14
NEWS
PROTEST
from page 12
“Arizona is starving our schools and our teachers. It’s time for it to end,” Sharon Johnson, a first-grade teacher at Lagos Dual Language Academy, told the enthusiastic crowd at the rally at Kyrene district headquarters – which was joined by Superintendent Jan Vesely, school board members Bernadette Coggins and Michelle Fahy and state Sen. Sean Bowie. At Desert Vista High School, teacher Lara Bruner exhorted scores of demonstrators: “The state Legislature must meet the needs of the young people of Desert Vista, of all children in Arizona. It is their responsibility that they have abandoned. In good times, they cut taxes. In bad times, they cut taxes. And we are left with crumbs. Our schools deserve better. Our teachers deserve better. Our students deserve better.” Mountain Pointe High engineering teacher Mel Wendell talked of how the teacher shortage – fueled by an unattractive salary and inadequate supplies – was forcing bigger class sizes. She and other teachers took umbrage at Ducey’s April 10 comment that the Red for Ed movement was “playing politics.”
AHWATUKEE FOOTHILLS NEWS | APRIL 18, 2018
“We’re here for the students and we’re not here to influence any election or political movement,” Wendell said. Asked whether she and her colleagues thought stronger action by teachers might be necessary, she replied, “It’s not something we want to do. It is something I’m prepared to do.” That likelihood of stronger action before the school year ends already has triggered concern among district officials. Tempe Union High School Superintendent Kenneth Baca, who joined the Mountain Pointe walk-in, said his staff is preparing contingency plans in case teachers walk out before the school year ends next month. “I think we have to be prepared for everything,” Baca said. “We’re going to do everything we can to make sure that students are taken care of. We want to be very cognizant of the needs of our seniors and want to ensure nothing deters their ability to graduate.” Vesely said on Monday that Kyrene schools will shut down if teachers walk – and that classes will be made up, if necessary, starting May 25 until Kyrene reaches the state-mandated 180 days of instruction. “Any activity that forces the cancellation of class or interrupts the learning of the
children with whom we are entrusted would be unacceptable,” she said, praising Ducey for his “clear message of his awareness of the value of qualified teachers in every classroom, the understanding that an engaged teacher may be the greatest indicator of student success, and the undeniable fact that those teachers, who are in service to our children every day, were being woefully underpaid.” “We are aware of the concern and potential for walkout and will, as always, keep the families and children of Kyrene as our first concern,” Vesely also said, adding: “We are very fortunate to have the support of the Kyrene community, who have consistently endorsed public education, adding funding through local ballot initiatives and being present in school activities – as parents, business partners and community.” Tim Ogle, executive director of the Arizona School Boards Association said his organization is having a webinar for school officials on how to handle both walk-ins and walkouts. Both Baca and Ogle stressed, however, that education funding may have reached the breaking point in Arizona. Ogle said Arizona has a “crisis” in attracting and retaining teachers, while
Baca made it clear that the rallies are just not about hiking teacher pay. Teachers in the Ahwatukee walk-ins stressed that the onus for the crisis falls on the Legislature. “We need help,” said Mountain Pointe ceramics teacher Teresa Gilchrist, holding her 2-year-old son as she joined her colleagues on the curb before class. “Our community has supported us with bond and budget overrides but we need more.” A teacher for seven years, Gilchrist nodded to her son and added, “If I was not married, I could not support myself and him.” Nine-year Mountain Pointe culinary and marketing teacher Marish Varley talked of how inadequate funding sometimes leaves her students incapable of using the kitchen to learn cooking skills. “If a stove is broken, they can’t cook,” she said, adding that students are beginning to accept that status quo because they have seen it repeated so often. “I feel like things are getting worse,” Varley said, citing increasing student performance requirements at the same time she and other teachers scramble for adequate classroom tools. Asked if she thought stronger action will be needed, Varley replied, “We have See
PROTEST on page 16
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