HomeMy WebLinkAboutRed-state teacher rebellion hits Oklahoma, grows in Arizona - Metro - 03/29/2018 - Metro - 03/29/20184/3/2018
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Red -state teacher rebellion hits Oklahoma, grows in Arizona
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By: Sean Murphy The Associated Press, Published on IFhu IMair 28 20118
OKLAHOMA CITY — A teacher rebellion that started in the hills of West Virginia spread like a
prairie fire to Oklahoma this week and now threatens to reach the desert in Arizona.
In the deep red state of Oklahoma, the Republican -led Legislature approved money for teacher
raises and more school funding, even hiking taxes on the vaunted oil and gas industry to do it.
Republican Governor Mary Fallin rushed to sign the measures into law Thursday.
Oklahoma teachers were inspired by West Virginia, another red state where a 9 -day strike led to
5- per cent teacher raises. Oklahoma teachers haven't had a raise in a decade of Republican
control and they won raises of between 15 and 18 per cent . Now, teachers in Arizona thronged
their GOP -run Capitol this week, demanding a 20 per cent teacher pay hike.
"West Virginia woke us up," Arizona Educators Association President Joe Thomas told a
cheering crowd at a protest this week in Phoenix.
In Oklahoma, the tax hikes on cigarettes, fuel and oil and gas production will be enough for
raises averaging about $6,100 annually, as well as funding boosts for schools, support personnel
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and state workers.
Red -state teacher rebellion hits Oklahoma, grows in Arizona
Oklahoma ranks 47th in the nation in public school revenue per student, nearly $3,000 below the
national average, while its average teacher salary of $45,276 ranks 49th, according to the most
recent statistics from the National Education Association.
"A lot of teachers are just tired of the promises," said Alberto Morejon, a junior high history
teacher from Stillwater, Oklahoma, who launched a teacher walkout page on Facebook that
quickly reached more than 70,000 followers.
Many GOP -led states are feeling the pushback after years of tax cuts that have slashed funding
for core government services such as public schools, said Lily Garcia, president of the teachers
union NEA, .
"It has been an unmitigated disaster, and it's now coming home to roost on all those folks who
blindly cut taxes, not caring how that was going to impact communities," said Garcia.
The reversal on tax cuts in Oklahoma was particularly stunning, because lawmakers there
included a hike on the normally sacrosanct energy industry, increasing the production tax on oil
and natural gas from 2 per cent to 5 per cent . In the Legislature, where lawmakers needed a
three -fourth's majority in both bodies to pass a new tax, the House voted even as billionaire oil
baron Harold Hamm, the chairman and CEO of Continental Resources, glared at them from the
gallery.
Fallin, who in 2014 signed into law tax cuts on both income and energy production, signed the
measures quickly with a hope of averting statewide school closures. Earlier, she praised
bipartisan support of the package and said she hopes the teacher walkouts scheduled to start on
Monday will instead become a one -day rally for education.
"That'll be up to the teachers, but I hope that they can come up here, say'thank you' on Monday
and go back to the classrooms," Fallin said.
In both Arizona and Oklahoma, teachers are mulling whether the current offer from the
Legislature is enough to avert a work stoppage. The union in Oklahoma was demanding $75
million in new funding for education, and is expected to get $50 million under the plan.
While some Oklahoma school administrators and board members are giddy over the infusion of
new cash, many rank -and -file teachers are demanding that all of their needs are met before they
agree to stop a walkout.
"They need to fund our schools better, and until that happens, we're going to walk out," said
Adrien Gates, an elementary school teacher in Norman. "We need to take this all the way.
Otherwise we're settling."
Associated Press reporter Melissa Daniels contributed to this report from Phoenix.
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Red -state teacher rebellion hits Oklahoma, grows in Arizona
Follow Sean Murphy at www.twitter.com/apseanmurphy
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