Arizona teachers have authorized a strike to protest the state’s lack of education funding. Teachers are not satisfied with the concessions made by Governor Doug Ducey, who has proposed raising teacher salaries 20% by the year 2020. This did not satisfy the demands of the teachers who demanded increases in wages for support staff, increased funding for educational technologies, and a reversal of budget cuts.
It is important to understand the context that led up to this announcement. Since 2009, legislators have cut $4.56 billion from the state’s educational budget. These cuts have strained teachers who now have larger class sizes and less resources to educate pupils. The capitalist economic system drains funds from public education since this action serves the interests of the oligarchs. Arizona has repealed the estate tax which allows the oligarchs to pass down wealth untaxed to their heirs. Rather than taxing unearned wealth, the bourgeoisie finds it more fitting to worsen conditions for teachers.
Teachers in this country work extremely hard to educate the students to the best of their ability, despite facing declining assistance from the state. Arizona has also given tax cuts to corporations while draining revenue from the state public school system. The corporate tax structure in Arizona is a flat-tax applied to corporate income, which is extremely regressive. It should be of no surprise that this structure serves to increase profits for the capitalists and reduce public services to the workers.
The government, which serves the interests of the capitalist class, has increased exploitation on the working class and worsened working conditions in the pursuit of profit. The utmost respect and solidarity must be expressed with the Arizona teachers and their fight to resist this senseless exploitation.