Elementary school students Capri Mac, right, and her brother Sawyer, second from right, support teachers during a citywide strike this month in Los Angeles. With many states poised to increase education funding this year, teachers are pressuring districts and legislatures to ensure their needs are met. Richard Vogel/The Associated Press

This is Part Two of the State of the States 2019 series. DENVER — Spurred by teacher strikes and a sense of crisis, Colorado’s new governor is one of 33 newly elected leaders of states and territories who campaigned on improving education funding. In many states, both Republicans and Democrats agree that schools need more money and teachers need better pay. Education “is probably the most important issue” facing the legislature, said Colorado state Sen. Bob Rankin, a Republican who recently co-chaired a state education council. But while most states are likely to put more money into schools this year, political divisions, budget constraints and competing visions for how to fix the education system could lead to some tense debates. Colorado is one state where education funding might spark a battle even though finances have improved. Colorado is projected to have $1.2 billion more to spend in the coming fiscal year. But lawmakers will have to balance Democratic Gov. Jared Polis’ $250 million campaign pledge to offer full-day kindergarten to all children against other priorities, such as a push by teachers unions to spend $672 million to bring K-12 funding up to the level recommended by the state school funding formula. And a 1992 state constitutional amendment that limits the legislature’s power to tax and grow revenue may require some of the new money to be refunded to residents.

Share Embed Idaho and Arizona schools spent the least state, local and federal money per student in fall 2017, according to National Education Association estimates. On average, 2.3 percent less money was spent per student last year than a decade ago, in inflation-adjusted dollars. Source: National Education Association http://www.nea.org/home/44479.htm Copyright © 1996-2020 The Pew Charitable Trusts. All rights reserved.

Meanwhile, inspired by last year’s strike in West Virginia and walkouts in Arizona and Oklahoma, teachers in Colorado and many other states intend to keep pressuring lawmakers and district leaders for more school funding and better compensation. This year kicked off with a six-day strike in Los Angeles that sent thousands of red-clad teachers marching through city streets and won them caps on class sizes, more support staff and fewer standardized tests. Teachers in Denver last week voted to strike, an action that’s on hold while the state Department of Labor attempts to mediate the dispute. “Over the course of the last 10 years, you had the needs of students and teachers being ignored by politicians and those in power, and teachers trying to do things the right way — trying to talk about what their needs were — but they were disparaged and dismissed,” American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten said. Now teachers are pushing harder to have their needs met. In Virginia, for example, Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam has proposed increasing school spending by $269 million — the state’s fiscal 2019 budget allocated about $7 billion for K-12 education — and boosting teacher salaries by 5 percent, up from a 3 percent raise approved last year. Some teachers say that’s not enough. “Five percent feels insufficient,” said Sarah Pedersen, a middle school history teacher in Richmond. She’s organizing Virginia Educators United, a coalition of teachers and education supporters calling for a 14 percent raise to bring salaries up to the national average — $59,660 in 2017, according to the National Education Association (NEA), a labor union — plus more funding for support staff and school infrastructure. Educators rallied in Richmond on Monday to demand better funding for schools. Several Republican leaders of the Virginia legislature contacted by Stateline did not respond to requests for comment. "The question’s going to be, where’s that money going to come from?" Mike Griffith , school finance expert the Education Commission of the States A backlash to last year’s teacher strikes also may be brewing. Republican lawmakers in Arizona and Oklahoma have proposed bills that would limit educators’ power to speak up. The Arizona bill would prohibit teachers from engaging in political advocacy, including expressing an opinion about legislation, court cases and executive branch activity. The Oklahoma bill would prohibit school strikes, deny teachers pay during a strike and revoke the teaching credentials of striking educators. A Better Budget Picture Spending cuts triggered by the Great Recession beginning in 2008 — combined with tax cuts in Republican-led states such as Kansas and Oklahoma — shrank education budgets across the country for much of the past decade. As the economy has improved, so has spending. By 2016, state and local education funding had approximately returned to pre-recession levels, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a left-leaning think tank based in Washington, D.C. But 21 states and localities are still spending less per student than they did a decade ago, adjusted for inflation, according to a Stateline analysis of NEA statistics. Teacher salaries aren’t keeping up with the cost of living in pricey areas. And as state lawmakers cut funding, localities have had to increase spending — with wealthy ones more able to fill the gap by raising property taxes.

Share Embed Average teacher salaries ranged from $83,585 in New York to $43,107 in Mississippi in 2018, according to the most recent estimates from the National Education Association, a labor union that represents educators. Teachers went on strike to protest inadequate pay, benefits and school conditions in California this year, as well as in West Virginia, Oklahoma and Arizona last year. Source: National Education Association http://www.nea.org/home/73145.htm Copyright © 1996-2020 The Pew Charitable Trusts. All rights reserved.