Arizona lawmakers in the both the House and Senate stayed up all night to pass an education bill that funds teacher raises. Governor Doug Ducey signed it before 6AM Thursday morning.
Gov. Ducey saying 'this is a real win for our teachers, for our kids, for our educators in the classroom.' The bill gives teachers across the state a 9-percent increase in pay before the next school-year and will also boost their pay an additional 5-percent each of the following two years.
Arizona Education Association President Joe Thomas was less enthusiastic saying teachers still feel a little frustrated because they didn't get everything they wanted. Thomas said, 'the entire reason that educators have came down here was to restore...the one billion dollars (in funding) that was stolen from our schools back in '08 and we didn't see any movement on that.'
Though, Thomas and the rest of the #RedForED movement had promised to return to school if lawmakers did approve this funding bill.