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Saturday, February 4, 2017

Arizona Alert: Stand up for Teachers - Network For Public Education

Arizona Alert: Stand up for Teachers - Network For Public Education:

Arizona Alert: Stand up for Teachers

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Arizona public school advocate and School Board member, Linda Lyon, alerted us to the following:
“Glenn Hamer, President of the Arizona Chamber of Commerce, said, “It’s amazing to me that the teachers unions are out there like a bunch of crybabies screaming about the difficult of getting additional pay to teachers.” His comment was in response to why teachers union should support reforms to the initiative process.
… Arizona’s teachers are the 47th lowest paid in the nation with the average teacher pay falling nationally 1.6 percent over the past decade, but 7.6 percent in Arizona. The low pay is a big part of the reason 53 percent of Arizona teacher positions were either vacant or filled by uncertified personnel in January 2017. And oh by the way, teacher colleges enrollment is down and 25 percent of AZ teachers will be eligible for retirement by 2020, further exacerbating the problem.
Hamer recently teamed up with Lisa Graham Keegan to publish an exuberant support piece for Betsy DeVos on the website “A for Arizona.” In it, they wrote, they are “very pleased with her nomination” writing that it, “signals a shift in the conversation around education policy in exactly the right way.” That “right way” no doubt is the full-steam ahead commercialization of our district community schools.”
Here are 3 easy actions that she and we suggest you take:
1.click here to go to the Chamber’s contact page to express your displeasure with Mr. Hamer himself.​
2. click here to link to the corporate members page on the Arizona Chamber of Commerce. I encourage you to look through the various levels of membership and note those companies that belong. Then click on a few of their logos or links to get their contact info and let them know you do not appreciate their Chamber President’s words.
3. Post this link on your Facebook page so that others do the same.
http://wp.me/p3bR9v-2ho
This is how we must fight back in the era of DeVos.
Thanks,
Carol
Arizona Alert: Stand up for Teachers - Network For Public Education: