Teachers rallying at the state capitol in Oklahoma City

Oklahoma teachers are on strike because they’ve had enough. After suffering under the State’s legislative agenda of tax cuts for oil corporations and the wealthy, schools have been systematically underfunded, shortchanging the state’s students- and offering no pay raises in ten years for teachers who are among the lowest paid educators in the U.S.

In the wake of these conditions, Governor Mary Fallin weighed in what is now a four-day strike with a tone-deaf response, comparing teachers to teenagers who …”want a better car”. She drew a sharp response from the hundreds of educators who have flooded the state capitol to demand change.

In an act of accountability and defiance, educators protesting at the capitol followed the governor as she moved through the building, drew out their car keys by the hundreds and began to chant, “Where’s my car?!”

In this “Right to Work” state, Oklahoma teachers are digging in for what could be a long struggle. In a state where the snake oil of supply-side economics bit hard, taxes were sharply cut and funding is now scarce- and legislators are torn by competing interests.

Union families throughout the country can support Oklahoma educators’ efforts at the state capitol through this website.