Day 2 of Okla. teachers strike keeps 234,000 kids from class
OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma teachers shuttered schools for a second day Tuesday to demand higher pay and education funding in an effort that also recently engulfed West Virginia, Kentucky and Arizona.
Oklahoma teachers won raises last week averaging 16%, or $6,100 — the first pay increase for some educators in a decade — under legislation signed by Republican Gov. Mary Fallin.
But that wasn’t enough to prevent a walkout that brought about 20,000 teachers, students and other supporters to the Oklahoma Capitol. The strike closed the 10 largest school districts in the state, with at least
234,000 students combined.
“If I didn’t have a second job, I’d be on food stamps,” said Rae Lovelace, a third-grade teacher and single mother in northwest Oklahoma who works 30 to 40 hours a week at a second job.
Teachers also are pushing to restore state education spending to pre-recession levels — which would require nearly $1 billion more annually.
Oklahoma City Public Schools announced classes would again be canceled Wednesday as the protests and legislative talks continue.
Thousands of people outside the state Capitol were focused Tuesday on getting inside the building to fulfill the Oklahoma Education Association’s pledge to pack the rotunda.
By 10 a.m., so many people were inside the Capitol that troopers denied access above the first floor, letting people into the building only after others exited. The building’s capacity is about 1,000.
Before the crowds thinned out about
1:30 p.m., students, administrators, parents, support staff and teachers cheered in turn, with the cohort of teachers screaming the loudest. “This is our house,” chanted people who jammed three floors.
“I try not to cry because it’s been a long time coming,” said Kimberly Miller, who teaches at Santa Fe High School in Edmond. “We’ve gone without textbooks. I’m a science teacher, and I go without proper equipment for labs. I’m happy people are finally seeing the reality.”
Fallin warned Monday that the state budget was tight and that there were other priorities besides education.
“We must be responsible not to neglect other areas of need in the state such as corrections and health and human services as we continue to consider additional education funding measures,” Fallin said.
Oklahoma’s average teacher salary of
$45,276 ranked 49th among states and the District of Columbia before the raises, according to the National Education Association. The state also ranked
47th in public school revenue per stu- dent, the teachers’ union says.
The walkouts come less than a month after teachers in West Virginia ended a nine-day strike that shuttered schools there and less than a week after thousands of Arizona teachers rallied to demand a 20% pay increase.
Kentucky schools were closed Monday after teachers and other school workers went on strike and thousands flooded the state Capitol, chanting “Stop the war on public education.” Kentucky lawmakers are debating a new state budget with higher spending for public education, financed by a 6% sales tax on services that had been tax-free.
Bluegrass State educators are upset because the Legislature approved a pension overhaul last week that cut benefits for new teachers. Republican Gov. Matt Bevin hasn’t yet signed the bill but tweeted his support last week.
Jansen reported from Washington. Contributing: The Associated Press.