Why I March

By Jo Craycraft, Prescott My goal is to get the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) ratified in Arizona, one of thirteen states holding out on this critical safeguard of women’s—and men’s—rights. Only one more state needs to ratify the ERA in order to have it be a constitutional amendment. The Arizona legislature had the opportunity to be that 38th state just last year, but House Republicans denied debate. Why should this be a Republican or Democratic issue? The ERA guarantees that the rights set forth in the Constitution are meant for all citizens regardless of their sex. Importantly, it would define the meaning of sex discrimination for the courts so that both women and men can be assured of receiving consistent and fair legal adjudication of sex discrimination cases no matter where they live. One of the most important results of ratification of the ERA would be the guarantee of equal pay for equal work, enabling women to finally achieve salary parity with men. This is not only crit...

The Arizona Supreme Court's recent ruling to strike the Invest in Ed proposition from the ballots at the behest of corporate interests is a dire setback to Arizona's teachers, students, and families. This decision is an unforgivable breach of the people's will that we must answer. With removal of the widely-supported, non-partisan Invest in Ed measure just prior to this election, the Republican-led state government sent a clear message. Radical career politicians who don't represent us have hijacked our state and are keeping a stranglehold on our state's future by choking funding for public education. Along with so many other Arizonans who support public education as a cornerstone of civic good, I was shocked—though unfortunately not surprised—to hear of the loss of Invest in Ed, a measure borne of the wave of grassroots people power during the #RedForEd movement this year. I support Invest in Ed wholeheartedly: the measure would have increased revenue for our...