If we can't protect our children and their future, then all hope is gone.
Carl Jarvis
On 3/26/18, Roger Loran Bailey <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
http://themilitant.com/2018/8213/821301.html
The Militant (logo)
Vol. 82/No. 13 April 2, 2018
(lead article)
Teachers build movement to fight government attacks
School workers mobilize in Oklahoma, Arizona, Kentucky
Photo/Bruce Schreiner
“This fight is worth fighting,” teachers and supporters chant at March
21 protest in Kentucky capital.
BY ALYSON KENNEDY
STILLWATER, Okla. — The next showdown in the battle pitting teachers and
other school workers against state governments is shaping up in
Oklahoma. As the April 2 strike deadline approaches, support is building
and preparations put in place. Inspiration from the West Virginia strike
victory, where members in different unions stood together and organized
a broad social movement in a nine-day walkout, has mobilized workers here.
“This is the right thing to do,” teacher Alberto Morejon told members of
the Socialist Workers Party when we met him at the school baseball field
here March 16. “We haven’t had a raise in 10 years. The state has cut
funding, teachers are leaving and classroom sizes are getting bigger.”
Morejon, 25, teaches U.S. history and coaches baseball at Stillwater
Junior High. He said teachers have to buy their own supplies, poster
board, Kleenex, copy paper. His wife buys books for her classroom.
“I was watching what was going on in West Virginia and made a Facebook
page ‘Oklahoma Teacher Walkout — The Time is Now!’” he said. “In a week
and half over 70,000 teachers have joined, tons of them from West
Virginia and Kentucky.”
At a March 8 press conference, the Oklahoma Education Association, the
biggest union for teachers and other school workers in the state,
announced that if the state legislature doesn’t meet their demands by
April 1, the schools will shut down the next day. Days later, the
Oklahoma Public Employees Association voted to join the teachers.
Preparations for the strike are underway. “All 10 of the biggest school
districts will shut down the schools,” Morejon said. Hundreds of people
stood up and applauded when the Stillwater school board voted
unanimously March 14 to close their schools.
In Tulsa, many teachers are organizing to “work the contract,” putting
in the stipulated seven hours and 50 minutes per school day, but
refusing to stay for after school programs or to take work home.
Morejon and other teachers we talked to said there is widespread support
for their fight from the students.
Oklahoma workers hit hard
Oklahoma workers have been hard hit by today’s crisis of capitalist
production and jobs. Wages are low, unions are weak. Life is affected by
the ups and downs of the oil industry, which accounts for some 25
percent of jobs in the state.
When a glut in oil meant prices plummeted a couple years ago, over
21,000 workers were laid off statewide. The downturn meant state tax
revenue tanked, and state workers, including teachers, were targeted for
more cuts. In 2016 some $47 million was cut from the state education
budget.
Going door to door in Madill, visiting the union offices in Oklahoma
City, talking to workers and customers at McDonald’s and meeting
teachers outside schools before coming to Stillwater, we learned the
looming strike is a big discussion.
And there is a widespread debate among working people on how increases
in funds for schools and pay could be won. Both Democratic and
Republican legislators say the only way a raise could come about would
be to raise taxes on workers. One worker at McDonald’s got a good
response when he said the oil bosses should pay, not the workers.
Since 2008, funding for public schools has decreased by nearly 9
percent, while student enrollment has increased. Adjusted for inflation,
the state’s general funding for schools is down 28 percent per student
since 2008.
In the Mannford Early Childhood Center, the thermostat is set at 63
degrees and many lights are turned off throughout the day to save money.
In about 100 districts, mostly rural, schools are open only four days a
week.
Oklahoma ranks second lowest in the country in teachers pay, according
to the National Education Association. Many teachers have to work second
jobs to get by — at Walmart, the airport or driving for Uber.
“On April 2, schools will close across the state and thousands of
teachers and state workers will come to Oklahoma City,” said Doug Folks,
communications specialist for the union. “The success of West Virginia
emboldened our members to see that it’s possible.”
At a press conference March 15, the Oklahoma City school superintendent
outlined plans for how the district will deliver meals for the students
by bus during the walkout. The city’s Parks and Recreation Department
will extend opening hours and the City Zoo will have daily daylong camps
for younger children.
“I’m on board. They deserve it. They treat the kids like their own,”
said Judith Lawler, a Unit director of the Oklahoma City Boys and Girls
Clubs. “The food bank is gearing up. They have been putting boxes of
food together for the kids to take home. The clubs will be open from
7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. so the kids aren’t left by themselves while the
teachers are fighting for what they deserve.”
School workers protest nationwide
More than 1,000 Kentucky teachers and supporters rallied outside the
Capitol in Frankfort March 21, protesting threatened government attacks
on state workers’ retirement pay. Five school districts in the state
shut down to facilitate workers going.
In Arizona, where average wages are only slightly higher than in
Oklahoma, teachers are gearing up for a fight. Arizona Educators United,
a closed Facebook group, has gotten 34,000 members across the state in
just a couple weeks.
They have organized “Red for Ed” days when teachers have worn red
T-shirts to school, and organized a rally outside the Capitol in Phoenix
March 14. Now they are building for a big rally March 28 there.
Related articles:
Join March 28, April 2 school worker protests!
Idaho silver miners mark one year on strike against Hecla
Toys ‘R’ Us to shut down US stores, put 33,000 workers out on the street
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