60,000 Teachers to Stage Protest in Arizona and Colorado

As many as 60,000 teachers will take to the streets Thursday in unprecedented strike action that will close the majority of schools in Arizona and Colorado. The grassroots #RedforEd movement is demanding a 20 percent pay raise for teachers as well as around $1 billion more to bring school funding back up to pre-recession levels. Between 30,000 and 50,000 teachers clad in red are expected to march through Phoenix to rally at the Arizona state capitol, while, in Colorado, more than 10,000 teachers are expected to demonstrate in Denver. The walkouts are the latest uprising that began weeks ago, spreading from West Virginia, Oklahoma, and Kentucky. More than 840,000 Arizona students are expected to be out of school Thursday.