Teacher strike called ‘possible, if not probable’

If Oklahoma teachers decide to walk out of classrooms in protest of low salaries and stagnant school funding, there has to be a clear idea of what it would take to return to work, said the leader of the state’s largest teachers union.

“One of the first things that you have to have is a re-entry strategy,” said David DuVall, executive director of the Oklahoma Education Association, which has nearly 40,000 statewide members. “If you have a clearly defined goal that you are trying to achieve, such as passage of House Bill 1017 in 1990, then the win is easy: the Legislature acts on that bill.”

DuVall’s reference to HB 1017 is a relevant comparison as many educators believe public schools have not faced their current crisis level since 1990, when a series of tax increases were passed to fund teacher pay raises and school funding.

Because HB 1017 was passed by the Legislature following a four-day teacher strike, many have wondered whether 2018 is ripe for another work stoppage.

DuVall said he has heard from many of his members who have expressed interest in a strike and some school leaders across Oklahoma have floated the idea of a work stoppage.

“All different groups — parents, teachers, etc. — have come forward to say this is something we need to consider,” Chuck McCauley, Bartlesville superintendent, told the Tulsa World last week. “It’s still very early, but this conversation needed to at least start happening now.”

But DuVall said a strike should only come when a specific piece of legislation is before the Legislature.

He believes that scenario might take place this year and said a teacher walkout “is possible, if not probable.”

While a strike is a tool his union might deploy, DuVall said it should come only after all other advocacy efforts have been attempted.

OEA has backed several teacher pay raise efforts over the past few years, including State Question 779, a proposal referred to as the “A Plus” plan in 2017, and most recently the Step Up Oklahoma plan that was defeated in the House earlier this month.

If another bill that includes a teacher pay raise comes before the Legislature, and a majority of DuVall’s members support a work stoppage, 2018 could be a repeat of 1990.

“If we call for a job action and only 5 percent of (teachers) do it, those 5 percent are at risk,” DuVall said. “If we call for a job action and 60 percent do it, then that strength in numbers means there is far less risk.

“We won’t call for a work stoppage ... until a majority of our members and the communities they serve say, ‘We’ve tried everything else, nothing else works, and we are all in this together.’”