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Thousands March for Adequate School Funding

Kentucky and Oklahoma NEA members join supporters in rallies for much-needed public education funding.

When it comes to severe weather--and education funding cuts--Oklahoma doesn't just have rainy days, it has tornadoes.

Across the Sooner State, a deep slash in state aid is causing staff layoffs; school closings; spending cuts for programs, substitutes, and supplies; and even wartime-like rationing of building heating and lighting.

But Oklahoma teachers and education support professionals aren't passively waiting for this storm to blow over or contentedly getting by with donated school supplies. Instead they have joined forces with other public education advocates and loudly rallied for adequate state education funding, even in the face of the recession.

On February 12, the Oklahoma Education Association (OEA), joined by more than a dozen organization partners in the Oklahoma Education Coalition, delivered some 25,000 people to a mid-week "Save Our Schools" rally at the Capitol in Oklahoma City.

That same day, the Kentucky Education Association (KEA) drew some 21,000 teachers, ESPs, and supporters to a "March and Rally for Public Education" in Frankfort.

In Oklahoma City, OEA and its coalition partners kept the rally message simple: Education is in its worst crisis ever, and legislators must do whatever it takes to reverse the funding shortfall. "Vital programs and services are already suffering," OEA President Carolyn Crowder told the crowd. "We want to retain the quality programs that Oklahomans have come to expect."

In Frankfort, KEA ralliers called on legislators to sustain the funding needed to preserve achievement gains made under the rigorous Kentucky Education Reform Act. They also called for better pay for teachers and support professionals--to stop an alarming exodus of educators across state lines--and for affordable health insurance.

KEA members also urged lawmakers to prevent an Oklahoma-type tornado from sweeping into the Bluegrass State. "It is the students who suffer most when school districts are forced to cut essential programs and lay off staff to make ends meet," KEA President Frances Steenbergen reminded legislators. "Fewer teachers mean larger classes. And larger classes have a negative affect on student achievement."

The February 12 rallies grabbed the attention of Kentucky and Oklahoma lawmakers.

"I've never seen a rally like this down here, period," Kentucky State Treasurer Jonathan Miller told the Cincinnati Enquirer. "The fact that there is such a huge turnout indicates to me that there is tremendous grassroots support for public education funding, and we need to do everything we can to protect it."

And that same week, Oklahoma Governor Brad Henry and legislative leaders agreed on a supplemental appropriation for immediate school needs, including $25 million from the state's Rainy Day Fund.

--Dave Winans

To see the Oklahoma City rally on video, go to www.nea.org/video.

The Oklahoma Rally: What They Did in Durant

THE BACKGROUND: Durant, a stable southeastern Oklahoma community that supports its schools, was slammed hard by state budget cuts this winter. George Washington Elementary was slated for closure; programs were cut; 17 certified staffers and 18 ESPs were slated for a reduction in force (RIF); and money had dried up for everything from school supplies to field trips.

THE CHALLENGE: Durant residents were angry about losing a neighborhood elementary school, and employees on the RIF list--some with 20 or more years of service--were "torn up" and bitter about their plight. "For a lot of my colleagues, teaching has been a way of life, never a job," explains Nancy Johnson, a second-grade teacher at Northwest Elementary and negotiating chair of the 170-member Durant Education Association (DEA).

THE RESPONSE: DEA helped build a local pro-public education coalition of teachers, administrators, and parents--and mobilized to send teachers and administrators to the Oklahoma Education Coalition's February 12 "Save Our Schools" rally in Oklahoma City.

The school board endorsed the idea, authorizing teachers to use a staff development day for the trip. Johnson and DEA President Phyllis Gilbert then joined forces with Superintendent John Jackson, helping him tour schools with an electronic slideshow explaining the need to fight for state aid to education.

THE TRIP UP AND BACK: On February 12, teachers and administrators filled six buses, each fueled through community donations and driven for free by district drivers. Even RIFed teachers climbed on board, hoping to prevent other colleagues from facing the same personal crisis.

On the three-hour trip to Oklahoma City, each bus chose a state-approved professional development activity. "On my bus, we focused on accelerated reading and math," notes Johnson, "and on the way back, we planned ways to absorb staff from George Washington into our school."

A DAY TO REMEMBER: Durant educators, many carrying signs made by parents, drew strength from the crowd of 25,000 ralliers and inspiration from a lunchtime speech by newspaper editor/public education crusader Frosty Troy.

"If we don't stand up and respect ourselves and our profession, who will stand up for us?" Johnson asked herself that day. "They've RIFed teachers and education support professionals--how bad does it have to get?"

AFTER THE RALLY: DEA, a strong "bargaining" local that has negotiated everything from planning time to a duty-free lunch, now faces its biggest advocacy challenge of all--defending the rights of its members at RIF hearings. Fortunately the local has the backing of the Oklahoma Education Association, "which meets individually with these teachers and gets them ready for hearings," notes Johnson. "We're a little bitty local at a real critical point, but OEA is there for us."

KEEPING UP TIES: Throughout this crisis--and beyond--Durant Education Association members are staying in close contact with their state senator and representative and meeting monthly with local coalition partners. One of those partners is David Case, a 20-year military veteran with two kids in Durant schools. "I know about heroes," Case tells Durant teachers, "and you are heroes."

--D.W.

The Kentucky Rally: What They Did in Boyle County

The people and the place: Second-grade teacher Bernice Bates and third-grade teacher Renee Yates, Junction City Elementary, Kentucky.

Positions: Bates is vice president and Yates is president of the 110-member Boyle County Education Association (BCEA).

Most recent accomplishment: "The Bates and Yates Team" helped turn out front-line educators, administrators, and community supporters from their central Kentucky district for a February 12 "March and Rally for Public Education" at the state Capitol in Frankfort.

Instant replay: "We estimate that 150 people from our small district went to the rally," reports Renee Yates. "Of course, that's not too many people, but when you put it together with everybody else at the rally, 21,000 people made a giant difference. We were there to make noise, and I think decision makers heard us, even through their brick walls and up in their tall office buildings. We saw some shades being pulled, but not too many."

A heartfelt message: "Every Association member had a voice that day," says Bernice Bates, "either through a messenger taking a postcard with their personal message to their senator or representative, or by being there and shouting. As I was separating out postcards, it really got to my heart to read notes from teachers across Kentucky about what education funding means to them."

What funding means in Junction City Elementary: "We're a Title I school that needs funding for after-school programs to help kids with tutoring and homework," notes Yates. "And we must find a way as teachers to increase students' test scores and close achievement gaps--just like every other school. We need to meet the goals of the No Child Left Behind Act [Elementary and Secondary Education Act] and Kentucky's mandate to have no child scoring under 'proficiency' by the year 2014."

A word about teacher duties and pay: "In Kentucky schools, everything is decided through site-based councils and committees, from curriculum to textbook adoption," Yates points out. "There are a lot of positive things about the committee structure, but then again there's the time factor--and it's all after school. Yet since about 1994, our pay has not increased in comparison to states around us."

A word to lawmakers: "I told my newly elected state representative that a very informed person makes better decisions," says Bates. "I invited him to come to my classroom, roll up his sleeves, and get ready to 'conference' with the students. I think he and other legislators are going to be floored by what they are asking children to do on state testing--and the accomplishment students are showing. The reading, writing, and testing demands are so much greater than when we went to school."

Strength in numbers: "Our school board amended the calendar to allow us to attend the rally, and we made it up by working on President's Day," Yates points out. "Some local residents asked why we didn't just send a small delegation of educators. My reply: When I and 21,000 colleagues and supporters are face to face, hand to hand with legislators and the governor during a workday, it makes a better impression than if 2,000 of us go on a Saturday and politicians watch us from home on TV. On February 12, they looked out and saw 21,000 voters, and I think that impacted their decision making."

--D.W.

[Kudos To...]

. . . Normandy (Missouri) NEA, for winning court-ordered retroactive compensation and retirement contributions, interest, and penalties--exceeding $1 million--for 300 to 400 current and former certified staffers. The Normandy district, in St. Louis County, failed to implement Missouri's salary compliance law--which requires that certified employees receive a designated portion of a district's budget--during the 1994-95, 1995-96, and 1997-98 school years. Normandy NEA received legal assistance from the 32,000-member Missouri NEA.

. . . Paraeducators in Winooski, Vermont, who have settled a three-year contract that provides a "new money" increase of 24.59 percent. Pay rates under the agreement will range from $8.12 per hour in 2002-03 for a high school graduate with no experience to $12.60 per hour in 2005-06 for a college graduate with 12 years of experience.

The para negotiating team reached this contract without mediation or factfinding. Chief negotiator MaryLee Grigsby reports that Winooski paras enjoy a lot of community support. "We're the core group that passes budgets every year," she says.