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Oklahoma Teachers End Nine-Day Strike

Many schools will open on Friday with pay raises for teachers and more education funding.

The nine-day Oklahoma teachers’ strike has come to a close as teachers have gotten “pay raises and boosted state funding for education,” according to The Wall Street Journal. Lawmakers originally gave teachers a $6,000 pay raise and a $500 million boost in education funding when they threatened to strike, but the teachers opted to walk out anyway. Tens of thousands of educators made their way to the state capitol in protest. As the strike wore on, lawmakers “passed several other revenue increases to benefit education.” In an announcement ending the strike, Oklahoma Education Association President Alicia Priest said the teachers “are not just giving up and going home,” as they plan on launching a three-year initiative for more education funding. Many schools in the state will reopen on Friday. Teacher action in Kentucky and Arizona is now looming and threatens a halt to the school week. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos said late last week to “keep adult disagreements and disputes in a separate place.”