Ducey questions teacher walkout, says his plan will benefit schools

Gov. Doug Ducey said Monday that he didn’t understand why a teacher group was organizing a walkout this week, despite his best efforts to push a plan that would give across-the-board 20 percent raises by the year 2020.

“I don’t know why the leaders would say that they’re going to strike when we are delivering for the teachers on what we believe they deserve,” Ducey said on the Mike Broomhead show, broadcast on KFYI-AM (550).

“Whatever the leaders in that movement are doing, I don’t think they’re really representing the teachers that are there for their kids every day, that are there for their parents.”

A vote, conducted jointly between the grassroots teachers group, Arizona Educators United and the teachers union, the Arizona Education Association, resulted in 78 percent of teachers who participated favoring a walkout.

That result, based on 57,000 votes of teachers and school employees, was announced on Thursday, with a walkout planned for one week later.

The group has a series of demands. One was an immediate 20 percent pay raise. The others include pay increases for support staff, a restoration of education dollars cut in previous years and a halt to tax cuts until education funding reaches the national average.

Ducey’s plan calls for a 9 percent pay raise next year, followed by 5 percent increases the next two years. Coupled with the 1 percent hike already given, it would mean an effective 20 percent raise by the year 2020.

Ducey said during the radio interview on Monday that he thought his plan met the group’s demand.

“That was what the request was,” he said. “That was what we addressed. And then, after that, they said, ‘Oh, that’s not good enough. We’re going to strike anyway.’”

Ducey did not specifically address the group’s other proposals. He said his plan would give money for school employees and that the state needs a tax rate that will attract and grow business.

Some have called for a tax increase to expand education funding.

Ducey, in the radio interview, said his office came up with the teacher-pay plan over two days. He said that on April 10, he met with a group of district superintendents who told him he needed to formulate a plan.

The next day, he said, the state’s Finance Advisory Committee released a report showing strength in the state’s economy. That same day, he said, the federal Congressional Budget Office also released an optimistic forecast.

“In putting that plan together,” Ducey said, “we had those dollars to put into the plan.”

Lawmakers have expressed skepticism about both the financial footing of the plan and the method by which the money would be doled out.

Sen. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, the second-highest ranking member of that body, said the Senate is running its own models using less-optimistic projections than Ducey.

House Majority Leader John Allen, RScottsdale, said that body was also looking at various funding scenarios, including some that don’t include the proposed raises. Allen said the House wasn’t looking at any specific plan, but was “working through the math” as a family would before a major purchase.

On Friday, Ducey’s chief of staff, Kirk Adams, had a brief and unproductive meeting with GOP members of the House. Adams walked out of that meeting, calling the House plan a shell game.

Three hours later, Ducey vetoed a slew of House bills. The letters each contained the identical message: Pass the 20 percent pay raise plan.

Some House members were still smarting on Monday over those vetoes.

“He send a statement (with the vetoes), but I don’t think it was the one he wanted,” said Rep. Ben Toma, R-Peoria, who saw two of his bills vetoed.

Rep. Brenda Barton, R-Safford, said the budget is a long and delicate process that can’t be rushed.

“If my colleagues and the Governor’s Office need more time, the voters of Arizona deserve that,” Barton said.

“Constitutionally, the Legislature is responsible for the budget; the governor’s only job is to sign it. I think governors often forget that.”

Ducey’s held off on his veto stamp on Monday, signing two House bills and one Senate bill. A spokesman for the governor, Daniel Scarpinato, said the signings are indicative of the governor’s belief that the chambers were prioritizing the teacher pay-raise plan.

Ducey had a “positive and engaging” meeting on Sunday morning with House Speaker J.D. Mesnard, R-Chandler, Scarpinato said.

Senate President Steve Yarbrough, RChandler, said he met with members of the governor’s staff on Sunday. Late Monday afternoon, he said he was heading to a meeting in the Executive Tower with House leaders and Ducey’s staff.

Ducey was scheduling meetings with legislative leaders of both parties this week, Scarpinato said.

Ducey, in the radio interview, said he was planning on having individual meetings with both Republican and Democratic lawmakers to push his plan. “I’ve got a sense of urgency,” he said. Other members of the House and Senate have said they are uncomfortable having lawmakers give raises to teachers directly, preferring instead to have the money go to districts.

Ducey, during the radio interview, said he wanted assurances in the legislation that money would go only to teacher raises.

“Make no mistake,” he said, “when we pass this plan, every teacher in the state will have a 20 percent pay raise by 2020.”