TULSA, Okla. -- The Oklahoma Senate is considering a revenue plan to bring in just under $500 million, or about half of what teachers are asking for.
In the wake of this, the Tulsa Classroom Teachers Association has planned a March for Education to go from Tulsa to Oklahoma City starting on April 4th.
"That's the day Martin Luther King went to Memphis to start walking with the sanitation workers in Memphis. It happens to be the 50th anniversary of his assassination. It has significance to us, it has meaning behind this," Mayo School teacher Heather Cody said.
The third grade teacher is fighting for her classroom, but also her daughter as they live with grandparents and rely on Medicaid for help.
"She just deserves a mom that is not stressed where the next meal is coming from, or the next tank of gas. Can I pay her daycare? She doesn't deserve that," Cody said.
Teachers at Mayo said they're lucky to have a PTA that helps to cover supplies, but say in other Tulsa classrooms, some educators struggle to cover the basics like pencils.
"We need the funding to properly supply our classrooms. They don't have it. Our kids are being asked to bring stuff from home and they can't afford it there either," Cody said.
The TCTA has only spread the message through word of mouth so far, but already have dozens registered: from students, to parents and administrators.
"I hope the message is clear that we mean business. We're not playing around. We're tired. We're tired of fighting," Mayo teacher Lisa Sander said.
The march will start at 7 a.m. on the 4th and move across public school campuses along Route 66 while heading to the Capitol. For more information on how to register or donate supplies you can call the TCTA at (918) 749-2544.
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