The
Cherokee Nation is giving generously to schools in northeastern
Oklahoma.
Tribal
license plates are helping support education.
Oklahoma
educators have gotten used to seeing budgets shrink. School
leaders received some extra cash Friday and it's actually
more than they got last year. The Cherokee Nation donates
38% of its car tag sales to area schools.
With
more than 42,000 plates on the road, the education share
adds up to nearly $2-million. That's about $600,000 more
than last year. The money is divided up based on the number
of Cherokee children at each school. Hundreds of educators
showed up Friday to receive some very welcome checks.
Tulsa
Public Schools administrator Karen Rogers: "We're very
pleased about that. Chief Chad Smith and the Cherokee Nation
have been very generous to us in the past and we hope it
continues. We're very grateful, very appreciative."
Cherokee
Nation chief Chad Smith: "We hear everyday educators
saying our budget is so strapped and they say everyday without
this money they don't know what they'd do. So it's critical
it's appreciated. We're delighted to do it."