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Fund for Teachers supports educators' efforts to develop skills, knowledge and confidence that impact student achievement. We spoke with their Chief Development Officer, Stephen Butler, about trusting teachers to design unique fellowships and grants to validate teachers' professionalism and leadership. Since 2001, Fund for Teachers has invested $35 million in nearly 9,200 teachers, transforming grants into growth for teachers and their students. Visit fundforteachers.org to find out more!

Your friends at Fried Okra return after an eventful summer and back-to-school season that saw OEA visit over 150 school districts.

Legislative expert Ivy Riggs is back to break down the chaos created by the state superintendent with the accreditation of Tulsa Public Schools, the chaos created by the state superintendent targeting a librarian and the subsequent bomb threats, the chaos created by the state superintendent and PragerU, etc.

Another State Board of Education meeting brought yet another barrage of attacks from the State Superintendent of Public Instruction towards educators and their right to a professional association, as he presented an incorrect and manipulated video to direct hate towards the professionals who serve our public schools. This type of incendiary political rhetoric is not only unhelpful, it is dangerous to the educators of Oklahoma. On a day when we should be celebrating the signing of a historic investment into public education, we instead react to a historic threat.

The Fried Okra team convenes to discuss the $625 million education budget deal announced last Tuesday after weeks of deliberations between the House and Senate. The deal includes a $3,000 - $6,000 pay raise for certified educators depending on years of service and three weeks of maternity leave.

Ellen, Katherine, and Ivy react to the historic investment, why it's a great step in making public education a priority in Oklahoma, and the need for support professionals to receive a raise from this funding.

We are two weeks from the end of session (barring a special session) and the House, Senate, and Governor's office are still mediating an education deal that could add $600 million to the education budget. Also, a week after calling teacher associations "terrorist organizations," Superintendent Walters is in hot water again after a longtime SDE grant writer claimed Walters "lied to lawmakers" and has not applied for any new federal grants since she left the department.

Legislative expert Ivy Riggs returns to break it all down.

"It was a doozy of a week" is Ellen's understatement of the pod, as we wrap-up a week that began with the State Superintendent of Public Instruction referring to education associations comprised of Oklahoma educators as "terrorist organizations." We also saw the legislature agree to pass one standalone aspect of the education budget. Was it teacher or support staff salaries? (Spoiler alert: No, it's vouchers).

Erika Wright, an Oklahoma public school parent and founder of the Oklahoma Rural Schools Coalition joins Ivy Riggs, Katherine Bishop, and Ellen Pogemiller to break it all down.

Katherine is in DC to celebrate Union's Rebecka Peterson, friend of the pod, being named National Teacher of the Year! So Fried Okra used this opportunity for you all to get to know your OEA legislative team a little better. Ivy, Ellen, and Tyler tell their unique stories on their way to becoming an OEA legislative and political organizer. The trio also breaks down the education news from the week at the Capitol, including an update on education budget talks and a positive bipartisan professional development bill that passed.

After last week's negotiation by press release, the Oklahoma State House and Senate are now having in-person conversations surrounding a compromise between the two sides' education plans. There was also major national news regarding an Oklahoma church seeking virtual charter status and a change at Secretary of Education. Ivy Riggs returns to break it all down.

National Board Certified Teachers in Oklahoma used to receive a $5,000 stipend until it was removed several years ago. A NBCT stipend is a positive incentive that rewards dedicated teachers through an equitable system and keeps them in the classroom. Jennifer Gambrell, director of the Office for Educational Quality and Accountability, joins the pod to encourage you to reach out to your Senator and tell them to vote for HB 2558, which would return the $5,000 stipend for NBCT educators.

It was a week of press releases as the Oklahoma Senate and House continue their stalemate on education funding bills and the State Superintendent grapples with the ruling by Attorney General Drummond that the State Department of Education does not get to create its own laws. The incomparable Ivy Riggs returns to break it down and give you the scoop of what's going on behind the scenes.

With so much tumult and confusion around the Capitol this week, there's only person who can break it all down for your education news. Ivy Riggs returns to provide a peek behind the curtain of competing education proposals in the legislature, a State Superintendent spreading vicious content without proof or accountability, and what it all means for the bigger picture of a potentially historic investment in public education and its professionals.