A date for a statewide teacher walkout in Arizona is imminent, according to a video posted today to a private Facebook group for Arizona teachers. The video was posted by Arizona Educators United’s Derrick Harris. 

Harris says in the video, “I’m not going to say what that date is, I only want you to know that it is coming and we kind of have to keep it under wraps because once the cat’s out of the bag, we can’t put it back in.”

According to Harris, the video is meant to give teachers ample time to make arrangements for their students during the walkout: “…what are the kids going to do that day? What are they going to eat? Are the parents going to be able to take care of that or are you going to need to have some other plan? Do you need to contact a daycare or a church that can house a lot of kids that day?”

Similar to recent walkouts in West Virginia and Oklahoma, the teachers plan on protesting the lack of funding for students and classrooms and low pay for teachers.

Fellow Red For Ed organizer and Tolleson music teacher Noah Kavelis spoke with KTAR News 92.3 FM about the potential protest and what that means for the students affected, saying “If you don’t have that plan in place, you’re not ready to do a walkout. If your district does not have the superintendent support or the school board support, you may not be ready for a walkout. If you haven’t talked to your school district, to your superintendent, you need to make that a priority.”

Harris says the walkout date could be announced as early as later this week.