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Okla. teacher strike in second week
Lawmakers send two bills to governor, but union says aid isn’t enough
Supporters of the school walkout shout in the state Capitol rotunda Monday as school funding protests continued. (Sue Ogrocki/associated Press)
Associated Press

OKLAHOMA CITY — Teachers in Oklahoma’s largest school districts entered a second week of massive demonstrations at the state Capitol on Monday to demand more education funding.

Teachers, students, and supporters again flooded the Capitol grounds, as lawmakers returned.

Leaders of the state’s largest teacher’s union have said protests will continue unless lawmakers approve a repeal of a capital gains tax exemption and the governor vetoes a repeal of a proposed lodging tax.

The Senate on Friday sent Governor Mary Fallin two bills projected to generate $40 million more annually for education by expanding tribal gambling and taxing certain Internet sales. Teachers said that wasn’t enough.

The state’s two largest school districts, Oklahoma City and Tulsa, canceled classes for Tuesday, the seventh consecutive day of closings because of the walkout.

Many Oklahoma school districts have been shut since April 2. when thousands of teachers traveled to the state Capitol demanding that lawmakers appropriate more tax dollars for classroom needs.

Fallin signed legislation last month granting teacher pay increases of about $6,100 and providing tens of millions of new dollars for public schools. But many educators say classrooms still need more money.

The state Educaton Department has extended by one week the deadline for students to take standardized tests. It applies to general assessment tests for grades 3 through 8, science assessments for grade 11.

The testing period began April 2, but tens of thousands of students have been out of class since then because of the walkout.

State School Superintendent Joy Hofmeister said she hopes the extension will prevent any penalties or loss of funding from the federal government, which mandates that 95 percent of students take the tests.

In Kentucky on Monday, Republican Governor Matt Bevin vetoed the state’s two-year operating budget and a corresponding tax increase.

In his veto message, Bevin said the spending plan is not balanced because it would spend roughly $50 million more than the state is projected to collect in revenue from the new taxes. He also criticized lawmakers for agreeing to spend $600 million more than he initially proposed. He said the plan ignores fiscal reality.

Republican lawmakers said Bevin is misguided. Lawmakers could try to override the vetoes on Friday.

The proposed budget used the extra money from the taxes to spend a record-high $4,000 per pupil in public school classrooms and to restore $254 million in money for school buses that Bevin had proposed to eliminate.

It’s unclear how teachers will react to Bevin’s vetoes. On Friday, the Kentucky Education Association had urged all teachers to return to work on Monday.

The president of the Jefferson County Teachers Association, representing Louisville educators in one of the country’s largest school districts, called on lawmakers to override the veto.

‘‘The governor’s veto of a budget that includes hundreds of millions of dollars in new revenue dedicated to public education is nothing short of reprehensible because it will harm every public school student in our commonwealth,’’ McKim posted on his Twitter account.

The $480 million tax increase and a two-year operating budget would have imposed a 6 percent sales tax on a variety of services such as auto and home repairs, while cutting the income tax rate for some individuals and businesses.

Bevin said the budget and the new taxes were not responsible or wise.

‘‘I did not take this job to make people politically happy,’’ Bevin said. ‘‘Those of you who are parents understand this. Sometimes making the hard decision, putting the sugary cereal back on the shelf, doesn’t make everyone involved in that situation happy. But sometimes it is the right thing to do.’’