Gov. Ducey not interested in disciplining Arizona teachers for striking

PHOENIX — Gov. Doug Ducey says he’s not interested in disciplining the tens of thousands of teachers who walked out of school during the six-day #RedForEd strike.

The governor told Capitol Media Services on Tuesday he thinks there’s nothing to be accomplished by bringing teachers up on charges of unprofessional conduct and potentially suspending or taking away their certificates.

Ducey said he’s focused on moving forward and putting the divisive strike and controversy about wages in the rearview mirror.

“Now is not the time to be pFunitive or look backwards,” he said.

But state Superintendent of Public Instruction Diane Douglas, in a separate interview Tuesday, said she’s not quite ready to let bygones be bygones.

“I don’t ever want to see our parents or our children put through this again,” she said.

Douglas conceded there would be practical problems in having that many separate disciplinary hearings. But she said it makes no sense to simply pretend the strike didn’t happen and move on.

“If nobody’s ever willing to take action, then I guess we just say striking’s legal in Arizona, so, Legislature, pass a law that says public servants can strike,” Douglas said.

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The governor never supported the strike. But close to two months after it ended, Ducey said his focus now is on building working relationships with teachers on issues such as pay and other education goals, not creating divisions.

“I want to work with the teachers in the coming years,” Ducey said. “I’m more focused on what’s next than what’s happened in the past.”

Douglas, by contrast, said someone needs to decide the repercussions for teachers whom she contends violated the terms of their contracts by not being in school.

For now, that possibility is off the table. A planned discussion of the issue Monday by the state Board of Education was postponed indefinitely by President Lucas Narducci, who said he and other panel members need more information or legal advice before they can have a “constructive discussion” of the issue.

Narducci gave no indication when, or if, the issue will be back on the agenda. And with Douglas powerless by herself to impose teacher discipline, any move in that direction requires the consent of a majority of the board.

Douglas, however, said “rumors are abounding they’re (teachers) planning to do it again in the fall.”

“We need clarification” of the legality and the penalty, she said.