The pending budget cuts for the Tulsa Public Schools come as no surprise to the head of the Tulsa Classroom Teacher’s Association. The District will need to trim $20-million from its 2020-21 school year budget.
Classroom Teacher’s President Patti Ferguson-Palmer lays the blame at the state saying the state has been digging a hole for a decade. She fears the cuts could push up class sizes in the TPS even further. She says teachers, in most secondary schools, are already practicing"crowd control" rather than teaching.
While the state has increased education funding, that funding has been, for the most part, earmarked for teacher pay increases. Ferguson-Palmer urges district patrons to take part once community engagement meetings are scheduled.