The bigger issue is the question of whether teachers are ‘on strike’
By Howard Fischer | Capitol Media Services via Arizona Daily Star
The statewide teacher strike enters its third day Monday as educators remain dissatisfied with the pay hike proposal by Gov. Doug Ducey and many schools remain closed despite threats by the Goldwater Institute to sue.
Educators and supporters plan to rally at the state Capitol today.
The walkout by teachers that started Thursday and has affected some 850,000 Arizona schoolchildren is an illegal strike, contends Timothy Sandefur, an attorney for the organization that litigates over conservative causes.
“Public school teachers in Arizona have no legal right to strike, and their contracts require that they report to work as they agreed,” he said.
But the real target of his legal threats are individual school districts, which he contends are facilitating walkouts. That includes everything from closing schools while the teachers and support staff are staying away to refusing to dock the pay of the absent teachers.
