Symes
Tory Symes
Professor Cleek
English 1113
November 6, 2018
The struggle for the supporters of the future
Oklahoma teacher, Amy Hardesty, forced by the need for better pay has to leave her husband, church, and friends behind in Norman, Oklahoma. She does this to travel 175 miles every week to teach at Wilma Fisher Elementary School in the Frisco Independent School District of North Texas. Her and her husband had to make this hard choice, so they could put their two sons through college, and afford to live their lives. The sad fact behind this is that Mrs. Hardesty received an immediate raise of thousands when she started over her educational career in another state. On average, there is a wage gap of $8,000 to $16,000 between Oklahoma and its surrounding states. (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)
The depressing issue of our education not being funded affects everyone in one way or another. Whether you’re a teacher, student, parent, coach, or part of administration, these limitations affect you. Not only does this limit the life teachers can live, it limits the amount they can teach. From cutting school budgets to the point they have to cut classes, to cutting teachers pay to the point they have to go out of state to teach, this puts all students at a setback compared to other states. The size of the impact this issue puts on our state as a whole creates a negative view of our government from people statewide. Without the proper funding for education, the future of our state will continue to slowly decline. Oklahoma's government officials should fight to increase the conditions for our educational system.
As a student who is affected by the cuts towards teachers salaries and the suffocation of educational opportunities, I have taken a stand to fight for more. This decrease towards teachers pay and funding for student’s opportunities has started a fight in Oklahoma, that the government can no longer ignore. It's not only causing our state to move to last minute options that aren't helping, it’s also shortening children's chances to compete with students from other states. The result of the saddening fact that our state representatives and Senators have been solely focused on other revenues within the state, like oil and gas companies and...
