PHOENIX (AP) - The Latest on Arizona teachers’ threat to strike and the governor’s reaction (all times local):
1:45 p.m.
Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey has vetoed 10 pieces of legislation to send a message to the Legislature that he wants them to send him a state budget that boosts teacher pay.
Friday’s vetoes by the Republican governor came the day after tens of thousands of teachers rejected his plan to boost their pay by 20 percent and voted to go on strike next week.
Teachers say Ducey ignored their demands that he also raise pay for support staff, boost overall school funding, restore school funding to 2008 levels and stop tax cuts until funding reaches the national average.
Ducey has refused to meet with leaders of the teacher protests.
His veto letters say “Our teachers have earned this raise. It’s time to get it done.”
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12:01 p.m.
Arizona teachers have voted to walk off the job to demand increased school funding.
The state’s largest teacher membership group said Thursday that teachers will walkout April 26.
Arizona jumped into a movement for higher teacher pay that started in West Virginia, where a strike garnered a raise, and spread to Oklahoma, Kentucky and Colorado.
Republican Gov. Doug Ducey has offered a proposal that gives teachers a 20 percent raise by 2020. Many teachers say the plan failed to address much-needed funding for classrooms and support staff.
Parents and communities already have been making plans for child care and food boxes for kids who rely on free breakfast and lunch at school.
Teachers could face consequences in Arizona, where unions do not collectively bargain with districts and representation is not mandatory.
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