When I attended elementary school during the mid 1960's, I had a friend whose mother was a teacher. He and I were very close, and still are today, so he related the following about his family back then:
His mother intended to be only a "house-wife" when she married his father in 1955, and the two had three children by 1960. His father toured the pro-rodeo circuit prior to 1964 and provided for the family by winning bull-riding and steer-wrestling competitions nation-wide. He began working in oil field construction after retiring from rodeo, and provided quite well for the family - until becoming disabled at this time. My friend's mother then decided to "go back to school" and become certified to teach. Little did she know at the time, that teaching in public schools would never pay the bills, and be considered by some Oklahoma lawmakers to be a dishonorable profession. He recently told me that he saw one of his mother's monthly pay checks at the time - it amounted to about $290, and according to one present day corporate lawmaker, Representative Jeff Coody (R) of Lawton - was probably obtained by "extortion". Coody always spouts the "corporate line" concerning our public schools and teachers - "I truly do support our public schools, and teachers definitely need a pay raise", but whose actions and candid statements indicate just the opposite...
My friend's mother began bringing home food from the grocery store (or so he thought) contained in big silver cans. Cheese, green beans, corn, etc.. were contained in these "tin" cans, which had "commodity" stamped on the side. He and his two siblings didn't know at the time they were on "welfare" in order to be fed, but wondered why their canned food wasn't stamped "Jolly Green Giant" that existed in grocery stores... (must have been on a different aisle).
The friend from elementary school eventually became a Baptist minister, and prays for our public school teachers every day, these days. I was visiting with his mother (now a retired teacher) recently, and she said to me - "I hope you are supporting your teachers (during this proposed walk-out) for higher pay... because you know what I went through." I assured her I do support our teachers, because I do know what they've been through, and will continue to share their fight for a living wage and respect.
(On a sidenote, my school friend from long ago told me another story from his mother's days as a teacher - It seems that his mother had applied for some sort of "lead teacher" role in the school for which she could receive an annual salary increase of $200, which would have amounted to about $12 per month increase in take-home pay. She thought surely she would receive the advancement because she had more experience than many other applicants and was the sole bread-winner for her family. The superintendent called her and a male teacher to his office and awarded the job to the man, because, as the supt. said: "He has a family to feed, and really needs the money". My friend said he never knew this while growing up, but his mother related this story to him while discussing the recent teacher walk-out news.)
Update: Wednesday, March 28: By now, most Oklahomans know that teachers will receive a much needed pay raise beginning next year. The group being left out now is our retired teachers. They have not received a "cost of living allowance" (COLA) for about ten years now. In many peoples opinion, our retired teachers have been abused by corporate lawmakers (even more than active teachers). Several corporate lawmakers, including our own Representative Tim Downing, have endeared themselves to teachers, so as to garner their support. One top teacher in Oklahoma even went so far as to say that "Tim Downing truly supports teachers" (Check out his election website). Mr. Downing has always voted no teacher pay increase on every teacher pay bill that's come up. He always says "I do not support massive tax increases to afford a teacher pay raise", but has never offered a plan of his own which doesn't rely on tax increases. In many Oklahomans' opinion - Mr. Downing has never offered an alternative plan for providing a teacher pay raise because he's not capable. He just always votes "no" teacher pay, but utilizes political rhetoric to convince teachers he's really on their side.
He has also spoken to several "retired teacher" groups and spewed his "I really do support retired teachers" speech in order to convince them to vote for him again... and again... and again... It's a safe bet that Mr. Downing will always vote "no" on COLA increases, just as he always does on teacher pay increases - especially if it would affect the profits of international corporations. It's a sad day for retired teachers, as they've been left out again... and a sad day for oil execs, as the GPT is likely to increase to 5%..., but a joyous day for active teachers, as their pay raise is now on the fast track - much to the consternation of Tim Downing and his ilk...
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