Education in OKLAHOMA: Teacher Who Panhandled for School Supplies! Speaks Out

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1. WV Teachers Strike is Over. Oklahoma & Arizona May Be Next: Backlash Against GOP Tax Cuts

"The West Virginia Teachers Strike Is Over. But Oklahoma and Arizona May Be Next, A Backlash Is Brewing Against the Republican Tax-Cutting Frenzy," Vox News, March 7, 2018.

Thousands of teachers in Arizona showed up to school Wednesday wearing red. In Oklahoma, teachers prepared a list of demands for the governor. Educators in both states are energized from watching the success of the nine-day teachers strike in West Virginia. They say they're prepared to do the same. "West Virginia teachers walked out — and they make more than us," a teacher said at a school board meeting on February 28 in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, which was streamed online by the local newspaper. He wanted a strike too. So did many other teachers.

The West Virginia teachers strike, which shut down all public schools in the state for nine days, ended Tuesday after the governor and state leaders agreed to give teachers what they wanted: a 5 percent raise and a hold on raising health insurance premiums. It was a remarkable victory for teachers in West Virginia, who are among the lowest-paid in the country and who have no right to bargain collectively. And it's giving hope to teachers at public schools around the country, who have seen wages shrink in recent years, particularly in red states where steep tax cuts have led to deep cuts in school funding.

Teachers in Oklahoma and Arizona said they're ready to follow West Virginia's lead if state lawmakers don't spend more on schools (teachers in Kentucky are getting restless too). Like West Virginia, teachers in Oklahoma and Arizona are among the lowest-paid in the United States, and they're fuming that lawmakers in Arizona only want to give teachers a 1 percent salary raise, or, in Oklahoma's case, none at all.
"It's been a powder keg here for a while," said Noah Karvelis, an elementary school music teacher in the Phoenix area. "Our backs are against the wall; we have nothing else." The strike in West Virginia spurred Karvelis to mobilize teachers in Arizona on social media. On Sunday, they created a private Facebook group, Arizona Educators United, and within 36 hours, they had 8,000 members. The teachers are now weighing whether to strike and organized a statewide campaign to wear red on Wednesday as the first step.

In Oklahoma, teachers are even further along with their own plan. The Oklahoma Education Association, a professional group that represents 5,000 educators in that state, said teachers were ready for a walkout if state lawmakers do not raise taxes and give teachers a proper raise.
On Thursday, they plan to present the governor with a list of demands, which includes a $10K raise for teachers. "Everything we have tried has failed," said Alicia Priest, president of the association...While labor unions have played a role in building the momentum, many teachers are "ready to burn down the house," Priest said. The frustration has been years in the making. It's part of the backlash brewing in Republican states that have gutted school spending to offset deep tax cuts for businesses and wealthy earners. Continued...

READ MORE: https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/3/7/17081826/teacher-strike-west-virginia-oklahoma-arizona

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2. OKLAHOMA TEACHERS GROUP PLANS APRIL 2 STATEWIDE WALKOUT W/O $6K RAISE BY APRIL 1, Break Point

"OKLAHOMA TEACHERS GROUP PLANS APRIL 2 WALKOUT WITHOUT RAISE," The President of Oklahoma's largest teachers organization said Thursday teachers will walk out of their classrooms if lawmakers don't approve a 6K raise by April 1, echoing demands of other educators to boost teacher pay across the US. -US News, Thurs, March 8, 18, 3:50 PM.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The president of Oklahoma's largest teacher's organization said Thursday that teachers will walk out of their classrooms if lawmakers don't approve a $6,000 raise by April 1, echoing the demands of other educators to boost teacher pay and increase education funding across the U.S. Oklahoma Education Association President Alicia Priest said teachers are planning a statewide work stoppage on April 2 unless the Legislature raises their salaries for the first time since 2008. "We demand that the Legislature pass a budget with the necessary revenue to provide teacher and support personnel with a significant pay raise," she said at a news conference. Priest said teachers are demanding a $6,000 raise this year and $2,000 in each of the next two years. "After years of doing more with less ... Oklahoma educators have reached a breaking point," Priest said. "We will not allow our students to go without any longer."

Educators contend low salaries for teachers and school support personnel have made staff shortages and overcrowded classrooms common in Oklahoma's public schools. The National Education Association ranked Oklahoma 49th in the nation in teacher salaries in 2016. Kim Morris, an elementary school teacher from Mannford with 23 years of experience, said her family has suffered financially because of the sacrifices she is forced to make as a teacher in Oklahoma.
"This is enough," she said. "If the Legislature will not do its job, I will walk."

Chuck McCauley, superintendent of schools in Bartlesville, said low teacher salaries and teacher shortages are threats to quality education in Oklahoma. "Our teachers are at the tipping point. They're ready to walk out the door," McCauley said.
Earlier Thursday, state Superintendent of Schools Joy Hofmeister told the Board of Education that plans for a teacher walkout gained momentum since "plan after plan" to provide a raise failed in the Legislature... "Our children deserve and need a high-quality education," Hofmeister said. "Education must be the centerpiece for investment in our state." Read More: https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/oklahoma/articles/2018-03-08/oklahoma-teachers-union-to-outline-plan-to-strike-over-pay