 |
| Outrage isn't the only thing that won't fit on this teacher... |
Teacher Strike for Smaller Class Sizes and Higher Pay?
The teachers union has set an April 2nd deadline for about a billion dollars per year in new taxes immediately and another half billion per year in a few years, most of which is to be funneled into the already bloated K-12 budget. Their propaganda claims that this is for increased teacher pay and smaller class sizes, forgetting that back in the seventies classrooms of thirty and forty students were common and the test scores were higher and taxes were lower. Then 1017 came along and we were promised that new taxes and higher taxes and smaller class size would allow 16 students per teacher and ensure better testing outcomes.
None of which turned out to be true. The class sizes dropped to 16 or under per teacher and the test scores continued to nose dive. Twice as many teachers were now needed than before of course so an artificial "teacher shortage" was immediately created and of course the budget per kid had to be doubled for the teacher pay and benefits package. And the teachers had half the work load per day.
So these claims of smaller class sizes got us curios so we pulled the list of striking teachers according to the group that is organizing the strike and ran the numbers.
- Average pupil per teacher ratio in the striking schools is 12.31 students per teacher
- The highest teacher to student ratio is Taloga with 106 students and 34 teachers, barely over three students per teacher.
- There are 16 schools with seven kids per teacher or less, around 9% of the schools that are striking.
- 17% of the schools have eight kids or less per teacher.
- 51 of the 176 school districts that are striking have fewer than 9 students per teacher, 29% of the striking schools.
- 81 of the striking schools have ten students per teacher or less, around 46% of the total striking districts.
- 111 schools of the 178 said to be striking on April 2nd have 11 kids per teacher or less, around 63% of all the striking schools.
- Around 77% of the striking schools have 12 kids per teacher or less, 137 of the 175 striking schools.
And what does the general public think about the threats of striking teachers? Not much, the comment sections on the online articles are filled with angry taxpayers lashing out against the teachers that are shilling the strike and pay raise. Tempers are high and the taxpayers that insist on waste being cut before higher taxes are being called garbage human beings and much worse by the teachers or their shills.
But education funding is a nationwide problem, not just Oklahoma. Over half of Colorado schools have a four day week and Colorado ranks 38th in spending while Oklahoma is 47th, although Oklahoma jumps up to that same 38th spot when adjusted for the cost of living in the state. And a teacher shortage is merely a manufactured crisis by shrinking class size and unchecked illegal immigration and every single state in the Union is experiencing a shortage of teachers. And the education shills might provide some rankings showing Oklahoma at the bottom of the pay pile but California itself has been ranked at #22, 29, 41, and 49th from the top all in the same year by different groups using different formulas for judging. Once you factor in the low cost of living in Oklahoma and the low taxes Oklahoma hits #38th in the nation for school spending.
The teachers strike is going to harm kids but the teachers unions are the ones deciding to strike. Some kids that depend on school food might go hungry but that is their parent's choice along with the teachers union. Some funding is going to be lost if enough kids don't get their testing done and submitted before the deadline and no doubt the same teachers are going to demand the state reimburse the schools for that lost funding due to the strike. Other than that the strike will fizzle out in a week or so if the legislators stick to their principles and refuse to cave in to blackmail.
And all you need to remember is the fate of the Boren one cent sales tax increase that went down in flames in 2016. The average voter is sick of the failing schools, sick of the greedy teachers that run the teacher's union, and sick of tax increases while their wages aren't moving up and in many cases are moving down.
