The price of education in Oklahoma

By Jennifer E. Hudgens
Guest Submission

I’ve wanted to be a teacher my entire life. I waited until I was 35 years old to start pursuing my dream of teaching. I quit a job I hated because I wasn’t doing anything to make a positive difference in people’s lives.

At 37, I am one year away from finishing my B.A. in English. I’m going into over $50,000 in student loan debt with the hopes of teaching high school in Oklahoma City. But I’m starting to seriously doubt my choice to teach English and Creative Writing in Oklahoma, a place I was born and raised.

I love Oklahoma for so many reasons, though education and politics are two reasons I am likely to move.

Oklahoma is now almost at the very bottom of the list when it comes to education, teacher pay, and teacher benefits. The government here blames the supposed “budget crisis” on the lowered oil prices. I call shenanigans.

Prior to our recent decline in oil prices, teachers in Oklahoma were still being paid roughly $10 an hour if you do the math. Most of the teachers in this state make less than $34,000.00 a year in secondary and elementary education. Most of the teachers that I know work 12+ hours a day on lesson plans, grading, counseling students and teaching.

Statistically, a lot of teachers don’t stay in their positions in Oklahoma more than five years. In 2015 we had to give out hundreds of emergency teaching certificates to people who held B.A. degrees so they could fill positions that were empty. Many of these people were placed in positions teaching subjects they do not have degrees in.

Now, Oklahoma City is cutting at least 208 positions, increasing the number of students in classes, and this probably won’t be the end of it. I have taught writing workshops at local middle schools and high schools. None of this makes sense to me.

I am a substitute teacher who has witnessed classes filled with too many students so that many of the students that need more individual attention aren’t getting it. I have seen the state of the buildings, which are literally falling apart. The lack of books for all students, or books that are in such disrepair, they’re barely useable. Teachers are overwhelmed and the students are suffering.

The educational system has not changed for the better at any point in the last 30 years.

Why do I want to teach? I want to make a difference in the lives of children who will someday grow to be adults who are responsible for making decisions that will have bearing on others.

Do I expect to make a ton of money at this? No. I want to teach because I love it. I want all teachers to be able to survive comfortably for the extremely important job that they do. As the class sizes grow larger, the number of teachers and amount of funding grows less and less, I guarantee you will see more kids dropping out of school.

Recently, I signed up to be a petitioner to get signatures of at least 200,000 of Oklahoma’s registered voters to be able to vote on a petition to improve funds for education. Specifically, this money would not be accessible for anything else. This bill would allow teachers in the next school year to get a $5,000 raise and the remaining money after raises would go to helping out education in other ways, unlike the lottery money that everyone was told would go to education.

I found out something that shocked me. Not only did 200,000 of Oklahoma’s registered voters agree to get this on the docket so we could vote on it, and we are still getting signatures.

So, when you see what foolish bills that lawmakers are trying to get passed, like reuniting church and state because the Ten Commandments needs to be back at the Capitol, or suing Colorado, a ton of anti-LGBTQ bills (that gratefully were not passed), this is where the state is going into debt.

Our lawmakers are so busy creating and lobbying for senseless bills that are costing Oklahoma taxpayers and setting our state backwards by 50+ years, thereby making education in this state suffer. Mary Fallin is dipping into the Rainy Day Fund to help with our prison and education systems. I doubt that anyone currently holding office will take pay cuts to help with our “budget crisis.”

Instead, our teachers and ultimately students suffer.

I attend the University of Central Oklahoma. I’ve experienced a lot of students there who have trouble with reading and writing effectively. These things should be taught prior to college; I’ve met students that had never heard of Harriet Tubman; students that have very little or no concept of basic math or English skills.

The severe lack of focus on improving the state of education in Oklahoma is senseless. If the citizens remain undereducated, do you think they will continue to vote against their best interests in local elections? Will they avoid voting at all?

Over 200,000 signatures of registered voters in the state of Oklahoma tells me that people want something to change. They want to raise their children in good school systems. They want their children to experience a well-rounded education.

If we sit around expecting things to change on their own or based on oil prices, nothing will ever get done. There will always be another excuse that prevents teachers and schools from providing, and our students from getting, the education they deserve.

As it stands now, several teachers that I know plan to quit teaching in the next couple of years or they plan to move out of state to teach elsewhere. If a teacher wants to cross over to Texas, they can make closer to $60,000 to teach.

I wanted to stay in Oklahoma, where I have family, friends, and a community that I love. I wanted to make a difference. I don’t think I can make a difference in a place filled with legislators that incredibly undervalue education.

I guarantee you if we treated our teachers with the respect they deserve and pay them better, Oklahoma would not be at the bottom of education statistics. If NFL and NBA players can get paid millions of dollars, why can’t our teachers in Oklahoma make at least $40,000 a year?

I love Oklahoma, I want to stay in Oklahoma and teach. Right now, I’m on the fence, planning for a worst-case scenario. I want to buy a decent car, be able to afford to pay for a mortgage on my first house, afford to buy food, gas, and pay my bills. I want to do more than struggle.

I’m losing hope in Oklahoma, in our ability to progress and move forward. I truly hope the next year proves me wrong.

The Gayly – May 23, 2016 @ 9:10 a.m.