A first grader in Oklahoma came home elated last week after she brought back a textbook that once belonged to six-year-old Blake Shelton.
But her mom is less excited about the prospect of her daughter using an over 30 year old textbook.
“Marley is EXCITED that her ‘new’ reader belonged to Blake Shelton, but I am EMBARRASSED!!!!” Shelly Bryan Parker posted to her personal Facebook last week. “I’m 40 and these people are my age!!! Thank you to every teacher/parent/support staffer/etc. for fighting for my kids education!!! Don’t give up until education is FULLY FUNDED!!!!”
The post has since received close to 8,000 shares and almost 5,000 likes. It’s likely receiving so much attention because Oklahoma is in the midst of a tense battle between public school teachers and state legislators. Teachers walked out for the sixth day in a row on Monday in an effort to get increased public funding and improve school conditions for students. As it stands now, Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin just signed a bill to raise teachers’ annual pay by $6,100 – however the teacher’s union lobbied for $10,000 and is still unsatisfied with the overall deal. CNN reports Oklahoma ranks 49th in the nation for teacher salary.
It’s unclear how likely either of these things will happen and until anything gets satisfactorily resolved, teachers will probably continue their walkouts.
Still, using Blake Shelton’s old textbook is pretty sweet. I wouldn’t sweat it if I were a first grader.
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