Abused Public School Students

   As Blanchard teachers and support personnel arrived at the Blanchard High School Cafeteria on Monday, August 7, at 8 AM - they were greeted by 30 cheering and applauding high school students. The students had gathered at approximately 7:30 and lined the sidewalk outside the cafeteria entrance, to salute, cheer, and encourage our disparaged teachers. Our Oklahoma teachers have been disparaged, disrespected, and lied to by state senators and representatives over the past year in an effort to convince teachers "they really do care about our public schools". Oklahoma public school teachers are now the lowest paid among all 50 states and the District of Columbia. They have not had a pay increase in over 10 years, but some lawmakers have said and continue to say "Oklahoma teachers have received three pay raises since 2008". As a matter of fact, one State Representative posted this fabrication on Facebook two years ago - in trying to convince the public that "teachers are overpaid". I'll just let you guess which lawmaker made the remark...
   Just as abused as our Oklahoma teachers and probably more so, are our public school students. Many public school supporters believe our students are abused by lawmakers because student funding has actually been reduced from $3291 per student 10 years ago to $3004 per student at the end of the 2016-2017 school year - a $287 difference. For a school such as Blanchard with over 2000 students, this amounts to $574,000 less state student aid for 2017 (as received from State Legislators) as it received 10 years earlier. Many Oklahomans believe the evidence which emphatically indicates that several lawmakers have abused our public school students. Many of these same abusive lawmakers continue to say "I truly support teachers and students" as evidenced in campaign ads.
   Many public school supporters believe the "draining of the swamp" has begun with the ouster of Senator Ralph Shorty, Senator Kyle Loveless, Representative Dan Kirby, et al, but needs to continue in order to save our Oklahoma public school students. An old ranch saying is "It's enough to make a cow quit her calf", but in the case of these lawmaker lawbreakers "It's enough to make a conservative Oklahoman quit the republican party".