Teachers in Oklahoma have just negotiated in 90 counties to go to a 4-day school week, leaving Monday open for teachers to take jobs at Wal-Mart in order to make ends meet. I don't know about you but that might be one of the worst things I have ever read, These are people who are tasked with teaching our kids and who are a very important factor in there development yet they can't even make enough to survive without getting a second job. That is not all , in a great article by Boing Boing they go on to say," Teachers make ends meet with public housing vouchers and food stamps, and school food-bank drives sometimes give their leftovers to hungry teachers and their families". These are people that have went to college, some getting their masters and some even getting doctorates and yet they are on FOOD STAMPS!! Another big problem for teachers is that their health plan has been switched to a private one, and suprise, suprise it is god-awful with teacher aides actually paying to work their jobs because of how expensive the new health care plan is.
That is not even the end of Oklahoma's vast problems the article go's on to say," Highway patrol has been given orders not to completely fill their gas-tanks at the pump, to help with state cash-flow; drunk drivers go free because there is no one available to process their tickets, and the prison system is on the verge of collapse. You might be thinking how in the world did Oklahoma get this bad; The answer will not surprise you. In 1992 Oklahoma passed a law stating that taxes cannot be raised unless 3/4 of the state assembly vote in favor of one. Since Oklahoma is a deep red state it has become virtually impossible to raise taxes because you will never be able to get 3/4 of a majority of republican law makers to vote on a tax increase, and the cherry on top of the shit-sundae is that a tax cut does not require the 3/4 so since 1992 Oklahoma has been massively slashing taxes and gutting revenue and it has gotten to the point where there is hardly no money left to afford basic functions of the government like the ability to pay its workers and in this case teachers.
Also this story is getting virtually no mainstream media coverage. All the mainstream press cares to talk about for days on end is how Rob Porter beat his wife and that Trump didnt fire him months ago meanwhile we have a state on the verge of fucking collapse with teachers fleeing in droves cause they don't make enough money to live, people being let go with DUI's, and the prison system about to break down but the clowns at MSNBC, and CNN decided to go on and on about Porter or endlessly fear-monger about Russia and spread neo-McCarthyism instead of talking about something that actually effects American citizens. This is why establishment media is a complete joke and it is passed time we called them out on it.