Cody Clark, father of six and resident of Moore, said he believes the walkout at the Capitol is not the solution.

“They are employees of the state of Oklahoma,” said Clark. “Their job is to be in the classrooms teaching our children. Being examples and mentors for our children.

The Oklahoma House of Representatives passed the House Bill 1010XX that gives teachers the pay raises they have been seeking. However, teachers continue to gather to walk out at the state capitol demanding more general education funding.

HB 1010XX was designed to raise more than $447 million for teacher raises and education funding by adding $1 dollar to a pack of cigarettes, adding three cents for a gallon of gasoline and six cents for a gallon of diesel, raising the drilling tax percent to five from two and adding a $5 lodging fee per room to hotels and motels that have more than three rooms.

The tax increase has been one of the main issues Clark has with the bill and believes there is a better solution to solving the issue at hand for Oklahoma teachers.

“My solution would be all state employees being exempt from state income tax,” said Clark. “That would be a 19 percent increase in each paycheck. Teachers would immediately start seeing the savings.”

Luke Hall was also a contributor to this story.

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Cody Clark discusses his opinion on the teacher walkout and how he thinks is should have been handled inside his home in Moore, Oklahoma, on April 3, 2018.