Recently, teachers from the state of Oklahoma took a stand against the lack of funding within their state that goes towards education. Oklahoma ranks 49th in the United States for its quality of education. The state has faced billions in budget cuts, no longer being to afford extracurricular activities for students to be involved in.
Liz Farmer says, "No state has suffered more than Oklahoma when it comes to education funding over the past decade...One in five of its school districts has opted for a four-day school week; the base minimum salary for educators hasn’t been raised in nearly a decade; and emergency credentials are being awarded at a record pace to help fill teacher vacancies."
There's a lot of misconception after it was announced that teachers would be walking out of schools. They don't want a bigger salary. No teacher decides to be in educational field for the money. They're just sick of seeing their kids suffer with run-down supplies, classrooms with leaking ceilings, nasty bathrooms, and student-teachers being forced to start early because they have so many vacancies.
NO PERSON deserves to live in that kind of environment. Some kids come from broken homes. School is the place where they spend eight hours a day learning, thriving, and becoming more independent. They can't do that if their textbooks are falling apart and they can't focus because water is falling on their tests. Teachers have had to resort to paying for supplies out of pocket and paying for students who come to school with holes in their shoes and no jacket when it's freezing outside.
Moriah Balingit writes, "[Raylynn Thompson] is a serious student but said the crumbling classrooms make it difficult to learn. Last week, when her AP U.S. history teacher was going over a lesson on President John F. Kennedy, rain seeped through the ceiling and the foundation. Rather than evacuate as the classroom flooded, the class rearranged some desks and forged on."
I want to see Oklahoma's educational department walk through their schools and see if they can still speak after. This is my main problem with this country: we have an entitled, snotty, and unqualified person running the Department of Education within the White House. She promotes private schools, which are costly and expensive to maintain, and most families wouldn't be able to afford the tuition it would take to keep their child there.
Shouldn't America and the Head of the Department of Education care about the future of this country's medical professionals, teachers, CEOs, officers, and military members so much that education should be the first priority?
Oklahoma spent an average of $8,000 per student, which plummets below the national average of $11,400. This deprives students of a full day of education because of the lack of electricity.
I'm ashamed that this is happening in America. There are people who hold the power to make a difference and they're turning their backs on the lives of so many children who need a place to go, to escape, to laugh, to learn, and to be themselves. Teachers are ready and willing to accept a tiny paycheck to do their jobs passionately and bring knowledge and joy into their student's lives. We refuse to be the bottom of the barrel on this one. I'm fed up, and so are they.
