Arizona educators will walk out April 26

Arizona educators and school employees fueling the teacher-led #RedForEd movement have voted in support of a walkout — an unprecedented action aimed at pressuring state leaders to act on their demands for more education funding.

Leaders of the Arizona Educators United grassroots group and the Arizona Education Association announced the results of their walkout poll late Thursday.

"We are underfunding our students," said AEU organizer and teacher Noah Karvelis. "We are throwing away an entire generation of students' opportunity of academic success."

Karvelis said they will continue non-disruptive walk-in demonstrations on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and then walk out Thursday. This will give schools and parents time to prepare, he said.

“My biggest concern in this moment is we can’t let the status quo continue," Karvelis said. "The biggest disservice we could do to our students right now is not act.”

AEA President Joe Thomas said 78 percent of the 57,000 educators who voted supported a walkout. He said some schools voted against walking out, but the votes at those schools were close.

“This is undeniably and clearly a mandate for action,” Thomas said of the poll’s turnout.

MORE: How social media helped teachers organize in Arizona, across nation

In impassioned, short remarks, the teacher-organizers said the crisis in Arizona education funding left them with no choice but to set a walkout. They framed their announcement as an ultimatum to state lawmakers: Address their demands by Thursday, or teachers will start walking out.

The organizers said they were confident school superintendents and school boards – both of whom would play a crucial role in the walkout’s sustainability – would support their effort.

“We are truly in a state of crisis right now.” Karvelis said.

Parents, teachers, school boards and superintendents have remained on edge in recent weeks as educators intensified their discussions over whether to walk out of schools as their colleagues have recently done in West Virginia and Oklahoma.

Gov. Doug Ducey commented on the news via Twitter: "No one wants to see teachers strike. If schools shut down, our kids are the ones who lose out. We have worked side by side with the education community to develop a sustainable plan to give teachers a 20 percent raise by 2020. I am committed to getting teachers this raise and am working to get this passed at the Legislature. We need teachers teaching, and kids learning."

Districts prepare parents

Public schools across the state have sent notices alerting parents that their schools could close down with little to no notice if educators choose to walk out.

Madison Elementary School District in north-central Phoenix told families to prepare for "suspended instruction, temporary teacher and classroom changes" or combined classrooms depending on how many employees walk out.

Many school district notices warned parents that they would close schools if they feel they don't have enough employees to safely operate.

Escalating action

Thousands of Arizona educators and classified employees such as crossing guards and cafeteria workers participated in this week's voting effort.

The results of the grassroots Arizona Educators United and state teachers' union walkout vote came exactly one week after Ducey announced a proposal to boost Arizona teachers' pay 20 percent by 2020.

The governor's hastily-announced proposal, intended to quell teachers' calls for a walkout, came after weeks of protests and peaceful demonstrations by Arizona educators and their supporters.

RELATED: With walk-ins, Arizona teachers gauge support for walkouts

Some advocacy groups, such as Arizona School Administrators and the Arizona School Boards Association immediately voiced support for Ducey's proposal, as did chambers of commerce statewide.​​​​​​

Organizers with AEU and the Arizona Education Association criticized Ducey's plan, saying it left out support professionals, lacked funding details and didn't address schools' broader funding needs for things like reducing the number of students in each classroom, updating textbooks and purchasing new technology.

Many educators have been divided on Ducey's proposal.

Many education advocates acknowledged the governor lacked details about how the state would fund the raises, but viewed Ducey's proposal as a good-faith effort to address the state's teacher pay that consistently ranks nationally at or near the bottom.

Two prominent groups — Save Our Schools Arizona and the Arizona Parent Teacher Association — initially endorsed the governor's plan. They withdrew their support Wednesday, saying the state doesn't have the revenue to support the proposal.

RELATED: Save Our Schools, Arizona PTA drop support for teacher pay-raise plan

Mixed feelings from teachers

Teachers and school staffers flooded the private Arizona Educators United Facebook page, which has nearly 48,000 members, with differing opinions.

Many educators remained adamant in their support for a walkout, an enthusiasm that's been apparent since the early-March eruption of the #RedForEd movement.

Others believe that while Ducey's proposal does not address all of the demands educators have laid out, it is a good starting point.

They argued a walkout endangers the overwhelming public support teachers have mustered to push for the restoration of $1 billion in cuts to education funding since the recession.

Teacher vote participation

The AEU group and AEA distributed ballots via union representatives and Arizona Educators United "site liaisons," who are primarily teachers who volunteered to serve as the movement's point of contact for their schools. The 1,000-plus liaisons make up the communications system for the #RedForEd movement.

But hundreds of district and charter schools across the state did not appear to have any AEU or AEA representatives.

RELATED: As Ducey touts support for teacher pay plan, some push back on details

Internal documentation from the Arizona Educators United group showed about 70 Arizona school districts — many of them single-school districts in the state's rural pockets — did not have a site liaison.

Nearly 500 of the state's 550 charter schools did not appear to have a site liaison listed in the group's documents.

Teachers in the Osborn, Kyrene and Chandler school districts told The Arizona Republic ahead of Thursday’s vote that several of their educators appeared split on the question of whether to walk out.

“We have a range of teachers — teachers who were ready to walk out last week, and teachers who are scared to wear a red shirt,” said Alexis Aguirre, a teacher at Encanto Elementary School in Phoenix. “Our teachers are mothers and fathers, as well. It’s a really scary thing for teachers to walk out.”

Preparing for the vote results

Arizona Educators United organizers appeared to prepare for a walkout prior to Thursday's announcement.

The group secured permits to stage #RedForEd rallies at the Arizona Capitol on Friday and for four days next week.

An application submitted to the Arizona Legislative Council earlier this week noted that the Friday rally would be from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. with an estimated crowd of 3,000 to 5,000 people.

Teacher demands

Teachers involved in #RedForEd have made five demands of Ducey and the Legislature:

20 percent salary increase : According to an analysis by the Arizona School Boards Association published in January, the median teacher pay in 2018 is $46,949. A 20 percent increase would amount to $9,390, for a total of $56,339.

: According to an analysis by the Arizona School Boards Association published in January, the median teacher pay in 2018 is $46,949. A 20 percent increase would amount to $9,390, for a total of $56,339. Restore education funding to 2008 levels: This would require adding about $1 billion more in state funding to education. Arizona spends $924 less per student in inflation-adjusted dollars today than it did in 2008, according to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee.

This would require adding about $1 billion more in state funding to education. Arizona spends $924 less per student in inflation-adjusted dollars today than it did in 2008, according to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee. Competitive pay for all education support staff . Ducey's proposal does not include raises for these individuals.

. Ducey's proposal does not include raises for these individuals. Permanent salary structure, including annual raises .

. No new tax cuts until per-pupil finding reaches the national average. According to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2015 figures, the most recent available, Arizona spent $7,489 per pupil, compared with the national average of $11,392.

Reach the reporter at Ricardo.Cano@gannett.com and 602-444-8236. Follow him on Twitter: @Ricardo_Cano1

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