Students join teachers at Capitol
Oklahoma students rallied for more education funding on Wednesday, putting lawmakers on notice and standing by teachers and others who resolved to remain at the state Capitol until their needs are met.
Cameron Olbert, 16, a sophomore at Classen School of Advanced Studies in Oklahoma City, was among those who took to a microphone outside the statehouse on Day 3 of a statewide teacher walkout.
“You have endured years of wage stagnation and you have paid hundreds of your own dollars for classroom supplies,” he told hundreds gathered in the south
plaza. “You’ve had our backs for decades, and so we’re here to say we’ve got yours!”
It was the first time Cameron had spoken to such a large crowd. He said the loss of his debate coach to layoffs in 2016 pushed him to “fight hard and loudly for a fair deal.”
He outlined a plan of action for students in attendance.
“I need you to talk to every legislator you can possibly find, and I need you to tell them that we demand equity in the way our government is run,” he said. “We’re not just here for teacher pay raises. We’re here for support staff. We’re here for arts and music programs that have been decimated over the past decade!”
Gabrielle Davis, a senior at Edmond Memorial High School, organized the student rally using social media. Davis said she drew inspiration from recent student-led demonstrations against gun violence.
“Students are really itching for a way to get involved and to be active in democracy and participate,” she said. “I think our age group has a lot of power that I don’t think we get to express very often, and I think that this movement, this protest, was one that we all have a vested interest in. We all love our teachers. We all love school.”
With a black Sharpie marker, Davis wrote the date 9-23-17 across the front of her white t-shirt, marking the day she turned 18 and registered to vote.
On the back, she wrote the names of Rep. Mike Osburn and Sen. Adam Pugh, the state lawmakers representing her Edmond community.
“I want them to know that I know,” she said. “I know I’m voting in November.”
U.S. Grant High School students Angela Salcedo, a senior, and Valentin Cervantes, a sophomore, joined the throng outside the Capitol.
Angela, 17, is a valedictorian, a member of the yearbook and student council committees and president of the Key Club, a student service organization.
She aspires to be a teacher and said she wanted to return the support she has received from teachers who “motivate me and believe in me.”
“I want to do that for people, as well,” she said.
Valentin, 16, said he came to the Capitol to support improved funding for public education and salaries for support staff.
“They’re so important because they do some of the dirty work that some other people don’t want to do,” he said of support workers.
Wednesday’s teacher rally received a influx of students who said they wanted lawmakers to hear their own stories of how education budget cuts had impacted their classrooms.
“Every year our band fees go up and some students can’t afford to be in band,” said Joe Smith, a junior at Southmoore High School and a member of the school’s drumline.
Smith, along with his classmate Kaiden Story, played a drum set they brought to the Capitol, hoping their taps would be heard inside.
“We have to buy our own books whenever we have to read chapter books in class because our teachers don’t have class sets,” said Gabriella Cavazos, a junior at Carl Albert High School.
Cavazos’ English class recently read the “The Things they Carried,” by novelist Tim O’Brien.
But because her teacher only had a couple of copies to offer, her classmates had to purchase their own copy.
All students who showed up at the Capitol on Wednesday ate for free courtesy of Oklahoma City Public Schools. Support staff handed out sack lunches with turkey and cheese or peanut better and jelly sandwiches, fresh carrots, apple sauce and milk or water.
“I think it’s a huge blessing, especially since we have so many children out, particularly today,” said Paige Boydston, a fifthgrade teacher from Norman. “This is a big help for the teachers that are bringing their children, too.”
On Monday and Tuesday, the first two days of the walkout, staff delivered nearly 4,000 meals to students using buses to reach neighborhoods across the state’s largest district.
“We have kids who are not going to eat unless we feed them,” said Robin Obert, the district’s executive chef. “We want to show our support for them.”