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West Virginia Teachers Strike

Those qualities were very much on display in West Virginia, where thousands of teachers relied on Facebook and Twitter to quickly drum up enthusiasm for a job action that spread successfully to all 55 counties in the sprawling, mostly rural state — a task that might have taken weeks or months a generation or two ago. The internet also helped build national support even when the big mainstream media outlets were slow to cover the strike.

In little Ripley, West Va., where Barnette lives and teaches (“believe it or not,” she adds), the 36-year-old educator and now “woke” labor activist said the next focus will be consolidating March’s big win with action at the ballot box in November, to get support for a county tax that subsidizes schools and for new legislators — regardless of party — who will support the middle class. “We won a battle,” Barnette said, “but we have not won the war.”

Link
 
In Oklahoma schools, bosses are helping teachers go on strike

Earlier this month, Melissa Abdo visited a class of future schoolteachers — education majors at Oklahoma State University.

“How many of you are considering teaching in Oklahoma?” she asked them.

Of the roughly 20 students in the class, a single hand went into the air.

“I don’t think Oklahoma wants me,” one student told Abdo, a board member for Jenks Public Schools in suburban Tulsa.

Abdo said this week that she was embarrassed for Oklahoma, where teachers haven’t had an across-the-board raise in 10 years, leaving them with some of the lowest pay in the nation.

So she and members of other school boards across the state have taken a highly unusual step: They’re helping their workers go on strike.
 
‘It just hurts my heart’: Low pay, big classes are the plight of Oklahoma teachers

Ayers took out a high-interest payday loan for a $1,300 car repair. But she could not afford loan payments and groceries, so to feed herself, she began lining up at a plasma center twice a week, earning $20 to $40 for each donation. It made her lethargic in the classroom.

“It left me tired most of the time,” said Ayers, who also developed shingles.

She once had to turn to a church — John 3:16 Mission — for help paying a utility bill. There, she caught a glimpse of some of her students in an after-school program.

“It made me ashamed because I’m trying to inspire children to go to college, to have a better life,” Ayers said. “Here I went to college for nine years, and I can’t even support myself. What kind of role model was that?”
 
All that austerity is really bearing fruit. Nice job Grover Norquist deciples!
 
Teacher rebellion puts red-state Republicans on defensive

Xavier Turner, 17, the student body president at Del City High School in suburban Oklahoma City, held a sign at the protest Tuesday saying: "I'd take KD back before Mary Fallin," showing his preference for NBA superstar Kevin Durant, who left the Oklahoma City Thunder for the Golden State Warriors, over the Oklahoma governor who is term-limited and not running in 2018. He's not quite old enough to vote, but Turner said that as young people register, they will remember who stood with their teachers.

"We just need to do better as far as the Legislature and who we vote in," Turner said Tuesday after joining the protest outside the Oklahoma Capitol. "The national spotlight is on Oklahoma. Hopefully it goes well."
 
First, it was West Virginia. Then, Kentucky and Oklahoma. Now, Arizona and Colorado teachers prepare to walk out.

When adjusted for inflation, Arizona cut total state per-pupil funding by 37 percent between 2008 and 2015, more than any other state. That has led to relatively low teacher salaries, crumbling school buildings and the elimination of free full-day kindergarten in some districts. In 2016, Arizona ranked 43rd in average teacher salaries, according to a study by the NEA. The state reduced its education budget after the recession, and corporate tax cuts dealt a massive blow to revenue.

The Colorado Education Association, a major union, said teacher salaries in that state have fallen when adjusted for inflation. Teachers made an average of $46,155 in 2016, according to the NEA, putting them at 47th in the nation. The stagnant salaries, combined with skyrocketing housing prices in the booming state, have made life untenable for many educators. The state’s constitution gives only voters the authority to raise taxes, and they have twice rejected such proposals.

“Too many educators can’t afford to live in the communities where they teach,” the CEA said in a statement. “During the same time frame, corporations in Colorado have received over $1.6 billion in tax breaks, while every year, educators are asked to do more with less.”
 
This stuff is fascinating. I have a friend at NAU who is active with #redfored in Arizona and I see some of her posts on this from the ground. The fact these red state teachers are rising up with a lot of support is kind of surprising. I think the timing is really good. It's happening at the end of the year after most of the material has been covered and around test time when dissatisfaction among students, teachers, and parents is probably the highest.
 
Especially the way they've been organizing on Facebook and including their communities. One of the Arizona teachers was on PSA and said they've been doing "walk ins" on Wednesday mornings, where they invited anyone in the community to come to the school before school hours to discuss the teachers plans and why they're doing this. So they're using social media to plan across the state and communicating with parents and the community to build support.
 
A look at the crowd:

 
31403993_10157404936050968_8087720770154614639_n.jpg
 
Yeah but they only work for a few months.
 
yeah, NC senators make $15k-ish

PA? $85k

CA - $104k

Lowest - New Mexico doesn't pay its state senators.

source
 
But doesn't paying politicians little or nothing just limit the field of prospective candidates to the independently wealthy?
 
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