TULSA, Okla. — Five years ago Wednesday, the Oklahoma Education Association voted to end a historic strike which closed public schools for nine school days straight.
From nationwide walkouts to sit-ins at the Oklahoma State Capitol, former educators 2 News spoke with recount the 2018 Oklahoma teachers' walkout as a major stand in the effort to improve conditions for teachers.
One is former Booker T. Washington High School teacher John Waldron, who turned his frustration into a successful bid for the Oklahoma State House.
“I’m not sure everyone (in the legislature) appreciated that 50,000 citizens showed up to ask the legislators to do their job that day,” Rep. Waldron said.
“The people of Oklahoma understood that our public schools were at risk, and it was time for the legislature to act.”
Many others in Tulsa still feel the passion showed in the 2018 walkout, which saw teachers and parents lining streets in the city to raise awareness for their causes.
Edison Prep School parent Jennifer Petty said she took part in that part of the protests in support of educators, and said she would do it all over again.
“I know a lot of families were affected, like with not having childcare and things like that side of it, but the other side is just, whatever we can do to support our teachers is what’s most important,” Petty said.
Tulsa Classroom Teachers Association President Shawna Mott-Wright said a half-decade later there’s still work to do at the state and local level, despite some progress.
“What’s being overlooked is listening to the people," Mott-Wright said. "Not going up there with our own agenda, but listening to the people. And when it comes to education, listening to the teachers. Because if you don’t have teachers, who’s gonna teach the kids? And we have fewer teachers now than we had in 2018.”
State senator and former school principal Dewayne Pemberton serves in the Senate Education Committee, and agrees legislators should work to ensure that walkouts stay in Oklahoma’s past.
“It’s been five years since our last (teacher) pay raise,” Sen. Pemberton said.
“What we need to do in Oklahoma is -- instead of sitting here and waiting ten years or a decade at a time when teachers get so frustrated that they have to go to the capitol and strike and basically have a walkout -- that’s what we want to prevent. And that’s what we’re trying to do right now, is find another way to give teachers and schools money so we can prevent those things and have a productive educational system and make sure that we pay our teachers professionally.”
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