The Oklahoma Teacher Strike

[Chris]

All the OK teachers need to do is move south to TX.

Some Oklahoma teachers find the grass really is greener in Texas

...“It just got to the point where it was really defeating,” said Price, 34, who last year moved to the Dallas suburb of Grapevine with her husband and 10-year-old daughter to start a job as a second-grade teacher.

Crossing the Red River that separates Oklahoma and Texas meant a salary increase of about 40 percent for Price, who has a master’s degree. She saw few prospects of improving the lot of her family by staying put.

Price earned around $30,000 a year when she began teaching in Oklahoma. When she left 11 years later, she was earning just under $40,000. At her new position, Price earns about $55,000.

The benefits transcend salary. There is a cap on class sizes and every student has an iPad, which Price said makes her job easier.

...

[IMPress Polly]

Standing Wolf wrote:
Taxpayers would be more likely to support pay raises for teachers if there was increased accountability for doing a good (or even adequate) job. Mechanisms for rewarding the teachers who truly deserve higher salaries and for targeting those who are better suited, in terms of skills and attitude, to working in some other field really need to be instituted. Pay raises should be given to good teachers, sizeable pay raises should be given to great teachers, bad teachers should be shown the door and so-so teachers should be put on notice that they could be next.

Teachers do an excellent job of educating the youth in as far as they are allowed to. Unfortunately, much of what is taught in school classrooms (and this is MORE true in private schools than in public ones, mind you) is determined by administrative staff, not by those of us who are around the students all the time and know what their individual needs are. It would help if we were freed up from the ridiculously over-the-top strictures of the current standardized testing obsession in this country (we test several times as often as any other country, incidentally) and other completely unnecessary burdens (including unnecessarily large class sizes, for instance) so that we could focus on each student's individual needs. It would also help the teaching process if Oklahoma's educators didn't have to teach the next generation with textbooks in this condition:

textbooks 1.jpgtextbooks 2.jpg

It would also help if Oklahoma teachers had five days a week to do so across the board, instead of 20% of the state's schools using four-day school weeks so that oil and gas companies can get unnecessary subsidies.

Teachers have to work with what we're given. This is what the teachers of Oklahoma are given to work with. And salaries that require them to take second and even third jobs to pay their bills. Let's see you do a better job under those conditions! How about it?

The best schools in America, IMO, are the ones that are run by teachers to the exclusion of administrative staff, and that's why you're seeing more of them start to crop up. That comparative quality isn't a coincidence. We're the ones who spend all day with the students. We know them. We care about them. Teachers even lay down their lives for their students, as we've seen time and again over the last two decades! Some of us feel that maybe a little less criticism -- a little less being blamed for all the world's problems -- and a little more appreciation might be deserved.

Chris wrote:
Agree. The basics. History gets tougher. In Texas, there's a push now to teach the Civil War as exclusively about slavery and remove anything about state's rights. Gets too political.

Max wrote:
Agreed, that's PC.....and I'm surprised Texas would accept that although I can see Austin pushing it. Austin is weird.

The reason you're surprised is because Chris's version of this story is misleading. In reality, Texas, from the start of the current decade, has decided to have their public school textbooks minimize, or even eliminate, references to slavery. For example, just a few years back there was a World Geography textbook published for use in Texas public schools by the famed McGraw-Hills that referred to African slaves brought to the United States against their will as "workers", such as to avoid painting the slave system as having been necessarily immoral or objectionable. (Perhaps that sounds more like the Texas you're familiar with, no?) There has been parental pushback against these kinds of things lately in Texas. That pushback, not the whitewashing of the state's history around the question of slavery, seems to be what Chris is objecting to here. Wouldn't want to be too PC.

[Max Rockatansky]

....The reason you're surprised is because Chris's version of this story is misleading. In reality, Texas, from the start of the current decade, has decided to have their public school textbooks minimize, or even eliminate, references to slavery. For example, just a few years back there was a World Geography textbook published for use in Texas public schools by the famed McGraw-Hills that referred to African slaves brought to the United States against their will as "workers", such as to avoid painting the slave system as having been necessarily immoral or objectionable. (Perhaps that sounds more like the Texas you're familiar with, no?) There has been parental pushback against these kinds of things lately in Texas. That pushback, not the whitewashing of the state's history around the question of slavery, seems to be what Chris is objecting to here. Wouldn't want to be too PC.

I recall that move. Sounds like revisionist history bull$#@! to me. Did they actually do it or was the idea of calling slaves 'workers" shot down like it should have been?

What do you mean "Perhaps that sounds more like the Texas you're familiar with, no?) "? It doesn't sound like Texas to me at all.

As it is, this Newsweek article indicates it was it a single caption by the publisher that called slaves "workers" and the Texas Education simply approved the textbook including the single captioned picture.

http://www.newsweek.com/company-behi...we-made-380168

[IMPress Polly]

Max wrote:
I recall that move. Sounds like revisionist history bull$#@! to me. Did they actually do it or was the idea of calling slaves 'workers" shot down like it should have been?

What do you mean "Perhaps that sounds more like the Texas you're familiar with, no?) "? It doesn't sound like Texas to me at all.

As it is, this Newsweek article indicates it was it a single caption by the publisher that called slaves "workers" and the Texas Education simply approved the textbook including the single captioned picture.

http://www.newsweek.com/company-behi...we-made-380168

The uproar over it was the result of its use, to answer your question. However, they did apologize and subsequent textbooks did not repeat that particular "mistake". I was just using that as an example, not presenting it as the full picture of changes that have occurred in Texas textbooks this decade concerning the subject of slavery by a long shot.

As to my remark about "the Texas you're familiar", where I live, Texas is thought of as a pretty conservative state that wouldn't be naturally given to ideas like "to teach the Civil War as exclusively about slavery and remove anything about state's rights".

[Chris]

Teachers do an excellent job of educating the youth in as far as they are allowed to. Unfortunately, much of what is taught in school classrooms (and this is MORE true in private schools than in public ones, mind you) is determined by administrative staff, not by those of us who are around the students all the time and know what their individual needs are. It would help if we were freed up from the ridiculously over-the-top strictures of the current standardized testing obsession in this country (we test several times as often as any other country, incidentally) and other completely unnecessary burdens (including unnecessarily large class sizes, for instance) so that we could focus on each student's individual needs. It would also help the teaching process if Oklahoma's educators didn't have to teach the next generation with textbooks in this condition:

Attachment 23244Attachment 23245

It would also help if Oklahoma teachers had five days a week to do so across the board, instead of 20% of the state's schools using four-day school weeks so that oil and gas companies can get unnecessary subsidies.

Teachers have to work with what we're given. This is what the teachers of Oklahoma are given to work with. And salaries that require them to take second and even third jobs to pay their bills. Let's see you do a better job under those conditions! How about it?

The best schools in America, IMO, are the ones that are run by teachers to the exclusion of administrative staff, and that's why you're seeing more of them start to crop up. That comparative quality isn't a coincidence. We're the ones who spend all day with the students. We know them. We care about them. Teachers even lay down their lives for their students, as we've seen time and again over the last two decades! Some of us feel that maybe a little less criticism -- a little less being blamed for all the world's problems -- and a little more appreciation might be deserved.





The reason you're surprised is because Chris's version of this story is misleading. In reality, Texas, from the start of the current decade, has decided to have their public school textbooks minimize, or even eliminate, references to slavery. For example, just a few years back there was a World Geography textbook published for use in Texas public schools by the famed McGraw-Hills that referred to African slaves brought to the United States against their will as "workers", such as to avoid painting the slave system as having been necessarily immoral or objectionable. (Perhaps that sounds more like the Texas you're familiar with, no?) There has been parental pushback against these kinds of things lately in Texas. That pushback, not the whitewashing of the state's history around the question of slavery, seems to be what Chris is objecting to here. Wouldn't want to be too PC.

Odd that in Texas no one is complaining that slavery has been removed from the textbooks, only that other causes like state's right are included.

For example, just a few years back there was a World Geography textbook published for use in Texas public schools by the famed McGraw-Hills that referred to African slaves brought to the United States against their will as "workers", such as to avoid painting the slave system as having been necessarily immoral or objectionable.

Why'd you leave out that the publisher admitted they'd made a mistake? Doesn't fit the agenda. The title at your link is "COMPANY APOLOGIZES FOR TEXAS TEXTBOOK CALLING SLAVES 'WORKERS': 'WE MADE A MISTAKE'."

[Chris]

The uproar over it was the result of its use, to answer your question. However, they did apologize and subsequent textbooks did not repeat that particular "mistake". I was just using that as an example, not presenting it as the full picture of changes that have occurred in Texas textbooks this decade concerning the subject of slavery by a long shot.

As to my remark about "the Texas you're familiar", where I live, Texas is thought of as a pretty conservative state that wouldn't be naturally given to ideas like "to teach the Civil War as exclusively about slavery and remove anything about state's rights".

Because the Civil War wasn't just about slavery. Has nothing to do with being conservative.

[Max Rockatansky]

The uproar over it was the result of its use, to answer your question. However, they did apologize and subsequent textbooks did not repeat that particular "mistake". I was just using that as an example, not presenting it as the full picture of changes that have occurred in Texas textbooks this decade concerning the subject of slavery by a long shot.

As to my remark about "the Texas you're familiar", where I live, Texas is thought of as a pretty conservative state that wouldn't be naturally given to ideas like "to teach the Civil War as exclusively about slavery and remove anything about state's rights".

The causes of the Civil War are another topic compared to McGraw-Hill's lexicon and captions for their textbooks.

Where do you live that teaches "Texas is thought of as a pretty conservative state that wouldn't be naturally given to ideas like..." Do they smear other states or just Texas? What else do they teach kids about states and areas of the United States that are not their own?

[IMPress Polly]

Max wrote:
Where do you live that teaches "Texas is thought of as a pretty conservative state that wouldn't be naturally given to ideas like..." Do they smear other states or just Texas? What else do they teach kids about states and areas of the United States that are not their own?

Oh come on, Max. We don't "teach that" Texas is anything here in my area. I was speaking to the state's general reputation in my area, not suggesting that Vermont public schools teach the youth to hate the people of Texas. That is all. Good Lord.

[Max Rockatansky]

Oh come on, Max. We don't "teach that" Texas is anything here in my area. I was speaking to the state's general reputation in my area, not suggesting that Vermont public schools teach the youth to hate the people of Texas. That is all. Good Lord.

Nice backpedal. No doubt that attitude toward Texas you and others have carries over to your children. No worries. Pointing out how hypocritical Liberals are is one of my many hobbies. "Diversity my ass".

As to my remark about "the Texas you're familiar", where I live, Texas is thought of as a pretty conservative state that wouldn't be naturally given to ideas like "to teach the Civil War as exclusively about slavery and remove anything about state's rights".

[IMPress Polly]

Max wrote:
Nice backpedal. No doubt that attitude toward Texas you and others have carries over to your children. No worries. Pointing out how hypocritical Liberals are is one of my many hobbies. "Diversity my ass".

First of all, I'm single. Secondly, after reading this post, I have reached the conclusion that you are not contributing in good faith. The above remarks are an insult to my intelligence. You are clearly just trying to start a fight over literally nothing. I will not be sucked in. I'm not gonna play your stupid game. This is the end of my conversation with you.