In my opinion, teachers in Oklahoma are the salt of the earth – angels walking among us! They make the lowest salaries in the U.S. and have the second lowest funding overall. These teachers opt to accept these rates of pay and these classroom conditions because they truly love what they do and want to help children learn. Good God, is there anything more admirable??
Blake Martin is a friend of mine from Tulsa Oklahoma. I have known her a long time (our younger sisters were close friends growing up) and never knew her to be super politically involved (although she probably knew I was!) but once the teacher walkout began, I watched as Blake stepped up to the plate and championed the cause of Oklahoma Education funding like an absolute pro. She made graphics that went viral, she broke down the issues in clear/ concise wording for those who needed info, and admitted publicly that this was her first time learning about our state government and taking an active role. I SO greatly admired how she handled herself and furthermore, I admired her humility throughout the entire process. She made politics very approachable which is one of my main goals with this blog so I wanted to do a quick interview with her for you guys so you can hear her story in her own words. Happy reading babez!
—
- So, let’s start at the beginning – What is your job and what did you study in school?
I currently teach 5th grade reading at Moore Elementary in Union Public Schools. I received my Bachelors of Science in Applied Learning and Development (Elementary Education) and English as a Second Language at the University of Texas at Austin. I went on to earn my Master’s of Science in Math and Science Education at the University of Tulsa. I’m currently exploring the different avenues and topics to obtain my doctorate as well.
- You mentioned on social media that you were not very politically active up until recently… Can you dive a little deeper into that & tell us that story?
Until recently I absolutely loathed politics! I have always been the one who rolled my eyes when people around me started talking about politics and chose to stay out of it. Politics just never really interested me. I have usually felt that most people have their views and stick by them and that sitting around discussing- which typically turns into arguing- isn’t really productive for anyone and often ends poorly so I just avoided it. I also don’t like engaging in discussions about things I’m not very educated on- like politics! I am definitely not a pro now, but I am more knowledgeable when it comes to our state and education in politics. The education crisis in Oklahoma and the walk-out really opened my eyes as to how our state legislature works and the policies that are in place. Every day I learned something new!
- Did you have a particular tipping point with the teacher crisis in Oklahoma, where you decided to become more politically active? Can you shed some light on your experience as a teacher in this state? What kind of issues has the lack of funding caused in your classroom personally?
All of the talk about the potential of a teacher walk-out was kind of my tipping point. I attended one of our Union Classroom Teacher Association (UCTA) meetings in March, right after OEA had initially announced that the walkout was going to start on April 23rd– after state testing. That made a lot of teachers, including myself, pretty frustrated and mad, so my friend and I attended the UCTA meeting to voice our concern. After engaging in discussions with all of the members there, I decided that I wanted to be more involved.
I actually initially planned on moving back to Texas to teach! I was certified in Texas and in Oklahoma and had planned on being a teacher assistant here at Holland Hall [a private school in Tulsa, OK]for a year or two to get some experience (and because Texas was on a hiring freeze when I graduated) and then moving back to Texas to start my career. I ended up starting my Master’s at TU during my first year as a teacher assistant and after my second year I was hired at Moore Elementary as a 1st and 2nd grade looping teacher. After one year at Moore I knew that I couldn’t leave. Our staff is like a family where everyone gets along and supports one another and that is hard to find in a workplace! I have been very lucky to work at such an amazing school in a district that truly supports it’s teachers.
The two main issues the lack of funding has caused for me personally are class sizes and the cut to support staff. Our school has been lucky to not have some of the enormous class sizes I’ve heard about in other schools and districts, but our classes have increased. It’s amazing what an additional 2-3 students does to class. The cut to support staff is what has been most noticeable. Our gifted and talented (GT) students used to have class with our GT 4-5 days per week and they are now only seen 1-2 days per week because our GT teacher now splits her time between two buildings. We have a growing English Learner (EL) population, but our EL teacher is only in our building two days per week. These are the types of cuts that impact me the most because when students no longer have access to these special services, the responsibility falls back on me as the classroom teacher and I barely get through all of our standards as it is! It adds more to my already full plate when it comes to instruction.
- What was the teacher walkout like for you personally?
The teacher walkout was most definitely the most emotionally draining, exhausting two weeks of my life. I know there are a lot of people out there who assumed that it was just an extra vacation for teachers but let me tell you it was far from it! I went to the capitol multiple times and spoke with legislators, sat in on meetings and stood outside with my sign rallying with other teachers. When I wasn’t at the capitol I was standing on the streets of Tulsa with my sign to raise awareness, e-mailing legislators and posting on social media to make sure everyone knew what was going on- you may have seen my infographic that went viral about the discrepancies between 1010xx [a bill that did pass, providing additional but inadequate education funding] and what OEA asked for! I did an interview with a local news station about my infographic and the walkout. Our school held fundraisers for our hourly support staff who were not getting paid during the walkout. Every day I was doing something to support education and raise awareness. On top of all of that, reading everything on Facebook was draining and often upsetting. I finally had to stop getting on social media at night because some of the things that people were saying about public education and teachers were really hateful and upsetting and then I would get worked up and couldn’t sleep! I think I called my mom or one of my friends crying daily because I was just so emotionally spent. Teaching is not just my career, it’s my passion and to see it attacked on a daily basis was difficult.
- Were you disappointed when the walkout ended? What would you have done differently?
Yes and no. I was disappointed because we did not get the funding that we had hoped for. Teachers and support staff did get a raise, but we did not get near enough funding for schools in general. We still need general funding for our schools for things like textbooks, supplies, support staff, etc. So I was disappointed about that, but also felt like the legislators were just trying to wait us out. They knew that we had to complete state testing in order to receive our federal funding, and while the state testing window had been extended, we still had a shorter window than normal- in essence, they could wait us out. I also felt like the longer that we stayed out, the less support we were going to have from the public and we needed public support not only then, but in the long run. We needed the public to remain supportive so that they would vote in favor of public education candidates for elections- and they did!
I don’t think I would have really done anything differently. I wish I had tried to make more appointments with legislators to sit down and talk with them, but I feel like I did everything I could to contribute in a positive way.
- What role did the Oklahoma Education Association play in the walk-out? Were you proud of/ satisfied with their involvement?
The Oklahoma Education Association played a huge role in the walkout. I think that a lot of teachers had talked about a walkout and different groups had mentioned different dates and time frames and OEA stepped in to organize everyone and get the ball rolling. They did their best to get information out to people, our local group UCTA organized busses to the capitol daily, and OEA was at the capitol rallying everyone and talking with legislators on a daily basis. I know there are a lot of people who were disappointed with the way OEA called to end the walkout, and it wasn’t communicated in the most effective way, but I believe that they did the best they could given the circumstances. They were never going to please everyone and they did what they thought was best in the long run. I was satisfied with their involvement.
- So, a bunch of the legislators who opposed education funding were recently voted out in the OK primaries. That had to feel pretty good, huh? Can you tell us a bit more about that & the efforts that went into making sure that happened?
Yes, this was amazing! I have never been so nervous about election results as I was during the primaries! There were some really great pro-education candidates running and also some really scary ones. I was absolutely ecstatic when I saw some of the notoriously anti-public education candidates voted out! I think that the walkout shed a lot of light on who was a detriment to public education and teachers were not going to let people forget that. I know a lot of teachers helped with campaigning- making phone calls and door knocking. A lot of teachers helped spread the word of who would be an education friendly candidate and who would be not-so-great. There was a lot posted on social media about candidates to raise awareness. I had 15+ people contact me asking which of their candidates were pro-education or asking who I thought was best for some of the state-wide races and that never happens!
- What would you like to see happen next in the education crisis in Oklahoma? If you were governor tomorrow, what would you set out to accomplish and how would you go about it?
I would like to see more solid funding for classrooms and schools in general. Funding that is earmarked specifically for education with a stable funding source. I have no idea what I would do as governor! That is not a title I would ever want!
- What advice would you give to other young women who are either not super engaged politically and/or trying to become more engaged? After the teacher’s walkout, did you learn more about other political issues too? Which ones have hit home the most besides education?
I would tell everyone to not be afraid to ask questions. I asked some of (what I thought were) the dumbest questions throughout all of this but I wanted to learn so I asked them anyway. It’s important to find someone you trust who can be a reliable source to go to when you’re unsure. I was lucky enough to befriend (after arguing via Facebook messenger about the initial walkout date that was announced!) Brendan Jarvis, a fellow Union teacher who is on the OEA board. He is well versed in politics and the ins and outs of it all and has been my go-to person for everything political (he answered my many dumb questions!). The other thing I would encourage anyone to do is always make sure to fact check for yourself. You can’t trust everything you read on social media, it is so often twisted or skewed, so I always try to fact check things for myself- a simple Google search will do!
I tend to stick with education issues since that is what I am most passionate about and the most educated on. I try to stay up to date with LGBTQ issues, gun laws and now medical marijuana since that is a trending topic in Oklahoma!
- Last question I always ask each interviewee: what is your favorite quote and what does it mean to you?
That’s a tough one! I have several favorites, but I would say the one I come back to the most is “Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind” from Dr. Seuss. I feel like this quote rings true in so many aspects of life- from adolescence into adulthood and all the obstacles that come with every stage of life. I wish I had this framed on my wall growing up! But I think that it’s important to remember that those who really care about you will listen to what you have to say, even if they don’t agree and that those who can’t hear what you have to say or won’t let you be who you are aren’t worth having in your life.
—
XO,
Blake & Antigone