Mohave Today

Corona Del Sol High School English teacher Jennifer Bart’s comments regarding a possible teacher "sick out" were recently posted to Twitter.

“Unfortunately for you, you do need us,” Bart, a 44-year-old English teacher, sent via instant message. “There’s a massive teacher shortage in Arizona. We have more power than you do. If we decide not to work, all it takes is 20% of teachers to call out and a school has to close. So instead of whining about your kid being ruined for life, maybe you should become part of the solution.” 

Bart’s comments came prior to the school district announcing the resumption of in-person learning. 

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Bart told Mohave Times she did not threaten a sick out, but was pointing out that teachers are needed.  

“I most certainly did not threaten a sick out,” Bart said in an email to Mohave Times. “What I did was write a comment that said that teachers have the power to do this if they wanted, and that all it would take is 20% of teachers calling out of work for a school to have to close.”

Bart said the she received the information on what it would take to shut a school down via “sick out” from an outside source.  

“I was responding to a person who was saying horrible things about teachers, who said teachers should be forced back to work at the threat of losing their job,” she said. “I replied that teachers have more power than you think, and that it only takes 20% of teachers calling out to close a school. That 20% fact came from the RedforEd days, which was, in fact, organized by teachers.” 

Megan Sterling, Executive Director of Community Relations with the Tempe Union High School District, said "I do not have anything further I want to add from the District" beyond Bart's response.

Bart was also recently part of a discussion to defund School Resource Officers amid nationwide efforts to defund law enforcement agencies. She is a sponsor for the school's honors program and faculty volunteer for People for Animal Welfare and Society. 

The Arizona Education Association (AEA), the state’s top teachers union, was recently outed for secretly supporting “sick outs” earlier this year. 

AEA is behind the Proposition 208 “Invest In Ed” ballot initiative which critics say has been directed by a union “misinformation playbook” and would cost taxpayers an estimated $1 billion if approved  by voters.  

The Arizona Chamber of Commerce and a coalition of 60 other Arizona business groups have banded together to defeat the tax.

Gov. Doug Ducey has exhorted voters to reject the tax-hike initiative. 

Teachers unions across the country have been using the Covid pandemic as a chance to flex their muscle.

Only weeks ago in Kenosha, Wisconsin, teachers organized a sick out as Bart has alluded to in Tempe.  

In Los Angeles, politicians also appeared to be using school reopenings as a political bargaining tool earlier this year.