Tulsa Teacher To Bike To OKC For Walkout

Hundreds of teachers will leave Green Country and head to the capitol to walkout Monday.  

Some are actually walking to Oklahoma City and at least one man plans to get there on two wheels.

A teacher at Booker T. Washington said when he rides his bike to work, it's about a 10-mile trip. Monday, he'll be riding 116 miles to the capitol. 

It will be the longest bike ride Matthew Williams has ever been on to fight a problem he said has been going on too long.  

"People are probably thinking I’m nuts but I think we need a little bit of that right now. We need bold decisions and bold moves and we need a little bit of crazy," Williams said. 

Matthew teaches AP U.S. History and AP Human Geography to sophomores, juniors, and seniors at Booker T. 

"Each year we have to decide which department gets new textbooks and which one doesn't," Williams said. 

It's his students who he'll be fighting for, not more money for himself. 

3/31/2018 Related Story: Walkout Not Just About Pay Raise, Tulsa Teacher Says

"I love my kids because they astound me," Williams said. 

"Just a teacher raise will not fix the problem," he added.  

The trip to the capitol on his bike will take about six or seven hours along Route 66.

"Might be going with some friends - it's kinda up in the air right now. I might be doing this solo. We're not sure yet," Williams said. 

The reason he's riding isn't that crazy. 

"There are buses going and they only had about 50 seats in each bus and they were filling up quickly and I knew I had the ability to ride down to Oklahoma City, should I choose to be bold enough to do it. And that could give a seat to somebody else," said Williams. 

Once Matthew pedals his way there, he's ready to stick around for more than just a few hours. 

"I'm expecting and prepared to be there all week. I don't think a day is going to fix this," he said. 

Teachers who are riding together on a bus will take off at 7 a.m. from Booker T.

Matthew will have a head start, leaving on his bike at 6:00.