tents. Others stood in groups, talking and holding signs.

A partly-cloudy sky and temperatures in the mid-70s were a welcome break from the usually relentless Arizona sun.

Art teacher Lisa Jacobs-Hunter came up with a creative solution to keeping herself cool and still get her message across. She painted an umbrella with the words, “Save our schools” and “Budget cuts hurt kids.”

“I’ll be here for the long haul today,” she said as she held the umbrella in one hand and a glass of ice tea in the other.

As she stood near the Capitol, she said what she was hearing about Ducey’s budget proposal wasn’t satisfactory.

“We need sustainable funding for students. Sustainable funding. I understand they don’t want to raise taxes, but there has to be a give somewhere,” said the 17-year classroom veteran who teaches at Alhambra High School.

Noon: Cheers for students

A group of about 30 students wearing orange March For Our Lives T-shirts drew loud cheers and applause from the walkout crowd in front of the Arizona Capitol when they arrived.

11:40 a.m.: An hour's wait

A group of Corona del Sol High School students that had been waiting an hour to get into the House was nearly there.

Small groups have been going in every 15 to 20 minutes. The students were about 100 feet back in the line when they started waiting. They are excited to get in and began texting friends and family that they are close.

At 10:41, they walked through the door.

11:30 a.m.: Grading lawmakers

Arizona Teacher Sally Martin began a project to grade legislators on responsiveness to their constituents Saturday. By 11:15 a.m., 75 percent of the poster board report cards displayed in front of the state Capitol had grades. Many had “F” grades.

“Legislators who don't return calls or emails typically get an F,” said Martin, who has taught visually-impaired students in districts across the state. “We educators need to be in touch with our legislators.”

She is inviting legislators to come to the report card display and make a case for getting their grade changed.

A few lawmakers posed with their good grades.

10:45 a.m.: 'We are here to support our teachers'

Ryleigh Kenterd lined up with four other friends from Tempe’s Corona del Sol High School at 8 a.m. to get into the Capitol.

“We are here to support our teachers. We will be here all day,” said Kenterd, who has several teachers in her family. “You know things are bad when you walk into a classroom and half of a desk is missing. “

Jordan Uhrinyak and Joey Andrade, also students at Corona, said the group will be at the Capitol supporting teachers all day.

"Things have to change for Arizona schools and teachers soon," Andrade said.

All five wore red shirts and had signs of support for the walkout.

10 a.m.: Crowding the Senate gallery

More than 170 supporters of #RedforEd and #MarchforOurLives filled the gallery of the Arizona Senate as lawmakers began debating Gov. Doug Ducey’s plan to prevent school shootings.

People wearing red and orange T-shirts in support of the movements filled nearly every seat.

Unlike the House, where protesters have clapped and cheered loudly without restraint in recent days, Senate President Steve Yarbrough, R-Chandler, ordered the crowd to avoid outbursts. He said the chamber is “hallowed ground” and he will not permit clapping or hollering.

WATCH BUDGET HEARINGS LIVE: House Appropriations Committee hearing



Sen. Steve Farley, D-Tucson, praised the teachers and students, saying they are laying the groundwork for a more inclusive political system. The crowd rose their hands and silently wiggled their fingers from the gallery above.



“It has been absolutely inspirational to have this sea of red everywhere we go,” Farley said. “This is the ultimate civics lesson.”

9:30 a.m.: 'I'll be here every day'

Kristy Shultz and Donna Pulley, kindergarten teachers in the Washington Elementary District, parked a couple of blocks from the Capitol and began hiking in at about 9 a.m., their arms full with coolers and folding chairs.

A chorus of horns beeped support as they made their way down the sidewalk in their #RedForEd T-shirts.

It’s a familiar walk by now for both of them.

“I’ll be here every day,” Shultz said. “We don’t really have a choice.”

Shultz and Pulley said the walkout is not simply about salaries, but about better funding for K-12 education overall. They said they each spend an average of $2,000 a year on classroom supplies.

“I’d make it about a month with what’s provided,” Pulley said.

They stepped across a lawn already crowded with blankets and tents. Shultz greeted her colleagues from Sunnyslope Elementary School and together they settled down for Day 4 of the walkout.

“This is the only tool available to us,” said Hui Neng Amos, a seventh-grade teacher at Sunnyside. “This is it.”

9 a.m.: Watch budget hearings live

Can't make it to the Capitol? Watch the 9 a.m. House Appropriations Committee hearing live online here.

8:30 a.m.: March for Our Lives

It's a busy day at the Capitol. The Legislature is also expected to hold a public hearing on Gov. Doug Ducey's school safety plan. Student March For Our Lives activists are at the Capitol hearings as well.

8 a.m.: 768,100 students impacted

As Arizona's #RedForEd teacher walkout enters its fourth day, more than two-thirds of the state's public-school students remain impacted by school closures.

At least 60 school districts across the state — with a combined 2016-17 enrollment of 768,100 students — closed their schools Tuesday, an updated Arizona Republic analysis has found.

That enrollment represents 68 percent of Arizona's 1.1 million district and charter students.

The latest tally shows that while several schools — many of them small, rural or charter — have reopened since closing Thursday, the first day of the walkout, most schools have remained shut.

Many schools have already announced they will remain closed Wednesday as well.

7:30 a.m.: Get in line

The lines have already begun to get into the House budget hearing.

7 a.m.: Legislative schedule

The House Appropriations Committee is scheduled to hold a public hearing on the budget bills, which were formally introduced last night, at 9 a.m.

The Senate Appropriations Committee will hold a public hearing on the budget bills at 11 a.m.

Both hearings are open to the public, and members of the public can sign up to speak during the hearings.

6:30 a.m.: Tuesday's schedule

Arizona Educators United and the Arizona Education Association announced a slightly different protest schedule than they'd organized during the first three days at the Capitol.

They urged educators and supporters during the morning to participate in local community actions, such as standing with signs on freeway bridges and on corners, and meeting with community members to discuss their concerns.

They've asked supporters to return to the Capitol at 11 a.m. to participate in the budget process and talk to lawmakers.

There are no rallies or marches planned for the Capitol on Tuesday.

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