The public schools my kids attend aren’t that much different than a year ago when they headed to their first day of classes.
Teachers inside are happier becaue they finally got raises after a decade, which basically catches up to inflation.
But frustrations remain.
Things that haven’t changed: Classrooms are still overcrowded, emergency certified teachers are common, middle school sports remain cut, arts are limited and parents are buying classroom supplies such as paper towels and copy paper.
The hard-fought legislation to provide money for teacher and staff raises didn’t fix problems facing public education. It’s the first rung in a long climb out of a hole.
“We’re not done yet,” said Shawna Mott-Wright, vice president of the Tulsa Classroom Teachers Association. “That doesn’t mean we don’t appreciate what’s been done. We’re super-duper appreciative of what’s been done and recognize that.
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“But we have more students than ever before coming to us with more needs and more trauma who need more resources to help them.”
The two-week teacher strike in March brought attention to the needs of schools and educators face-to-face with lawmakers in the Capitol.
“I hope we are not forced into something that drastic again,” said Mott-Wright. “While the walkout was an awakening and a wonderfully collaborative thing, it was just an event. It was never about walking out.
“The goal is to get teachers what we need. The walkout was a tactile event to help lawmakers realize we are serious about attaining our goal.”
As school bells start ringing across the area this week, educators are gearing up to continue their work in reaching that goal.
The last Legislature achieved a monumental task in passing a tax package to give teachers raises averaging $6,100.
But, state advocates are hearing about winners and losers among the districts.
The Legislature did not line-item the raises, opting instead to send the money through the state funding formula, which is a complicated process of weights based on student demographics.
Some districts, particularly smaller ones, are concerned about not getting enough funding to cover the raises. Any shortfalls may come out of their general funds.
Some districts have added the raise amounts to the base salary that goes most directly to teachers. Others are choosing to put it into the total compensation package, which pulls out 7 percent for retirement.
The law also only addressed the state minimum salary schedule. For districts already offering more than that, the amounts could be smaller.
The raises elevate the average teacher salary to second in the region. The state could backslide if not regularly updated.
Funding is now being sought to hire more teachers to bring down class sizes, restore programs and add resources like books and counselors.
Not everything would require more money. Lawmakers could lift burdensome regulations, like the cost of state certifications, particularly for those with education degrees.
Another significant consideration could be revising the education funding formula to allow local districts an ability to raise money for districts without penalty. Other states have implemented systems that assure funding fairness for rich and poor districts but give leeway for local support.
Anyone who questions the truth of what teachers say should sign up to be a substitute teacher.
Legislative candidates definitely ought to take a few days and get into the classroom.
Find out what happens when technology goes down or not enough books are available. See what happens when a substitute can’t be found for another class.
Observe how children arrive hungry or tired. Get an appreciation of how hard it is to manage a classroom of 30 to 40 students.
This on-the-frontline experience would put potential lawmakers into direct contact with teachers and students to get at the everyday obstacles.
“Remember in November” has been a refrain among education-related social media sites.
After the walkout, more than 100 educators signed up as candidates, and advocates targeted incumbents who voted against public education measures.
Many incumbents were voted out or forced into primary runoffs.
Among the leaders to emerge in the strike was an 8th grade civics teacher from Stillwater, Alberto Morejon. He started the Facebook page ”Oklahoma Teacher Walkout — The Time Is Now!” that has reached more than 77,000 followers.
He believes the power lies at the polls.
“When school starts, teachers will still be passing out old textbooks in their classrooms. And, they’ll be fired up for November,” Morejon said. “These teachers will remember. Teachers are engaged and will be fired up again seeing their old colleagues.
“November will be tremendous.”
Past voting records guide voters on incumbents. Challengers need to answer how they would have voted on past education legislation and their views on vouchers, charter schools and state-mandated tests.
And, the answer is not simply auditing districts because that is already being done.
“In my view, I don’t care if you are a Republican, Democrat, independent or Libertarian,” Morejon said. “We need to vote in pro-education candidates and people dedicated to fixing the problems we have. Even with the bill that passed, there is still a lot of needs to be met.”
Different groups have ways of identifying pro-education candidates, either with an endorsement or narrative of the candidate’s positions.
“I think ... hope ... pray there has been an awakening,” Mott-Wright said.
“We can no longer vote on what people say to our face. We have to vote our classroom and our children. That does not have a party. Our agenda is public education.”
