
Oklahoma schools go on 4-day weeks so teachers can work on Mondays to make rent - tobijkl
https://www.economist.com/news/united-states/21736102-low-teacher-pay-and-severe-budget-cuts-are-driving-schools-brink-whats-matter
======
coldcode
Embarrassing. People in the rest of world must think this country has lost its
mind. Perhaps we should go ahead and eliminate all taxes and see what happens.

~~~
the-dude
I was already amazed at Breaking Bad showing a chemistry teacher working part-
time in a carwash. This is unheard of in NL/EU.

I have pointed this out here before, and I would immediately get : well, he
made some bad decisions and he has a special need kid.

Well ....

~~~
dogma1138
Being a (especially a young) teacher in Europe isn’t exactly great either.

As far as at least France, Germany and the UK goes it’s not uncommon to have
supplemental income for most teachers or to work at multiple schools to make
ends meat.

------
danielvf
One interesting bit of context that the article didn't mention is that the
population of towns/cities/urban areas in Oklahoma grew on average 11.29% in
just five years. The state has been seeing both a large move from country to
towns and a decent net increase in total population.

------
djhworld
A nice boost for employment statistics fans I guess.

What I don't understand is how things got to this point without the electorate
making a stand? Or do the people who vote send their kids to private school
instead?

~~~
timw0j
It's mostly people who don't have kids/old people who vote with the mentality
of "I don't have kids in school, why should I pay for other people's kids to
go?"

~~~
scarface74
Until they realize that most businesses won't want to move some place with a
bad education system where most of the highly educated will move away as
quickly as possible and they can't get employees to relocate.

------
rasengan
We, the people, need to address this. We mustn’t rely on government as
government is always self interested with the interest being toward the top of
the hierarchy.

Without education, our community will have serious problems.

Let’s fix this now.

~~~
toomuchtodo
What options do you have available besides running for office in Oklahoma or
leaving Oklahoma? Making up the difference out of pocket? That reinforces the
bad behavior of local government.

If your problem is with the government, coordinate to fix government through
elected office.

Worst case scenario is other states (that can pay teachers a living wage)
recruit teachers away en masse, which is unfortunate for Oklahoma residents
but the best outcome for those teachers.

~~~
hugo0384729109
Agreed. The people voted for a party that has been going on and on about the
government being the problem and that it should shrink and that private
companies should have very low tax and not face almost any regulation. It’s
not like they hid those views and people voted for them to the point where
they control the entire state completely
([https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oklahoma_Republican_Party](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oklahoma_Republican_Party)).

The people who chose to support that party will have to realize that if
they’re not happy with the consequences of their support, they have to get
over partisan politics and either reform the party themselves or vote for
someone else.

So frustrating when “the government” is referred to as some vague entity out
of anyone’s control. They chose this and they can choose something else. Other
people saw through the extreme right economics and didn’t chose it so that was
a possible path too.

~~~
Feniks
Wholeheartedly agree. In a democracy the government is your government.

~~~
scarface74
In states and cities yes. But federally, if you want to vote for a party
that's fiscally conservative and focuses on the needs of the people, which
party do you vote for?

------
SamReidHughes
It will be interesting to see how this affects the quality of education
students get.

------
inthewoods
Horrible to see that the Republican concept of "draining the swamp" apparently
starts with teachers.

~~~
sctb
Please make your comments civil and substantive.

[https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html](https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html)

------
tsomctl
The original article: [https://www.economist.com/news/united-
states/21736102-low-te...](https://www.economist.com/news/united-
states/21736102-low-teacher-pay-and-severe-budget-cuts-are-driving-schools-
brink-whats-matter)

~~~
dang
Ok, we've changed to that from [https://boingboing.net/2018/02/07/this-is-not-
ok.html](https://boingboing.net/2018/02/07/this-is-not-ok.html).

------
scarface74
I don't see the problem. The legislature was elected by the people. If the
people keep voting for these elected officials, they got just what they voted
for.

The teachers are leaving in droves and making better money.

Win Win - the people of Oklahoma got the horrible school system that they
indirectly voted for and teachers get to either deal with it or move.

I can't feel bad for people who vote against their own interest.

~~~
Hnrobert42
Except that there are teachers working today who weren’t born when that ballot
initiative was passed in the early 90s.

~~~
scarface74
Then what's stopping those teachers from moving? I moved from a small town
where the only jobs for software developers were as military contractors doing
mainframe programming, the week after I graduated from college.

------
RickJWag
Gee, I wish this article were filled with more opinionated rhetoric and less
facts.

Yeesh. If teachers don't get paid enough in Oklahoma, things will balance
themselves out one way or another. It _always_ works.

BTW, high-tax California ranks below Oklahoma in this study that ranks by
standardized test scores:

[https://graphiq-stories.graphiq.com/stories/13054/states-
ran...](https://graphiq-stories.graphiq.com/stories/13054/states-ranked-test-
scores#6-California)

