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Arizona lawmakers meet with Gov. Ducey's staff ahead of teacher walkout

Posted at 9:03 PM, Apr 24, 2018
and last updated 2018-04-26 09:21:06-04

The Red for Ed Movement is showing no signs of a slow down. Meantime, lawmakers are struggling to meet in the middle with a plan to prevent teacher walkouts.

"There is no need for politics," said Democratic Senator Steve Farley, "We have a crisis that affects everybody."

Sen. Farley is one of several Democratic lawmakers who met with Governor Doug Ducey's Chief of Staff Wednesday to discuss ways to prevent Thursday's teacher strike. 

He said he left the discussion feeling "even more discouraged."

"We were basically subjected to a lecture with a whole bunch of talking points we have heard before about how the governor believes his plan is fully funded, totally sustainable, and totally great," he said. 

Governor Ducey's spokesperson Daniel Scarpinato shared a different side of the story.

"The governor is absolutely willing to compromise and make the plan better," he said. 

Scarpinato said Governor Ducey is standing by two key points from his original proposal but is committed to doing a deal as soon as possible.

"He is not willing to compromise on the 20 percent raise by 2020, and he's not willing to play shell games, this can't be just moving one pot of money to another," he explained. 

"But he is on the side of the teachers and really wants to bring this plan to reality."