Arizona lawmakers are rushing to pass a plan to give a pay bump to teachers who have walked off the job in an unprecedented statewide strike, closing schools for the fifth day. Tens of thousands of Arizona teachers are protesting low pay and school funding, saying Ducey’s plan doesn’t go far enough to restore lost classroom resources or offer raises to support staff. Key items in the plan backed by GOP leaders in the Republican-led Legislature are; adding $10.4 million more to the budget, nearly $273 million for a 9 percent teacher raise and wraps in $34 million from a 1 percent pay increase last year. The Legislature has slashed about $371 million in annual payments for other school district costs since 2009, including cutting $117 million in Ducey’s first year in office in 2015. The budget restores $100 million as part of a plan to return the payments to pre-recession levels in five years.
