Teacher walkout spurs new candidates
By Dustin Gardiner | The Republic
Jennifer Samuels had thought about running for political office before but wasn’t ready to take the plunge until she spent a night at the Arizona Legislature.
She was among the tens of thousands of teachers who stormed the state Capitol this spring during #RedForEd’s six-day school walkout to demand increased funding for education.
Samuels, an eighth-grade English teacher in north Scottsdale, sat in the front row of the Arizona Senate gallery until 5:30 a.m. during lawmakers’ all-night budget vote.
The Legislature approved teacher raises, but Samuels left feeling outraged. She said they showed little interest in educators’ other concerns: crowded classrooms, outdated textbooks, rundown buildings.
The next morning, over a cup of coffee with her husband, she decided she was in.
