Teachers turn out at Capitol
Christine Custred has three goals each day when she arrives at the state Capitol to participate in the ongoing teacher walkout.
“Every day my strategy is to speak with at least one representative and have a meaningful dialogue,” said Custred, a history teacher at Edmond Memorial High School.
“I also march around the Capitol at least twice and I try to meet teachers from another district.”
On Tuesday, nine days after the teacher walkout began, Custred had watched an earlymorning session of the
House before stepping outside to complete her daily march.
“I feel camaraderie, hope and passion for public education,” said Custred, from behind a pair of sunglasses that reflected the sea of homemade signs in front of her.
“But I feel equally discouraged and disheartened.”
For many of the thousands of teachers who have gathered at the Capitol since April 2, the daily rally has been a show of support for public education that can be uplifting in a profession that can often feel isolating.
Some teachers are losing optimism about securing further increases in education funding this year.
“My heart wants to be encouraged, but I am a little pessimistic,” said Mary Means, a special education teacher from Luther High School. “We’d be willing to come out here as many days as it takes, but some of our school systems are calling us back.”
Luther Public Schools planned to return on Wednesday. Bartlesville Public Schools, with an enrollment near 6,000, announced it will reopen on Thursday.
“We are ready to be back in school,” said Bartlesville Superintendent Chuck McCauley, who added that a team of teachers will continue to travel to the Capitol to advocate for funding.
“Our community has been steadfast in its support for its schools, and we look forward to continuing the momentum on behalf of our students.”
Many schools will continue to be closed on Wednesday, including large districts like Oklahoma City, Tulsa and Edmond.
Some teachers admitted there was growing pressure on schools to reopen, especially as state testing is underway and families continue to feel the brunt of the closures.
“It’s been hectic trying to figure out where to take them every day,” said Julie Dunham, a mother of two elementary school-age boys.
On Tuesday, Dunham dropped off her children at an Oklahoma City church that had been providing drop-in care during the walkout.
“But this is the last day they are doing this, so I’m back to surfing the internet to find places to take them to,” Dunham said.
Dunham works as a cashier and has had to use personal days to stay home during the walkout. She said it was a challenge, but she felt it was worth it for the future of her children.
“They would much rather be in school, but even they get it,” Dunham said. “This inconvenience is nothing to what these teachers have been having to deal with for 10 years. I’m not mad about it.”
No capital gains discussion
The House convened Tuesday morning but the Republican leadership continued to deflect calls from Democrats to consider a repeal of the capital gains tax deduction.
In fact, House leadership once again made it clear that capital gains would not be taken up this year.
Before the walkout, the Legislature approved a teacher pay raise and more than $40 million in additional education funding, but educators said it was not enough.
Since 2008, state funding for public schools has decreased by nearly 9 percent, while student enrollment has increased by over 8 percent.
Adjusted for inflation, the state’s general funding of schools was down 28 percent per student since 2008, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
While the Legislature pumped some more money into education last week, educators said it was not enough to make up for the last decade.
The Oklahoma Education Association had originally demanded $200 million in new education funding and has asked the Legislature to consider a repeal of the capital gains tax deduction to fund schools.
On Tuesday, the Oklahoma Education Association said lawmakers could “cross the finish line” by finding an additional $50 million in school funding.
However, Gov. Mary Fallin also signed the repeal of a hotel/motel tax, rejecting another demand made by the Oklahoma Education Association.
New test scores
While the walkout continued Tuesday, it was announced that Oklahoma reading scores showed a decline on the 2017 National Assessment of Educational Progress, along with scores behind the national average in fourth-grade mathematics and eighth-grade reading and mathematics.
“Our students have not gained academic momentum in the midst of thinning resources and the severe, ongoing teacher shortage,” State Superintendent Joy Hofmeister said in a statement. “These scores are indicative of the struggles our schools have endured over the past several years.
The atmosphere outside the Capitol on Tuesday remained festive as schools set up tents and performers took the stage.
Teachers from Tulsa arrived to great applause as they completed a 110mile march to the Capitol.
At one point, elementary teachers from Moore had gathered their students on a lawn outside the Capitol for a quick social studies class.
While lawmakers took up bills last week on a third-party internet sales tax and ball and dice casino gaming, this week has lacked a focus on specific legislation.
Some lawmakers have pointed to changes in the state’s tax credits for wind energy producers, which have ignited intense political infighting in recent years.
But Custred, the Edmond history teacher, said she expected lawmakers to get more done during the walkout.
“It’s easy to feel very defeated and disgruntled, and as an American history teacher, to feel that way about politics is a new feeling for me,” Custred said.
But she acknowledged the threat of the walkout had prompted lawmakers to pass a pay raise that will average around $6,100.
There has also been movement on smaller revenue-raising bills that began to reverse years of cuts.
“Those are things that just this past January lawmakers said would never happen,” Custred said. “Our presence here has made an impact.”