Nine schools in a 12-school elementary school district serving parts of Avondale, Glendale and Phoenix are closed because approximately 300 teachers are teachers are participating in a protest over pay.
Pendergast Elementary School District spokeswoman Nedda Shafir says school is out for thousands of students because Wednesday's protest means the affected schools lacked enough teachers to supervise students.
Many of the teachers are at the Capitol in Phoenix to urge Gov. Doug Ducey and legislators to provide funding for teacher pay raises.
Teachers and supporters going #RedForEd at the #Arizona state capitol. I’ll be going live on @facebook in minutes with more @abc15 pic.twitter.com/YVLmEeZclh
— Allison Rodriguez (@ARodriguezABC15) March 21, 2018
Shafir says some teachers called in sick while others took personal days.
The spokeswoman says the district supports its teachers and has provided pay raises ranging from 2 to 7 percent but did not organize or encourage the protest.
Update: This is the statement by Pendergast Elementary School District officials on the teacher walkout today. @abc15 pic.twitter.com/EynXIZytVx
— Allison Rodriguez (@ARodriguezABC15) March 21, 2018
