Oral history interview with Shafa Chaudhry

During the walkouts, Shafa Chaudhry, was a 7th grade Geography teacher. She was at the end of her second year at a district she really loves and a school she considers to be like extended family. Her first concern when she first heard rumors and then heard from her local union president (who also works in the same building) that the strike was happening was losing her job and pay, especially since she was a second year teacher. Luckily, her superintendent was very supportive with paid leave for teachers, support staff, and even providing custodial staff with hours to ensure their hourly pay does not end. The administrators in her school and the superintendent also joined teachers in striking at a busy intersection and in OKC. She perceived it as a very organized strike. However, she did note that by the second week, the momentum was waning amongst colleagues, parents, students and general public. Nevertheless, she did say that she gained so much in terms of connections with teachers across grade levels and across buildings that definitely gave her the encouragement to continue the strike and make the commute despite living more than an hour away. She does wish that in the future there would be more transparency in terms of the planning and what was leading up to the strike amongst all teachers (not just union representatives).She also wants people to remember that the strike was for equity, it was not a vacation for teachers, and that these efforts were done with selfless intentions; with current and future generations in mind. ; The 2018 Oklahoma Education Walkouts Oral History Collection is a series of interviews with teachers who participated in the 2018 walkouts across Oklahoma to better understand its impact on the teachers and to establish a record for future generations to understand this historic event from the perspective of the people who made it happen.