PHOENIX - Arizona teachers and supporters of the Red For Ed movement were back at the Capitol Monday for the third day of protest, demanding to see Gov. Doug Ducey's budget bill that would give teachers a 20 percent raise by 2020.
Joe Thomas, president of the Arizona Education Association, said teachers and schools "have to have" competitive salaries, buildings that are not "falling down" and technology that’s not "10 years old."
"We need a lot of things because they have starved our schools for 20 years," Thomas said.
Since the teacher walkout started last week, more than 100,000 teachers and Red for Ed supporters have marched and rallied at the Capitol for a teacher pay raise and better school funding for classrooms and support staff.
As thousands marched on the Capitol Thursday, the Arizona State Legislature adjourned for the weekend without taking up a budget bill. But following another Red for Ed rally Friday, Gov. Doug Ducey, Senate president Steve Yarbrough and House Speaker J.D. Mesnard announced a deal that would give a 20 percent pay raise to Arizona teachers.
However, education leaders and the Red For Ed movement have expressed skepticism about the plan. They want to see the bill.
As the rally started Monday, the crowd chanted "What's the plan, Ducey, what's the plan?"
In an interview on "Sunday Square Off" with Team 12's Brahm Resnik, Thomas said the walkout is open-ended as they await the introduction of Ducey's budget bill.
Thomas and other leaders at the rally Monday called on the teachers and supporters in the crowd to speak to the Arizona legislators.
"They must give us a budget that values our students and values our efforts," Thomas said. "Nothing else comes out of the ninth floor and nothing else gets voted on in the House or Senate."
