海角大神

When public school teachers in West Virginia heard last winter that their health insurance premiums would skyrocket, Brianne Solomon wasn鈥檛 sure anything could be done about it. Educators like her were grumbling, to be sure, but their union鈥檚 clout in this right-to-work state was questionable.

鈥淚 have the equivalent of three master鈥檚 degrees, and I鈥檓 barely making $45,000,鈥澛爏he says. When the state legislature proposed doubling healthcare costs, it erased what Ms. Solomon calls the 鈥渃onsolation prize鈥� of good benefits that she鈥檇 depended on while her salary remained static over the years. 聽

The ensuing walkout by nearly 20,000 West Virginia teachers 鈥� the first of seven states to see strikes this year 鈥� won a 5 percent pay raise and a one-year freeze on healthcare hikes. And this fall across the country, teacher activism continues with record numbers of educators on ballots in the general election. Solomon has been teaching art and music for 15 years, but today she鈥檚 also one of more than 1,400 educators the National Education Association says is running for seats in state legislatures this November. Several more are still on ballots for Congress.聽

鈥淚 thought, 鈥榃ell, here鈥檚 my chance to do something,鈥� 鈥� Solomon says. 鈥淚聽have emailed my representatives. I have made phone calls. I have attended聽meetings. But nobody seems to be listening. So I guess I鈥檓 just gonna have to replace 鈥檈m.鈥�

Propelling this wave of office-seeking educators is a litany of pent-up grievances, encompassing not only teacher compensation but declining funding that directly affects students. The culprits, according to educators and think-tank analysts: state legislatures instituting supply-side economic strategies that cut taxes and starve public education budgets.

North Carolina, one of six states where teachers held strikes before school let out last spring, 鈥渋s an example of how lawmakers have prioritized tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy over public services,鈥� says Meg Wiehe, deputy director of the Washington, DC-based Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, and a North Carolina resident. 鈥淭he big tax-cutting spree started here in 2013, and they鈥檝e continued cutting.鈥�

Ms. Wiehe says many legislators insist they鈥檝e 鈥済iven more to education this year聽than last year. But the reality is, we鈥檙e still in a worse place than we were, pre-recession,鈥� she adds, explaining that the state will have about $3.6 billion less to spend next聽year, after five years of reducing taxes.

鈥淭he average tax cut for a North Carolina millionaire is about $45,000, which is聽nearly the equivalent to an annual teacher鈥檚 salary of about $51,000,鈥� Wiehe says.

The 2018 PDK poll, which annually measures attitudes toward public schools, found 78 percent of public school parents would support teachers in their own communities if they went on strike for higher pay. Two-thirds of Americans say teachers鈥� salaries are too low.

In Kentucky, where the teacher pension plan looked to be eviscerated, high school math teacher R. Travis Brenda entered the Republican primary 鈥� and, by a razor-thin margin, in May ousted House Majority Floor Leader Jonathan Shell. A measure of Mr. Shell鈥檚 stature in the party is that it鈥檚 said he鈥檚 being groomed to run eventually for the US Senate seat held by majority leader Mitch McConnell.

Shell had introduced a bill to reduce teachers鈥� pension benefits, a move that聽sparked the 鈥淩ed for Ed鈥� movement in Kentucky, with its red t-shirt messaging. 鈥淚 emailed [Shell] seven times to complain. I got one form letter back,鈥� Mr. Brenda says. 鈥淲e were never asking for better pay. We were just asking for what we were promised, which was a good retirement.鈥�

Fellow Republicans dubbed Brenda an opportunist for running a pro-public education campaign. 鈥淪ome of them,鈥� he remembers, 鈥渃alled me a RINO 鈥� a Republican In Name Only. But I鈥檝e been a Republican for decades. I haven鈥檛 changed, but the party has.鈥�

When Brenda attended a Republican Party candidate training session, 鈥淭hey told me to avoid talking about education, because that鈥檚 not one of 鈥榦ur鈥� strong points,鈥� he chuckles. 鈥淏ut that鈥檚 what won the election for me.鈥�

Brenda is a moderate who blames the far left and the far right for refusing to work聽together toward solutions. Being a math teacher, he pictures the electorate on a bell curve: 鈥淚 think most of the people in our country are more toward the middle, and I think most of them would be willing to sit down and compromise on a lot of these issues. But 鈥渢here can鈥檛 be anymore of that 鈥榙o more with less鈥� the legislature has been demanding of teachers,鈥� he says.

Sean O鈥橪eary, senior policy analyst at the West Virginia Center on Budget & Policy, points out that part-time legislatures typically attract candidates that have flexible occupations: insurance agents, realtors, other small-business owners. 鈥淚f you get teachers in there, you鈥檒l have a new perspective,鈥� he says, 鈥渁 perspective legislatures are not used to seeing.鈥� Only 10 states have some form of full-time or mostly full-time legislatures. 聽

Back in North Carolina, 鈥淪tate legislatures are making our public schools places for the 鈥渉ave-nots鈥� and not places for everybody,鈥� says Carla Fassbender, a sixth-grade math teacher running for state representative. She blames market-oriented legislators fostering privatization and charter schools, because such schools siphon off students from economically advantaged families, leaving the public schools to educate a growing percentage of at-risk youth.

In Greensboro, a few counties away from Ms. Fassbender鈥檚 district, former assistant superintendent Ashton Clemmons piggybacks on Fassbender鈥檚 argument, and says it鈥檚 part of the reason she鈥檚 running for state representative in her own district: 鈥淗ere in our state, privatization and charter schools are a huge factor,鈥� she says, pointing out that the legislature currently allots between $14 million to $16 million to private schools, 鈥渂ut by 2020 it鈥檚 supposed to be $144 million in vouchers going to private schools 鈥� and 90 percent of those are religiously based.鈥�

Ms. Clemmons, a mother of three young children, has taught early grades and also been principal of two schools. 鈥淚f 90 percent of these schools have a religious affiliation, how can we say that we have equal access to education? I believe that we say we鈥檙e a state and country that provides opportunity for everyone,鈥� she says. 鈥淔or me, public schools are the only place where we strive to provide opportunity for all.鈥�

Da鈥橯uan Love, a third-grade teacher and candidate from North Carolina鈥檚 Wayne County,聽laments having to work two jobs. 鈥淲e are sick and tired of not having adequate resources for our students. We have had enough with politicians who haven鈥檛 sat in a classroom since 12th grade make decisions that affect our profession,鈥� he says, adding, 鈥淭he folks who are on the front lines of supporting our children 鈥� the people in those classrooms teaching them 鈥� have said, 鈥楨nough is enough.鈥� If people like us don鈥檛 stand up for our kids, then who else will?鈥�