An elementary school teacher in Oklahoma says her salary has left her so short on cash that she had to panhandle for classroom supplies.

Teresa Danks has a masters degree, but on Tuesday, she was on the corner of a Tulsa street, begging for money.

"I mean we are begging. And you know, we don't want to call it that but this kind of shows that it is," she said.

Danks has been an educator since 1996, and while it's never been a financially rewarding profession she says lately, "it's just getting harder and harder."

Danks makes around $35,000 per year, and with education getting less and less money from the state, she says she's now spending about $2,000 to $3,000 out of pocket for school supplies.

"And I'm not alone. I mean, we are all doing it. I am just one voice of many," said Danks.

"Honestly, I just wanted to do something shocking," she described of her decision to panhandle.

It worked. Car after car stopped and donated to her cause.

"I was getting emotional. People were like teachers like you - that's the reason I am alive today."

With one sign alone, she made nearly double in the six or seven minutes she was standing on this street corner than she makes hourly in the classroom.

To those who donated, "I want to say thank you. Thank you for caring," she said.

Danks said her atypical fundraiser was not just about her. She says teachers all over the state and the country are suffering from budget cuts.