Teachers gathering outside the Oklahoma state house seeking better pay and funding for public schools have been standing for hours, but they have been able to slake their thirst with the support of the Oklahoma Educators Credit Union.
The credit union has maintained a table near the statehouse, handing out bottles of water and stickers with the credit union's logo.
On Friday, the credit union posted to its Twitter account: “Day 5 of #OklahomaTeachersWalkout and we are ready! Come by and grab a bottle to #stayhydrated! #OECU #Weloveourteachers.” On Wednesday, it tweeted “OECU continues to support teachers, students, and those in education with water and stickers. Over 4500 water bottles have been given out.”
The Oklahoma City credit union ($143.9 million in assets, 13,078 members) union is the 18th largest in the state by assets and members. Its field of membership includes students, employees, and retirees of the state's educational system.
It is one of 309 credit unions in the nation with “teacher,” “education,” “educator” or “school” in their name. Together they have 4.8 million members behind $63 billion in assets, or about $1 out of every $20 bill in the credit union movement.
The education uprisings started in West Virginia where teachers won a 5% pay raise after a nine-day strike that ended in early March. Teachers have since taken action in Republican-led states of Kentucky, Arizona and Oklahoma.
Oklahoma teachers on Friday were in the fifth day of a walkout over low pay and classroom spending. Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin signed legislation last week to raise teacher pay by 15% to 18%, but teachers also want more funding for classrooms.
Adam Lessell, marketing director for Oklahoma Educators CU, declined to comment.
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