Already outnumbered in state-level offices, embattled Democrats nationwide are hoping to turn momentum from recent teacher protests into political gains this fall, when 36 governors and three-fourths of state legislative seats are up for grabs.
In states such as North Carolina, Texas, and Wisconsin, Democrats have framed themselves in political ads and candidate talking points as the party that will rescue financially struggling public schools from the grip of fiscally conservative Republicans, who fully control more than half the nation鈥檚 statehouses.
As if U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos鈥� relentless championing of charter schools and vouchers weren鈥檛 enough, millions of Americans have been bombarded by the sounds and images of striking teachers and educators rallying in Arizona, Oklahoma, and West Virginia, articulating the harm of real-life classroom cuts they attribute to Republican leadership.
Democrats are hoping it will resonate with voters of all stripes come November.
鈥淓verybody has had a teacher who inspired them or kept them in school and, as simple as that sounds, there are few things that鈥檚 as familiar to all of us as public schools and teachers,鈥� said Joe Thomas, the president of the Arizona Education Association.
Even the rallies around teacher pay issues that have erupted in Arizona, Oklahoma, and Kentucky have taken on political overtones. Voter registration booths lined walkways. Petitions and volunteer forms were passed around.
In Oklahoma last week, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Drew Edmondson gave teachers at the state Capitol rulers with his campaign slogan and cups of hot cocoa.
And at an especially raucous rally in Phoenix earlier this month, David Garcia, a former teacher and a Democratic candidate for governor, posed for selfies with teachers.
鈥淓very one of these teachers is a potential voter and volunteer canvasser,鈥� said Ian Danley, Garcia鈥檚 campaign manager, while looking out over a crowd of thousands of teachers banging cowbells, blowing whistles, and chanting slogans against incumbent Republican Gov. Doug Ducey.
Democrats are feeling hopeful that their laser-like focus on education might work this fall. Of the seven special elections for legislative seats in Oklahoma last year, Democrats seized four of them. Two of those candidates were teachers.
鈥淲e鈥檙e not using any groundbreaking techniques here,鈥� said Anna Langthorn, the chairwoman of Oklahoma鈥檚 Democratic Party, who said education will again be a top issue on voters鈥� mind this fall. 鈥淲e鈥檙e putting up leaders who are offering solutions for our public schools.鈥�
An Uphill Battle
Still Democrats face a grinding, uphill battle.
Democrats fully control just eight states, compared to the 26 where Republicans control both the governorship and the legislature. Legislative districts in most states aren鈥檛 drawn toward Democrats鈥� favor, and knocking out of office an incumbent with both name recognition and ready-made war chests is no easy task.
As the teacher protests have rolled on, Republican leaders in Florida, Texas, and Wisconsin have made a concerted effort to detail their own efforts to increase public school funding, even while Medicare, pension, and other government costs have soared in recent years.
Besides, they point out, public school systems in Democratically controlled states such as Connecticut and Oregon aren鈥檛 necessarily flush with cash either.
Democratic efforts to exploit the fervor over teacher pay and school funding have been especially intense in Arizona. For three years now, public school funding has been a leading concern among voters, according to a poll conducted by Expect More Arizona, a nonpartisan advocacy group that pushes for improved academic outcomes.
The state is among the lowest in the nation in teacher pay, and has one of the nation鈥檚 most expansive school voucher and charter school systems.
鈥淲e鈥檙e finally coming out of the recession and our economy is healthy, but we鈥檙e in a state where politicians have over many years divorced the conversation about tax policy from the cost of funding different parts of government,鈥� said Christine Thompson, the president and CEO of Expect More Arizona.
Democrats there haven鈥檛 held a statewide executive seat for more than a decade. But Democrats need only two seats in order to control the state Senate, and with the state鈥檚 voter registration evenly split between Democrats, Republicans, and Independents, there鈥檚 a chance Democrats could grab the governor鈥檚 seat.
After West Virginia鈥檚 recent teacher strike, Arizona鈥檚 teachers ramped up their threats, staging rallies, calling legislators, and increasingly turning their ire toward the governor. Democratic candidates have been in lock step with them.
Ducey has in recent weeks scrambled to quell the teacher-led movement dubbed 鈥淎rizona Educators United.鈥� He and the Republican-run legislature late last month extended an 18-year-old sales tax that鈥檚 poured tens of millions of dollars into the state鈥檚 public schools, and the legislature is currently attempting to pass a budget that provides for an incremental increase in school funding.
But Ducey has not managed to boost teacher pay, an expensive task that likely will require new taxes in this conservative state. (A 1 percent pay increase would cost the state an estimated $34 million.) Arizona requires the approval of at least two-thirds of its legislature in order to pass a new tax.
Political Vitriol
As the legislation session approaches its close with a teachers鈥� strike seeming more likely than not, the political vitriol rhetoric has ramped up.
鈥淏oth Republicans and Democrats are for public schools but the difference is we鈥檙e realists, and we鈥檙e in power, and making reforms to make schools better,鈥� said Republican state Sen. John Kavanagh, the vice chairman of the Senate鈥檚 appropriations committee. 鈥淭he Democrats are like the emperor with no clothes.鈥�
Business advocates, including the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the utility company Pinnacle West, are backing Ducey and have pumped $1 million into a campaign called Arizona Education Project to salvage the reputation of the state鈥檚 public school system.
鈥淨uite frankly, there are entities in this state that see political advantage in talking down the quality of our schools,鈥� said Matthew Benson, the spokesman for the Arizona Education Project. 鈥淎rizona schools have made a lot of progress. That鈥檚 not to say that we鈥檙e where we want to be. Because clearly, we鈥檙e not. But we鈥檙e on the right track.鈥�
Meanwhile, leaders of Save Our Schools Arizona, which has helped organize the teacher protests, are reluctant to align themselves with a specific political party. They want higher pay and more money for schools, and say they don鈥檛 care whether Republican or Democrats do it as long as it gets done.
At the recent statehouse rally by teachers, several candidates asked to set up campaign booths鈥攁 request the Save our Schools Arizona organization ultimately denied. The group is currently debating whether to endorse candidates this fall.
鈥淲e feel there鈥檚 a little bit of a danger of developing enemies where you don鈥檛 want to have enemies,鈥� said Dawn Penich-Thacker, a spokeswoman for Save Our Schools Arizona.
At the rally, several teachers said even if they don鈥檛 strike, they鈥檒l express their rage at the polls this fall. One protestor held a sign that said, 鈥淚鈥檓 a teacher and I vote.鈥�
