Catherwood LibraryILR School

Teachers in Oklahoma, Arizona, and Kentucky are taking action just weeks after West Virginia teachers succeeded in securing wage and benefit increases through a 13-day state-wide strike. In Oklahoma, a movement is garnering support among teachers that are planning a sick-out on April 2nd, the day that state-wide testing is scheduled to begin. In Arizona, 30,000 joined the “Arizona Educators United” Facebook group within the first 10 days it was created. On March 21, sick-outs closed nine Phoenix elementary schools. Arizona teachers are planning a march on the Capitol for March 28 alongside the grassroots movement Save Our Schools Arizona and the Arizona Parent Teacher Association. On March 21, teachers at seven school districts in Kentucky, coordinated with superintendents to close schools in an attempt to mobilize their state capital, where legislators have been pushing to cut cost-of-living adjustments for teachers and other employees.