Yesterday I read a article Oklahoma and Kentucky was going to follow what Virginia did to get more money.

In the article it said Oklahoma was holding out for a 10,000. Dollar raise for their 9 months work.

Like Antigov said he don't have to live there as it dominoes to other places as well.

The part I don't like is the union uses the kids for hostage. Don't matter how well planned out they say it is it still don't need to be during school time.

Unions have damaged this country more than they have helped.

Education is absolutely broken here. Funding, misappropriations, administration pay and the number of administration per district, district sizes and the number of districts, casino and lottery money that's been promised, collected but redirected............the list goes on. It's broken.

The teacher pay/raise has taken the spot light, but even though almost 50% of the states budget goes to education, most of it never makes it to the benefit of the student. There is no easy fix, the repercussions of legislatures and governors who've ignored this for decades will take generations to overcome, IF a solution is found.

The "fix" that was voted on last week gave additional funding/raises for one year...........that same bill was "defunded" the next day. So who got what they wanted? The teachers? The students? The parents? The senators and reps? The State of Oklahoma? ?????????



There are no teacher unions in OK by the way........... OEA and POE are not unions. And not all OK teachers are even members of those organizations.

That doesn't bug these teachers much. I do think they should get paid 150,000. Be what I would want to put up with a bunch of these kids.

I have no way to verify but I was told Oklahoma teachers haven't received a raise in 10 years... But that could be creative number crunching to make it sound worse than it is... I don't know.

They were in fact given a raise. But as I understand it the bill had a rider in it that said the raise could be withdrawn at anytime... like during the next legislative session.

And Okie4570 is right. We are supposed to be flush with money from all the different revenue generators... But the money gets redirected or misappropriated along the way.

The teachers deserve a raise. But instead of raising taxes I would like to see collected revenue spent the way it was designed to be spent. And we definitely need an audit to figure out where all the money is going... We could probably cut out some wasteful spending to boot.

Mike

Mike if that's the case I hope a audit is done and whoever is responsible for misappropiating the money gets the boot.

I haven't followed what is going on but I will share my experience for what it is worth. My wife is an elementary teacher. Teachers have some of the most under appreciated, under paid jobs out there. They put up with a lot of crap and for the most part do not have much backup or support from the board of education or higher ups but it all starts from the top. When I was young I thought teachers had an easy job. There definitely are teachers that have easy jobs. Teachers that are worth a darn and have a passion for it get emotionally involved and witness a lot and I now have the utmost respect for the good ones. They work hard and make a difference.

Way too much of classroom supplies and things like that comes out of pocket of the teacher. Very strict budget that is itemized before school year starts and anything after that is up to the teacher here. I've been very upset with the school system my wife works for and have tried to convince her to find something else but it is her calling and she cares about makIng a difference. We live in a very rural area and her district is one of the lowest paid in the state. No way I could go to work for what they are bringing home a year and what they put up with.

Not necessarily taking sides with the protesters but this is my perspective of the eduction system.....

I'm thinking of starting a GoFundMe for donations to build a gallows on the capitol lawn.

Just a subtle hint to let them know we're tired of the status quo.

Mike

Too much "good ole boy" politics goes on I think still. Money missing from the Health Dept, so the missing money was pulled from the state County Commissioners fund........... "Sorry commissioners" they said lol.

http://newsok.com/article/5582320/former...ancial-problems

I'm so tired of the corrupt garbage we are forced to deal with.

Mike

My wife's aunt left her job at the school in Newkirk ( N. of Ponca City ) and went to Ft. Smith AR...

Her salary at the school in Ft. Smith pays 14k more.

Mike

Mike how is other jobs in that area for pay and benefits?

Is the area poverty below state average pay or is it just the jobs tied to the government?

That area is pretty rural... But Ponca City is nearby and has 2 or 3 refineries. So there's work to be had and money to be made.

My wife's aunt had some certification that got her more money in Ft. Smith. But even without it the difference in wages was still pretty high.

Mike

IDK ......it's likely over 75k average with benefit package and forever retirement , not bad for 3/4 time job

But the point of the story was the similarities between the mind set of both groups of protestors

Which as I'll point out again, have no similarity other than they gathered at a certain place. One group trying to take away part of the Constitution, other other attempting to bring light to corruption and misuse of funds.........

lol

I start to seethe every time I see every little podunk school with a custom “activity bus “ and their own Superintendent .

Teachers deserve every penny they can get their hands on. Some one must teach in this world and you can't expect these people to not earn a decent living. They have a lot invested in their life. Just putting up with a bunch of kids ought to be worth no less than 100 grand in 9 months.

I'm pretty sure Don that alot of the posters on this topic are going to be taking advantage of the sweet deal that teachers have. Fish all summer and trap for a couple of weeks at Christmas. Lots of holidays off and a retirement to die for.

Sweet deal for sure.

That’s all fine and great , Don, but the teachers protesting aren’t asking for measures that could put more money in their pocket . They’re requesting higher/new taxes for a raise. No one is asking our elected officials to reduce stupid education expenditures , consolidate these micro districts ( who have their own Super making six figures ) , etc.. Nope . New and higher taxes . Pathetic.

I read where one snowflake is going on a hunger strike until demands are met . Sad .