If teachers in Arizona walk off the job on Thursday, April 26 (teachers in Colorado are considering the same), Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Diane Douglas warned that “there may be investigations” if complaints come into the Department of Education. Furthermore, if the courts deem the walkout a “strike”, Douglas cautioned that teacher certifications may be revoked and censure notices placed on an instructor’s permanent record. At least it is not jail time like some reactionary Colorado legislators propose.
In an interview with Channel Three Arizona Family News, Superintendent Douglas relayed that she is in favor of more monies for education and increased salaries for instructors and support staff. She appeared receptive to ideas ranging from local governing boards setting local district salaries to education budget increases being placed as ballot initiatives.
However, Douglas urged teachers not to walk out on Thursday and suggested that they continue negotiations with the Governor and legislature, especially since there are proposals to bargain over. Furthermore, she pointed out that students with free and reduced lunch and special needs may suffer if a walk out occurs. Finally, Douglas intimated that instructors may themselves be blacklisted, have their certificates revoked, or ostracized from future employment if complaints from the community to the department were processed.
That portion of the interview with Superintendent Douglas “threatening” potential reprisals against instructors shows an attitude that this country has not seen publicly since the McCarthy Era when many were blacklisted for their real or imagined beliefs. That attitude should not be ingrained in the public servants of our state or country in the year 2018.
Teachers do not want to strike. Teachers want to educate and shape children’s hearts and minds. However, they cannot do it effectively when their salaries rank near the bottom of the country. They cannot do it passionately when they sometimes have to work a second job to put food on their table. They cannot do it competently when they are not provided the modern resources to do the job well.
This is about what is right for the children. Making sure the people, who are responsible for them eight hours a day or longer, are properly provided for, is a step in that direction. Making sure our schools are safe and provide all the features of Twenty-First Century Culture and Technology is another. The Superintendent and Governor in Arizona are not going to get there by making idle threats or catering to the conservative whims of their alt right-reactionary sponsors who feel the McCarthy Era was “The Good Ole Days.” It is time to properly fund our schools, compensate our instructors and support staff, and prepare our children for tomorrow.
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