US teacher begs on street to raise money for school supplies amid state budget crisis

Few teachers could be more committed to their pupils than Teresa Danks.

Every year she spends up to $3,000 from her own modest salary on teaching supplies that her school could not otherwise provide.

But when that was not enough, the elementary school teacher hit upon the idea of standing at a busy road junction, waving a sign and begging for funds.

“It all adds up week after week and month after month,” Ms Danks told Fox News. “So, it’s a huge need.”

Ms Danks, who teaches in Tulsa, Oklahoma, said she decided to act after becoming aware of a crippling budget crisis in the state was hampering her and other teachers like her.

Ms Danks, who has been teaching since 1996 and earns around $35,000, said she was stunned by the immediate response of passers-by. Within a few minutes she had collected around $35 and had been moved by the messages of support she was receiving from people who stopped to donate.

“I was getting emotional. People were like, ‘Teachers like you - that’s the reason I am alive today’,” she said.

Ms Danks told The Independent the support she had received both locally and nationally, was overwhelming. "I started that morning with just wanting to reach out to the community," she said. "But it has quickly grown into where we're getting feedback from teachers in the district and across the nation."

She has now launched a fundraising campaign and listed a list of supplies she needs for her classroom, including egg cartons, paper towels, yarn, leftover party paper plates, straws and pipe-cleaners.

She also has her sights on beyond her immediate needs.

“Teresa is very passionate about her kids. Everything from supplies to qualified and fairly paid teachers. She will be working to bring awareness to these and other issues that our teachers face, not just in Oklahoma but across the nation,” says a message on her Facebook fundraising page.

“Realising that this is bigger than her classroom, she has enlisted advisers on how to proceed. Acknowledging that this is still evolving, she will be updating her mission and overall goals in the coming days.”

Earlier this spring, the Washington Post reported that such was the problems with the state’s budget that many schools in Oklahoma were obliged to open just four days a week. Of 513 school districts in Oklahoma, 96 have cut Fridays or Mondays from their schedules, said the report.

Republican Governor Mary Fallin said a downturn in the energy sector and a decreasing sales tax revenue had led to several “very difficult budget years”.

The Oklahoma Policy Institute said the state had led the nation in cuts to state funding of schools by reducing state aid per student 26.9 per cent since 2008.