I think it's safe to say that this school year will be one we won't soon forget! Not only did we have a bomb threat that resulted in all the schools in our district being evacuated (you can read about it here), but then our teachers went on strike for two full weeks. Schedule-wise, things haven't felt "normal" for us in over a month, and we're anxious to get back into our regular routine.
After Spring Break, we went back to school on Monday, March 26th. The next day (Tuesday) was the day the bomb threat happened. We had two "normal" days of school on Wednesday and Thursday (as normal as they can be after a bomb threat and evac), then had a scheduled day off of school on Friday, March 30th.
As a bit of background, public education in Oklahoma is in a sad, sad state of affairs. We rank among the very lowest in the nation for funding, and our teachers haven't had a raise in a DECADE. Funding continues to be promised, yet continues to be cut and cut and cut. Many schools haven't had new textbooks in YEARS. Programs have been cut down to the bare minimum, and many people in this state are just fed up with it all. A few months ago, rumors that teachers were going to go on strike started circulating. Our state government tried to smooth things over, but I think empty promises just made people more frustrated than before. We received word before our scheduled day off on Friday, March 30th that we would likely not be returning to school at all the next week (April 2nd-6th) as the teachers in the state were "walking out" to send a strong message to the state government. Beyond that, we didn't know how many days we would stay out of school as people campaigned to improve education funding and get teachers a MUCH deserved and overdue raise.
During the first week of the walk-out, many teachers went to the capitol to campaign. They picketed in town. They worked hard to get the word out to the public regarding why they "walked out". Resolve that they would campaign until funding improved was high. Some of the band directors across the state even got together and played "We Ain't Gonna Take It" at the capitol on their band instruments. Brianna and I had the best time watching the video of that and cheering our teachers on.
I wanted to take advantage of these unexpected days off school with my kids. We talked a lot about why people were fed up with public education and about our rights as Americans to take action. It was a really great learning opportunity for them! We also did activities at home each day to keep a routine and not get rusty.
Working on school work
Brecklyn is making great strides with her writing!
My kids actually enjoy doing book work (especially Bren). I'm so thankful it wasn't a fight to get them to continue book work each day.
We also had a few play dates throughout the week and had plenty of free play time. I'm personally of the school of thought that kids learn best through exploration and free play :-).
The second week of the walk-out was different, as we found out day to day about whether we had school the next day or not. I was personally disappointed in how this was handled. It made my kids anxious to not know until 2 or 3 pm the day before if they would or wouldn't have school the next day. By mid-week, little progress was being made with the state government, and much of the public had kind of turned against the teachers and public schools. However, some promises were made to increase funding for schools and pay for teachers, so school administration and staff throughout the state decided after a second full week of being out of school, it had been enough. The funding promises weren't anywhere close to what they should have been (and I'm not convinced the promises will be kept), but it's a tiny start.
We spent the second week continuing with our daily book work and even doing some science experiments.
The big kids also went to work with Daddy a few times. They love going to work with him, and pretty much took over an office space of their own :-).
The little girls LOVED having Brianna and Brenson home all day. It makes me excited about this summer!
We also joined our friends for a little trip to the Tulsa Botanical Garden for a day of learning outside.
Brooke, Sadie, Brecklyn, Brenson, Brianna
We had a blast!
As you can see, the flowers were GORGEOUS this time of year! I am so thankful we were able to go, even if the reason we had a day off was kind of not-so-great.
Brenson, Brianna, Brecklyn, Brooke, and Sadie
Even though we were thankful to return to school and find our normal routine after an unexpected two weeks off of school, it was difficult and emotional. I am personally SO SAD for the lack of priority placed on education and for the ugly way our teachers were treated by some of the public and politicians. I'm concerned for the my children's futures and for the future of this state. However, I also know that God is bigger than this, and I can rest easy in the fact that He holds our future!
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