Posted on 04/03/2018 5:17:43 AM PDT by governsleastgovernsbest
Today breathlessly made the teacher walkout in Oklahoma and other states its “top story” this morning, touting the “wildfire” as “thousands are rising up and walking out.” The reporter on the ground in Oklahoma claimed it’s “turning out to be more than a protest, but a movement,” and host Hoda Kotb billed it as “a powerful movement that’s sweeping the country.”
A clip showed a student claiming that the walkout is “all for us.” Except it’s not. It’s really about teachers demanding higher salaries, though some window dressing has been added about increasing overall school funding.
One inconvenient fact that Today had to recognize: the Oklahoma legislature just adopted a record $6,100 teacher pay raise, the largest in state history. But teachers continue to refuse to teach as they hold out for more.
Get the rest of the story and view the video here.
(Excerpt) Read more at finkelblogger.com ...
Thanks for the insight and most likely truth. While Oklahoma may need tax reform and many other reforms this teacher’s strike is carefully orchestrated by outsiders with the locals as useful idiots and soldiers for the cause of the left.
I watched a bit of the coverage yesterday, very little was all I could stand. The guy leading the chants wearing the black over coat was clearly not a local but was an organizer and the chants he was leading were only half-heartedly answered or repeated. What he was saying sounded a lot like Che Guevera to me.
We are seeing another chapter from Alinsky being executed right here in Oklahoma part of the buckle of the heartland and fly over country. The part of America that elected Trump.
Oklahoma is a juicy target for the left. Backward, peaceful, not given to political activism and almost all RED. If the left can orchestrate a blue turn in the state by preying on the abject poverty of the state it is a BIG feather in their cap.
KRMG in Tulsa, particularly Dan Potter in the morning, has been covering this affair as well. I have not once heard him mention anything but to say that the teachers need more money. While it may be true it is not balanced reporting.
Oklahoma is a poor state but there are groups here that are getting a really good deal on taxes. I do not advocate that they be soaked because they have money but I do advocate that they pay an average share of the cost of doing business here.
Spend a little time in this report and draw your own conclusions about Oklahoma taxes and spending. It is a large report with an index on the right column of each section.
https://okpolicy.org/resources/online-budget-guide/expenditures/how-oklahoma-spending-compares/
I’m not a teacher, but Oklahoma teacher salaries are the 48th lowest in the country, the average being about $42,000. Of course, teachers in bigger cities make more than that, but teachers in smaller towns make quite a bit less. There is an whole other issue, which is quality of teachers, which, of course, varies widely. My son teaches at a private school in another state, with much higher wages, in the public schools, though his salary is very low, compared to his state average, since private schools, one of which he is employed, are notoriously low paying. He would make well over twice as much, if he worked in a public school, but they couldn’t pay him enough to work in a public school, because of notoriously slack discipline and academics in them.
Yes, class sizes are much reduced nowadays, teacher’s unions have lowered the bar for teacher quality, and to a non-teacher, the 9 month schedule sounds like a dream, but seeing how many of the young people behave, nowadays, and the ridiculous and subversive curricula teachers are expected to teach, I’m not sure how they get anyone, except the most ardent of leftist of ideologues, to become teachers at all. Many are dedicated to children, and really want to teach. The pity is, that teachers are not paid according to their merit, so that excellent teachers are adequately rewarded, and bad teachers are allowed to be paid less, and fired.
Quality is always recognized and rewarded.
Sadly, that is NOT the case. The crummy teacher is paid the same as the excellent one.
The bad teachers make too much and the good teachers are underpaid for what they do and deal with. And of course the government has lied and wasted away money to benefit only themselves. We also fell for the lottery scam a few years ago to help the children.
The bottom line is that the system is broken from the top down to the local schools. The wrong people are benefitting, including bad teachers, bad administrators, and crooked politicians.
What an ignorant statement.
Really? Do you work weekends or holidays? Do you not have “teacher planning days” and Christmas break, Spring Break and other holidays off that other workers don’t get? Be honest. I’m not knocking Teachers. I’m simply stating that you work less days than most folks. The average starting salary for a Teacher in the state of Florida is 45,000 a year. Obviously, we have no snow days here etc, and most teachers work between 190 and 200 days a year, while the average non teacher works 261 days a year. So you really don’t have alot to complain about.
Oh I didn’t complain. I have great benefits and a good salary because of two degrees and my National Board status. However I get two planning days a year which usually are filled with meetings. I spend about two weeks a year in professional development. I spend a week before school setting up my room using my break. I’m at school 10 hours a day typically. Then I go home and work another hour or two.
My point is this : the stereotype of teachers is greatly flawed. Teachers work hard. They don’t sit around 6 months of the year.
No one ever questions leadership in the board offices. Teachers tend to be the scapegoats of public education. Teachers have become placeholders. They are heavily scripted.
Y’all do work hard. Y’all also deserve to be compensated for your worth. I’m just comparing the work schedule to other work schedules. I worked 12 hour tours in Law Enforcement, so I understand.
The bottom line is that the system is broken from the top down to the local schools. The wrong people are benefitting, including bad teachers, bad administrators, and crooked politicians.
That’s for sure!
Just wondering. What is the average SAT and ACT scores for OK students?
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