Teacher walk-outs in Phoenix area (Tucson, Glendale: teaching jobs, school districts, college)

[phx1205]

What I haven’t seen anyone talk about is: if we think teachers should be paid more, what is the solution to make that happen?

What I think some people are arguing here is these teachers need to take real action, like a prop that says each district must spend a minimum of 60% (for example) of revenue in the classroom ( including teacher pay). Why aren’t people gathering signatures to get something like that on the next ballot? That’s the kind of stuff that I think some people in this thread are saying would be much more effective than a walkout.

So what’s your idea/solution?

[newtoaz20172]

Arizona's public education is a laughing stock. Some teachers make 16-20 dollars an hour with a Masters degree. There was that woman who posted her 34k salary and $120 dollar raise, and some people actually thought that was OK because you know what you're getting into. Clueless.

I've always found there to be less of an emphasis on educational attainment in Arizona, especially when compared to the coasts. 3

https://statisticalatlas.com/place/A...nal-Attainment

You can find Phoenix has well below-average educational attainment.

If you want to see what a pure red state looks like, look at Kansas as it cuts its way into oblivion.

[asufan]

Originally Posted by newtoaz20172

Arizona's public education is a laughing stock. Some teachers make 16-20 dollars an hour with a Masters degree. There was that woman who posted her 34k salary and $120 dollar raise, and some people actually thought that was OK because you know what you're getting into. Clueless.

I've always found there to be less of an emphasis on educational attainment in Arizona, especially when compared to the coasts. 3

https://statisticalatlas.com/place/A...nal-Attainment

You can find Phoenix has well below-average educational attainment.

If you want to see what a pure red state looks like, look at Kansas as it cuts its way into oblivion.

I'm a product of California public schools, not AZ, however no one is saying the pay is OK they knew what they were getting into, I'm saying the pay is not OK, but don't start a school year knowing what you get paid and walk out from your job. Protest all you want as long as youre doing your damn job. Or don't commit to it at all.

[AZ Manager]

Where is the money going to come from? We just dumped $240 million from prop 123 into public schools where the overwhelming majority of that is going to teacher pay, raises and new hires make up 90% of the mkney. That doesn't even factor the increases at the local level from all the teacher pay bills that were voted on in 2016. With 4.5 million residents it would take another $54 a year in taxes to match the prop 123 additions which teachers have labeled as way too little. Should we all throw in a couple hundred more a year just for salaries? Where's the bill for it? Do we also tax Sun City, etc.? If not the individual share goes up more.

I say not without a major revamp of our public school systems in the first place. Why is there such a gigantic disparity for things like administration costs, meal costs, etc. per student around the state?

I find it funny that the worse the district preforms the more noise the teachers make about pay, looking at you Dysart Unified. Why are we still pushing English only and not dual language instruction for example. It is showing much better long term results, lower dropout rates for example, and could be cheaper than our ESL programs.

Without drastic changes to how the districts operate I won't ever back raises for teachers.

[LadyKatie3]

Well I’m moving there and I’ll save you money by homeschooling..

[yukon]

The state education budget was cut in 2008 and despite dumping money into it, it has not been restored back to pre-recession levels. Don't be fooled by Gov Ducey's shell game.

[cattastic]

The entire point of protest and civil disobedience is to be inconvenient! People will not listen or help those who ask politely.

To those who tell teachers to "find another profession" seriously shush up. Most states are struggling to find teachers, let alone GOOD teachers. The work they do should be valued by society and if they aren't getting a fair wage or fair treatment they have every right to engage with society to bring about changes that benefit them and help them in the work they are trying to do.

And yes, MANY good teachers have left. Turnover is incredibly high at 3-5 years. Why? Because of people like posters in here, who tell them to stop whinging about getting **** pay and to just leave if they aren't getting fair treatment. Meanwhile, our kids are getting a ****ty education and unprepared for the job market.

GOOD teachers do much more than teach content. They act as social workers and counselors and advocates, often left to basically raise other people's kids for them. Tell me: how much do YOU think you should get paid for going into work every day where one of your students might have a gun or a knife, could throw a chair at you, yell expletives at you, all while dealing with an unsupportive admin and absent parents giving you no support and resources?

And yet, so many people stay in this profession despite the low pay because they are good at their jobs, passionate about their work, and believe in the children and communities they serve. We do not want these people to leave. We want these people to get the support they need to do their jobs safely and to live above the poverty line.

We need well qualified, well trained teachers that are up to the task of taking on the significant challenges faced by so many of our communities as manifested in its youth. Well qualified people CANNOT stay in the profession if they can't afford their rent. We need to be fighting for these people, advocating for them, and supporting them. We need to be engaging with the board, we need to be voting, we need to be showing up at meetings and asking questions.

Telling them to shut up and stop complaining or leave is treating these people as throwaways. They are not, sir, they are not. They do vital work that contributes to the betterment of our communities and society and, even if you disagree with the issue, deserve to be treated with dignity and respect.

[MN-Born-n-Raised]

Originally Posted by LadyKatie3

Well I’m moving there and I’ll save you money by homeschooling..

I pay property taxes in two spots. So I help pay and my kids are grown. I don't mind at all and I'm glad to help. I'd vote for more special funding if I could, but they won't let me vote (MN registered voter). I'm a huge fan of well funded and motivated teachers. It's always a personal decision. But personally, there are some serious trade-offs to home schooling. Some good and some not-so-good.

[thinkalot]

Originally Posted by asufan

I assume the families add a lot more to the economy than a retiree that moves here just to live in a $140K house out in Florence and exist. A lot of these people live in unincorporated retirement communities so that they contibute $0.00 to schools. I'm not talking about snowbirds or well-off retirees, I'm talking about those that move here just to lower their costs and exist because they don't have a pot to pee in. There's A LOT of them out there.

Most families don't add to the economy. They use many more services than they pay for. A single retiree that spends $25,000 a year helps much more than a family of 5 that spends less than $100,000 a year.

I don't think too many poor retirees move here. I am sure there are some but a low percentage of the total.

[MN-Born-n-Raised]

Originally Posted by Jnvlv247

I am confused. He said pay does not equal importance of the job. You just backed it up. With a 4 star general getting paid less than a football coach I would think the more important job is being paid less

You might be right. If he meant "=/= is "Not equal to" I missed his real POV. But his supporting words on the same post read that he was discounting the lower value/salary. Because teachers were supposedly in oversupply (and how I read it) not as important. But I see your point. So I guess I'm now really not sure what he meant.