Emboldened by the LA teachers' "blue state" victory, Denver's teachers declare strike

Just days after LA teachers declared victory in their strike for better classroom conditions and limits on charter schools, their colleagues in Denver -- another "blue state" -- have voted to walk off the job, with a very similar set of demands.

Last year's #RedForEd strikes were concentrated in Republican-dominated red states, but beating up on teachers and advocating through charter-school privatization of public system is a bipartisan disease, with many establishment Democrat backers.

California's not done, either: Oakland teachers have seen a steady decline in their funding and working conditions, a phenomenon that has tracked closely with the number of black and brown students in their classes (and the siphoning off of privileged and wealthier white students into charter schools).

ARLENE INOUYE: Yes, and were excited for the educators in Denver that theyve taken this step.

And I feel like what weve learned through the years is that when you communicate clearly what the message is and you reach out to parents and community, our collective power is what got us to win. We have a chapter leader in every single school. And we have teams now, organizing teams, at every school. And we have constant communication. I think, as you see, Amy, when you talk to anybody, any teacher or parent out there that were on the picket lines, they will tell you the same message, why were fighting. And its very clear to us.

And I think by being able to organize across the board and bring in the voices, the ordinary voices of our parents and our educatorsand I, myself, by the way, am a speech and language specialist.