DW : How would life change for Arizona students if education were fully funded ?
NK : It would completely transform their lives . They would have the resources- like textbooks- that they need . They would have a chair and a desk in all of their classes . They would have smaller class sizes . They would have more experienced , certified teachers . They would exist in a totally different setting .
DW : The Red For Ed march held in late April of this year drew between 50,000 and 75,000 people . I ’ ve been teaching since 1998 and my father was a teacher from 1960 to 2000 , so I know what education in Arizona looks like and where it ’ s been . Within those sixty years , I ’ ve never even heard of anything like this happening in Arizona . There was a teacher protest in Tucson in the ‘ 70s , but that pales in comparison to the events of the Red For Ed movement . By any metric we ’ ve made history . How does it make you feel to know that you were an integral part of such a historic movement ?
NK : It ’ s incredibly moving . It is hard to even put into words .
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DW : Certainly the sheer size of the movement dwarfs any kind of telling of it . For me , there were so many take-aways from the march and then the rallies held outside the Capitol . What memories stand out for you ?
NK : If I had to pick one single memory , it would be marching down the street and realizing the amount of people present and the beautiful solidarity of everyone present . From the days that follow , I would say every single time I met with a teacher at the Capitol and heard their story . Those were the moments that were so deeply moving and have stuck with me in profound ways .
DW : The number of rallies in front of the capitol were equally impressive . I understand the movement pulled in over 150,000 people if I ’ m not mistaken . For many educators , the rallies were not simply a political strategy ; they were a unifying force for educators across the state . What would you say Arizona educators created ?
NK : We ’ ve created an entire movement and a powerful infrastructure to carry it forward . We now have a powerful vehicle for mobilization and bringing change to the state of Arizona .
DW : I know in my own district , educators were ready to return to work the 3rd of May , but the events of that day took a strange turn when legislators stalled on passing the budget , which meant that we extended the walk-out one more day . Can you relate to me your own experiences of that last day before the vote on the bill ? Were you surprised by the behavior of state government ?