Arizona Teacher Walkout Is Over, Teachers Returning To School

PHOENIX, AZ – After a historic six-day walkout, Arizona teachers announced that they are returning to their classrooms on Friday.

"We are returning," they said while standing outside the capitol where they had staged protests since last Thursday.

The decision came after the state passed a funding measure providing $100 million more for education and money to give them raises.

"This has been truly incredible," one of the leaders of AEU, Noah Karvelis, says. "We brought a change that no one ever thought that we would see in Arizona.

"We owe it all to the grassroots effort and all the work that people have done." (Get Phoenix Patch's daily newsletter and real-time news alerts. Or, find your local Patch here and subscribe).

While Gov. Ducey pointedly refused to meet with teachers while they staged their rallies, accusing their leaders of being politically motivated, he offered praise for teachers after signing the budget.

"Arizona teachers have earned a raise and this plan delivers," he said in a statement. "The impact our teachers have on the lives of Arizona kids cannot be overstated."

Soon after the teachers said that are returning to work on Friday, districts quickly announced that they will reopen. Given the uncertainty, many had announced that they would be closed for the week.

Karvelis and others started the movement, inspired by their colleagues in West Virginia.

Teachers started by wearing red on Wednesdays, giving birth to the movement's "Red for Ed" motto. That led to walk-ins, rallies, and walkouts.

They were asking for funding to be restored to education in the state – $400 million had been cut over the past ten years – and 20 percent increases in pay. Even with that amount, Arizona teachers – among the worst paid in the nation – would make less than the national average.

Ducey originally said he would only offer them a 1 percent increase in pay.

It was only after the teachers voted to walkout that the governor and state legislature began to budge and came up with a plan that would offer 20 percent over the next two years.

The original plan was met with skepticism as it appeared to lack a method to keep the raises sustainable.

After the teachers walked out, the plan was altered.

The state legislature passed the budget early Thursday morning and it was quickly signed by Ducey.

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This is a breaking news story that is being updated.Photo via Arizona Educators United.