Oklahoma teachers strike enters second week with rally at Capitol

Oklahoma’s two largest school districts say they are canceling classes for the seventh consecutive day as a walkout by teachers demanding more funding for public education continues.

Teachers and supporters were also marching from a number of cities to the Capitol, with some walking more than 100 miles and arriving Monday.

Before the strike last week, the state legislature tried to avert the work stoppage by passing a 7 million tax increase that effectively gives teachers an average annual pay bump of $6,000.

The Tulsa World reports that the Bartlesville Education Association said that if Gov. Mary Fallin would just veto the bill that repealed a $5 hotel motel tax passed just weeks ago, Bartlesville educators would be willing to return to the classroom.

“I have bled on half of these women”, said Madeline Jacobsen, a third-grade teacher at Bell elementary.

Crowds of teachers began to file into their state Capitol in Oklahoma City on Monday, according video clips posted on networking.

“We need lawmakers to make a long-term investment in our children’s future”, said the Oklahoma Education Association, Oklahoma’s largest teachers union, on Monday, Reuters reported. Lawmakers have also agreed to allocate $50 million more in classroom spending.

The state Educaton Department has extended by one week the deadline for students to take standardized tests. But if the walkout progresses past then, there might not be a competition.

Debra Davis said she and many of her colleagues had been on an “emotional roller coaster” since they joined thousands of their fellow teachers in a historic teacher walkout.

Their protests, and some school closures, will continue for a fourth straight day Thursday amid a movement in red states from West Virginia to Kentucky to Arizona to press for more money in classrooms.

“Improving the quality and outcomes in education is the single most important thing we can do to attract and retain jobs, alleviate poverty and help Oklahomans have fulfilling and productive lives”, she said in a statement after the bill signing.

“We literally have guys from every corner of the state (at the Capitol)”, he said.

The proposed budget used the extra money from the taxes to spend a record-high $4,000 per pupil in public school classrooms and to restore $254 million in money for school buses that Bevin had proposed to eliminate.

In case it’s not clear, the graph shows that North Carolina teachers get paid just 65.4% of what other college graduates in the state are bringing home.

However, the teachers are still looking £10,000 over several years.

When I was a kid in an Oklahoma public school, I don’t remember thinking it was odd to have textbooks that were falling apart or to go to classes in an ancient outbuilding that flooded every time it rained.

If the emergency funds are exhausted, Rhoades said the agency will likely have to make cuts to balance their budget, like not hiring civilians to fill vacancies and not buying new police units. But when you’re deciding on a career at 18 years old, you don’t exactly understand how much a dollar buys. Sometimes making the hard decision, putting the sugary cereal back on the shelf, doesn’t make everyone involved in that situation happy.