Thousands of teachers descended on the Arizona state Capitol on Wednesday to demand a 20 percent pay raise and increases to public education funding, which they say was $1 billion higher before the Great Recession. Arizona teachers were galvanized into action by the success of a similar movement in West Virginia earlier this month where teachers won a 5 percent raise after going on strike. Arizona teachers are among the lowest paid in the nation. A budget plan presented in January included $34 million for the second year of a teacher raise enacted last year, bringing the total raise to 2 percent. The demands were unveiled by the grassroots group Arizona Educators United at a Capitol protest organized in conjunction with Save Our Schools Arizona and the Arizona PTA.

Source: ABC News March 29, 2018 02:26 UTC