Many schools will remain closed for a second day in Oklahoma Tuesday as teachers continue to rally for higher pay and education funding in a rebellion that has hit several Republican-led states across the country. Rally organizers say it’s unclear how long the walkout will last.
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SILK: OK. Well, I voted against the bill because it was just a huge massive tax increase that didn’t have any reforms, whether they be education reforms or financial reforms. He tells NPR that despite the “passionate” voices of those on social media, “We don’t see any way of getting any more money”.
Before state legislators passed a pay raise last Thursday, Oklahoma teachers had not received a state raise in decade.
Stand side by side with the mayors of Lexington and Louisville and plead with young engineers to stay in Kentucky, but tell the super smart teachers needed to teach engineering, we can’t pay you enough.
“What I’m seeing in Louisville is teachers are a lot more politically engaged than they were in 2015 or 2016”, Mr. Beaver said. In Louisville, a group of Jefferson County Public School teachers met at a local Teamsters union hall and took a 30-minute bus ride to the capital.
“We’re still fighting for what we have asked, which is to pass the (gaming) ball and dice tax that’s stuck in the Senate, fix the hole for the hotel/motel tax and asking that the governor signs the support staff raise”, Hoffer said.
“You’re saying this isn’t about teacher raises?” It’s about funding education.
“I have two daughters”.
“If this budget is not in the best interest of public education students and public service, then we will react”, Winkler said. Administrators have opted to resume classes while sending a teacher delegation to the rallies in Oklahoma City.
Jessica Somerville is a substitute teacher for Lawton Public Schools.
“It’s just trying to make ends meet on a teacher’s salary, which is hard”, she said.
“It’s day-by-day, depending upon the Legislature fulfilling their promise”, Priest said.
“She doesn’t have the resources and because there is not enough funding those resources are not made available to her and she is growing up not having those things”, said Mooney. They argue it does not address funding shortages.
“I think it’s a crisis”, says Ruppert.
“It’s not about teacher pay raises. Yeah, it would be nice to be appreciated, but I have to write curriculum every day because we don’t have a textbook”. Under the new law, new Oklahoma teachers will have to work eight years to reach a $40,000 annual salary.
Kentucky, too, has been in a legislative gridlock over education budget woes.
“The funding issue is the biggest roadblock we have right now”, he said. “I personally like what Weatherford chose to do with the teacher walkout”.
Donna Pritchett, a librarian at Lincoln Elementary School in Pryor, Oklahoma, said her school’s library has leaked in the same spots for more than five years.
“As someone who taught 33 years, if I were in the system now and had less than ten years, I probably would have to reevaluate what my future would be”, Miller said. “That is my priority”.
“A 25-year teacher could get an eight-thousand dollar raise”. I’m grateful for the raise, believe me.
The wave of strikes in red states, mainly organized by teachers on Facebook, has caught lawmakers and sometimes the teachers’ own labor unions flat-footed. Last week teachers in Arizona also rallied for more educational funding.
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Karvelis says that, once a critical mass of teachers is on board with a walkout, “the power is in our hands”. Schools not on spring break closed.
