On April 11, more than 1,000 schools across Arizona held walk-in demonstrations to call attention to the issue of low teacher pay. Statewide, Arizona educators have united in support of raising the pay for teachers and support staff. Teachers and those who support them have also taken to wearing red on Wednesdays to bring additional attention to the cause.

Information was distributed to students at Snowflake High School with facts compiled by Arizona Educators United (AEU). AEU is a coalition of teachers, education support professionals, administrators, and others who care about the state of education in Arizona. “Our goal is to ensure that students have access to highly qualified and experienced teachers, that educators are compensated fairly, and to improve the educational environment in the state of Arizona,” says the AEU website.

Some of the information included in the flier states:

* Since 2008 Arizona has cut $1.5 billion in school funding.

* Arizona is ranked 48 in the country for teacher to student ratio.

* 3,400 classrooms in Arizona are without trained or certified teachers.

* 60,000 students are without a permanent, certified teacher.

According the AEU, Arizona school districts spend less on administrative costs than the national average.

In January, Arizona Governor Doug Ducey proposed a one percent raise for teachers in his executive budget for the next fiscal year. Arizona lawmakers proposed a six percent raise for teachers. Both of those proposals were far short of the 20 percent that teachers were reportedly asking for.

At a news conference on April 12, Ducey announced a plan to increase teacher raises by 20 percent in increments by the 2020 school year. Initially, a pay increase of nine percent would occur this year and another 11 percent by 2020.

“I am a little cautious. All they have been talking about is moving money from other school funding areas to teacher salaries,” said Snowflake Unified School District (SUSD) Superintendent Hollis Merrell.

If pay increases are going to be paid for by funds the school district needs for other areas, then it simply shifts the burden to another area of school funding. SUSD administrators are leery to get excited about teacher pay increases until it is announced where those funds are coming from. Low teacher pay makes it challenging to fill employment vacancies. “We are lucky to get one applicant for an open teaching position,” said Merrell.

AEU has other demands for teachers in addition to the pay raise. They are also asking for additional funding for resources and curriculum materials, competitive wages for classified staff and no new tax cuts just to name a few.

SHS distributed the fliers in support of the walk-ins and the demands that the AEU has proposed. These fliers were also a way to educate parents and students on the issue and included ways to help support the cause. Ways to support the cause include registering to vote and vote for pro-education candidates, join the AEU on social media, research the school voucher expansion Proposition 305 and visit Save Our Schools Arizona on social media.

Despite an ever-growing population, public school funding is nearly 15 percent less than it was 10 years ago.