Teachers in Oklahoma are planning to walk out of the classroom next week to demand a salary increase, part of a wave of teacher activism across the country from Arizona to West Virginia.
Why this matters: Teachers are protesting for pay raises and better benefits. In most states their salaries haven't kept pace with inflation.
The teachers in Oklahoma, who are planning to walk out on April 2 if no agreement is reached with the state, are following teachers in West Virginia who walked out of the classroom for nine days before finally getting state legislators to authorize a pay raise. Teachers in Denver and Arizona have also discussed walking out of the classroom for better funding and pay raises. Teachers in Kentucky had a sick-out on March 30.
Trump's next guest: Angela Merkel — 🇰🇵 Otto Warmbier's family is suing North Korea — ⚖️ Cosby found guilty in sexual assault trial — 🌎 Pompeo confirmed as Secretary of State
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German Chancellor Angela Merkel will arrive in Washington tomorrow a diminished figure — limping into her fourth term after six months of torturous coalition talks and touching down in the afterglow of Emmanuel Macron’s state visit.
Flashback: Days after Trump’s election in November 2016, Barack Obama flew to Germany and hailed Merkel — then TIME’s reigning Person of the Year — as “my closest international partner these last eight years.” Headlines declared that she had, however reluctantly, become the "leader of the free world."
Flash forward: Since losing ground in September’s election, Merkel has been in something of a strategic retreat internationally. A recent Der Speigel cover story bemoaned “Germany’s Incredibly Shrinking Role on the World Stage.”
Peter Foster, the Telegraph’s Europe editor, says that if Merkel makes progress there, it will be a characteristic "triumph of substance over style."
The bigger picture: With perhaps 3 years left as chancellor, and more than a dozen behind her, don't expect Merkel to take drastic steps to burnish her legacy.
Go deeper: Putting Merkel's longevity in perspective.
