Students, faculty participate in teacher walkout

Students and faculty are participating in the ongoing statewide teacher walkout that began April 2.

Many Oklahoma public schools have preemptively closed for next Monday, April 9.

The purpose of the walkout is to demand higher raises for teachers and increase funding for schools.

Cassidy Jasperson and Monica Hiller, education seniors, participated in the walkout. Jasperson student teaches at Deer Creek Elementary School, 4704 NW 164th St. in Edmond, and Hiller student teaches at Rollingwood Elementary, 6301 N. Ann Arbor Ave. in the Putnam City School District.

Jasperson said most teachers pay for their own classroom supplies themselves.

“Every teacher I’ve been with is exceptional. They do so much for so little,” she said.

Jasperson said the teacher she is currently working with is the vice president of the Oklahoma Education Association, the leading force behind the walkout.

“She’s out there fighting, having meetings, gathering people up. She’s just the most amazing teacher,” Jasperson said. “In her school district, they have like no textbooks, I mean, chairs are breaking, there’s mold in the corners, it’s just not a nice place to go to school.”

Jasperson said she was able to go into the capitol and observe the discussion with legislators because of her connection with OEA.

“It was a very hostile meeting to say the least,” she said. “There were teachers yelling, and the legislators were giving very canned responses and trying to just get off subject.”

Hiller said some school districts allow teachers paid leave for the walkout, some require teachers to use their personal days, and some threaten to fire teachers who participate.

“There’s teachers from those districts that still come anyway,” she said. “It’s inspiring and it’s exciting, but it’s heartbreaking at the same time. I never thought I would be a part of something like this.”

Dr. Liz Willner, chair of the education department, said the faculty decided to give education students the choice to participate in the walkout or complete an alternative assignment.

“This is our profession that’s under fire, Willner said. “We think that participating in democracy and our government and seeing how our state funds or doesn’t fund education is equally valuable to what we would have done in class for one day.”

Education students who are currently student teaching have the option to participate in the walkout or volunteer at the Oklahoma Children’s Theatre. Students can also attend a private school during the walkout to fill in some of the observation days, Willner said. However, students will not student teach at those schools, because she wants them to get extended time teaching in the same classroom.

OCU requires three weeks more than the state minimum of nine for the student teaching program. If the walkout goes longer, the state office of educational quality and accreditation will make a decision to allow OCU students to have less than 12 weeks, Willner said.

“We are going to try to get our students at least 12 weeks by giving them some other options,” Willner said. “I’m nervous about it, partly because they aren’t getting the experience they need. But what they are getting is an education in how to professionally behave.”

Dr. Mailman, director of the OCU Wind Philharmonic, let high school students affected by the walkout participate in rehearsal April 2.

Mailman said he made a Facebook post March 31 inviting high school students in the area to attend.

“In full support of your efforts on Monday, we’d like to invite your students to sit in (with instruments) with our OCU Wind Philharmonic rehearsal this Monday at 2:00 in LRH,” the post said. “No sign up is necessary, and we’ll provide sheet music. If your students will be joining you all day at the capitol, bravo! If they’re looking for something to do to sharpen their musical skills in a side-by-side setting, we’d love to have them join us! Standing proudly with our state teachers!”

The post had 169 shares and 319 likes on April 6.

“We ended up having 19 kids on Monday from seven different schools and on Wednesday we had two more who weren’t able to be there on Monday,” Mailman said.

Mailman said the high school students sat next to OCU students of the same instrument and played along with them.

The open rehearsal extended only until March 4 because of the philharmonic’s upcoming end-of-year concert.

“It was a really great experience for everybody,” Mailman said. “The energy in the room was terrific. We all support our teachers 100 percent. This was our way of being able to support them by giving their students something to do musically.”

Dr. Mohamed Daadaoui, professor and chairman of political science and history, said Oklahoma legislators are trying to wait out the movement in hopes that strikers will get fatigued.

“Legislators have to come to terms with this idea that they have to prioritize education,” Daadaoui said. “I don’t think the protesters are going anywhere. I think the legislators should open up lines of communication and dialogue with the leaders of the protest so they can actually find some possible avenues to solving this issue.”

Daadaoui said the issue has been a long-term problem, and legislators must take responsibility.

“All of it starts from the neglect from our state legislators,” Daadaoui said. “You cannot have a viable education sector if you don’t put the money it and you don’t take care of the people that are actually at the frontlines of it.”

Jasperson said many Oklahoma public schools have teachers that are alternatively or emergency certified to fill teacher shortages throughout the state. Alternative certification means these teachers did not complete a four-year educator preparation program but passed a test to receive certification. She said one of the prominent issues of the low number of teachers in Oklahoma is the overwhelming class sizes.

“There’s not enough teachers, so they have to cram kids into classrooms,” she said. “Some teachers have more than 30 kids in a class. It’s overwhelming. The classrooms are so small. It felt like we were shoulder to shoulder in there all day.”

Oklahoma is currently ranked 49^th in the country for having the lowest teacher salary.

“If you’re going to pay teachers enough where they have to be on welfare, that is insane,” Jasperson said. “They graduated with a four-year degree and they’re on welfare, just to survive.”

Jasperon said after she graduates, she plans to return to her home state of Texas to teach.

“I’m here busting my butt to get my degree, I’m going go to a state that actually shows me some respect,” she said.

Hiller said the walkout is a community effort, and she is inspired by everyone who has participated.

“Everybody there has one single purpose. This is the most bi-partisan thing I’ve ever been a part of. This is about teachers and that we need funding in our classroom,” she said.