Arizona teacher strike: Teachers vote to hold walkout starting Thursday

Just like all the other walkouts I'm in full agreement of this one. And just like all the other walkouts the teachers are looking for more than just a pay raise. They actually want to see their schools get proper funding. They care about their kids and they want to give them the best education they can.

originally posted by: PraetorianAZ
Side note: as I write this at 8pm my wife is still working on her IEP's

Yup a lot of commentators across media don't understand that most credentialed teacher jobs are NOT 8-4 pm jobs, or 7-3. That is just the school schedule for kids to be there, not including all of the staff meetings, curriculum planning, grading, etc. School schedule for kids does not equal work schedule for teachers.

The only problem with this is the taxpayers have no one to fight on their behalf. The public state employees in a union have a collective bargaining position that the taxpayers do not enjoy. We can easily see what has happened with the teachers retirement accounts in multiple states. The politicians kept on promising more and more future compensation with no drawbacks. Well, we are seeing those drawbacks now.

Where does this money come from? Is there an endless supply somewhere that I am unfamiliar with? You think salaries are the big issue now, just wait until the retirement packages go belly up.

Again, where does this money come from? The state can't just print it out of thin air as does our federal government.

Maybe the idea of public education isn't such a great concept anymore. It is probably time to privatize the entire enterprise.