Many teachers in Oklahoma are staging a walkout protesting budget cuts and arguing for higher wages. These teachers have been given even more inspiration after the teacher walkout in West Virginia last month resulted in pay raises and significant public support.
Oklahoma teachers protested all the way to the Oklahoma State Capitol and within two days, over 50 school districts were closed across the state including Oklahoma City and Tulsa. The teachers are asking for a $10,000 raise for themselves, a $5,000 raise for support staff, $200 million over three years in funding for local schools and $500 million over three years in funding for state agencies and other public employees.
“Today is Day 1 of however long it will take to solve the long-term funding crisis in Oklahoma, so our kids can have a bright future,” said Morejon, a teacher who marched, after starting Facebook group “Oklahoma Teacher Walkout – The Time is Now!”
On Tuesday, Governor Mary Fallin signed legislation to increase teachers’ base salaries by $6,000 but Oklahoma’s largest teachers union said that was not sufficient enough to end the walkout.
After the third day of protesting, teachers in some districts were ordered back to work, but the ten largest school districts in the state — with at least 234,000 students — remained shut down. This walkout has forced around 200 schools to close, which is close to half of the 512 districts in the state.
Now Oklahoma teachers are on their second week of protesting and the president of the Oklahoma Teachers Association said the walkouts will continue into next week as they will demand for even more funding.
Oklahoma school teachers are among the lowest paid in the U.S. and the state’s education system has seen inflation-adjusted general funding per student drop by about 28 percent over the past decade.
The teachers will continue to strike until their needs are accommodated or have seen significant improvements.