Veteran educator shares how Red For Ed movement impacted the community

Tish Malone, a 23-year veteran teacher in the education system, said the back to school weekend is the most exciting time of the year for her.

“I get to teach Math Analysis this year,” said Malone.

School is back in session for all schools in the Yuma Union High School district on August 2nd.

Malone, a math teacher, is entering her 15th year at Yuma High School. But, in all the years she has worked in the education system, this past school year was the most challenging and active.

The Red For Ed movement sparked a fire in Arizona’s education system. Teachers respectively walked out of their classrooms to walk in solidarity and proved they wanted and needed change. Not only did they need an increase in teacher pay, but also an increase in school funding overall.

Governor Doug Ducey’s plan includes a nine percent increase that goes into effect this fall. Malone said she is excited to see what her paycheck will look like. This increase brings the teacher salary median in Arizona to $52,725.

Ducey also guaranteed to give teachers a five percent increase in the fiscal year 2020 budget and another five after that.

Those increases coincide with the one percent of teachers were given last year and will eventually add up to 20 percent raises making the average pay $58,130.

But, the pay raise did not stop the education movement. Now, the Invest In Ed campaign, a movement that stems from Red For Ed, can be something to look for on the November ballot come this fall.

The Invest in Education initiative would raise the income tax rate on those making more than $250,000 by 3.46 percent and for those making more than $500,000 by almost 4.46 percent.

Malone said educators do not plan on walking out of their classrooms this school year, but they will push voters to hit the polls this November.