Teachers elected amid wave of activism turn to governing

PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona’s new schools chief has taken office with a pledge to address the kind of grievances that led to school-shuttering walkouts last spring in several states.

Kathy Hoffman, a 33-year-old school speech therapist, is among hundreds of educators being sworn into office following the #RedforEd protests, which were credited with raising awareness of the needs of public schools and inspiring many educators to join the political fray.

Nationwide, the country’s largest teachers union says an unprecedented 1,800 current and former educators, administrators and support staffers ran for office in 2018. More than half of them won.

Some of the teachers who lost are already looking ahead to the next race.

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Thompson contributed from Buffalo, N.Y.