ABC Tulsa reports that Oklahoma teachers are coordinating a statewide strike:
MOORE, Okla. (KTUL) — Oklahoma teachers are fed up with state lawmakers. A public school teacher in Stillwater created the Facebook group “Oklahoma Teacher Walkout – The Time is Now!” two days ago, and it has already gained more than 20,000 members.
Today, teachers gathered in Moore to discuss the possible statewide strike.
“Frustration levels are high, so a strike is not a touchy word anymore,” said Molly Jaynes, a teacher in Oklahoma City.
You have to dig a bit for it but the issue is pay and I’m with the teachers on this one. They aren’t paid enough. Pay for a teacher in Oklahoma starts at $37,000 and tops out at $46,000 at the highest lane and seniority. Median household income in Oklahoma is $43,000. That means that most teachers in Oklahoma earn below median income. That’s not right. Plumbers in Oklahoma have a median income around the state’s median and can earn as much as $75,000.
For comparison purposes the starting pay for a Chicago teacher is over $50,000 a year and the median income is around $80,000. That’s for a nine month job in a city with a median household income of around $47,000 a year.
I agree with you with one caveat – benefits, both today and tomorrow. I can’t speak for Oklahoma but in the once great state of Connecticut, they have raised the pay to fair levels, but the benefits are far above the private sector, especially pensions. We are going broke as a state as a result. Teachers and other public employees can’t have it both ways.
And I agree with you. Total compensation is the main question and, at least in Chicago, teachers enjoy a benefits package that private sector workers can only dream of. They’re extremely difficult to fire, full health plan, they don’t pay Social Security or even contribute to their own pensions, and have a generous defined benefit pension plan.
You forget the other three reasons for choosing to be a Chicago school teacher over plumbing: June, July and August.