#RedforEd Protests Driving ‘Substantial’ Increases in Education Funding
Arizona, North Carolina, Oklahoma and West Virginia are among the states that made the deepest cuts to education in the decade since the Great Recession. In 2018, however, lawmakers in these states boosted school funding. It’s no coincidence, according to a new paper issued by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP), that these improvements came soon after educators launched successful strikes to protest the chronic underfunding of their public schools.
“Protests by teachers and others helped drive substantial school funding increases over the last year,” writes Michael Leachman, Senior Director of State Fiscal Research at CBPP and co-author of the paper.
The funding gains were significant, especially in Oklahoma, where lawmakers increased formula funding per student by 19 percent, adjusting for inflation. Arizona, North Carolina, and West Virginia also saw significant gains, ranging from 3 percent to 9 percent per student, again after adjusting for inflation.
“Oklahoma became the poster child for the funding crisis that led to teacher walkouts in numerous states and cities,” said David Blatt, executive director for the Oklahoma Policy Institute, in a conference call on Tuesday with Leachman and reporters. “For the first time since 2013, we’re no longer No. 1 among states making the deepest cuts to education.” (That would be Texas, where funding per student is now 20 percent below 2008 levels.)
Whether it’s in Oklahoma, Arizona, West Virginia, or most recently in Oakland, CA.,educators are hitting the picket lines to demand a reinvestment in public education, says NEA President Lily Eskelsen GarcÃa.
“Educators all over the country are #RedforEd,” said Eskelsen GarcÃa. While specific issues vary state to state, “there are some issues they all share: The concern that CONTINUE READING: #RedforEd Protests Driving 'Substantial' Increases in Education Funding
