The #RedforEd Wave Is Likely to Build, Not Subside, in 2019
Teachers unions are poised to strike across the country.
Earlier this year, #RedforEd campaigns took off around the country, from West Virginia to Oklahoma and points in between. Teachers and support staff, even in notoriously anti-labor states like Arizona, walked off the job and into state capitals, demanding better pay and more funding for schools, among other key issues.
With 2019 just around the bend, the wave of education activism shows no signs of ebbing.
On November 7, educators in Alabama, for example, held the state’s first #RedforEd rally with support from both the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers. Citing rising health insurance premiums as well as inadequate pay and minimal classroom funding, hundreds of Alabama teachers gathered on the steps of the state capitol in solidarity, despite the fact that Alabama has been a right-to-work state for decades. (Teachers in right-to-work states do not have the legal authority to strike.)
Teachers in Louisiana, too, are contemplating collective action in 2019, in defiance of their state’s restrictive labor laws. Average teacher salaries in Louisiana fall just under $50,000, according to news reports, and the Louisiana Federation of Teachers has put lawmakers on notice, advising them to either CONTINUE READING: The #RedforEd Wave Is Likely to Build, Not Subside, in 2019 - Progressive.org
