It was time to end the teacher walkout

ONE reason the state teacher walkout lasted so long was the Oklahoma Education Association’s unwillingness to take “yes” for an answer. We’re glad to see the union finally did so, though grudgingly.

OEA President Alicia Priest blasted Republican lawmakers in announcing the walkout’s end Thursday, saying they “won’t budge an inch on any more revenue for education.” The nearly half-billion dollars in new funding provided by the GOP-controlled Legislature doesn’t count for much in the OEA’s view.

The union’s initial demand for $1.4 billion over three years included money not just for teacher raises and education programs, but for state employees and health care uses. A Legislature controlled by members who generally loathe tax increases passed enough tax hikes to provide teachers with raises averaging $6,100. Republican Sen. Michael Bergstrom of Adair, a former teacher, also noted that lawmakers “protected textbook funds. We guaranteed raises to support staff even though support staff salaries are determined by local school boards and not the Legislature. We filled an education budget hole of over $50 million.”

The union chose to proceed with the walkout anyway, a troubling precedent. During the strike, it continued to ask for money that wouldn’t have necessarily ended up going to education, saying it wanted funding for public education and core services.

Those core services — prisons, social services, roads, health care — can indeed use more funding and attention, which is why Gov. Mary Fallin, after signing repeal of a hotel-motel tax, was right to say lawmakers should turn their focus to issues other than common education.

During the walkout, lawmakers approved two other bills that will produce millions more for education. The walkout garnered nationwide attention, most of it positive, and teachers were largely supported by the public. As one teacher said this week, “Our presence here has made an impact.”

Yes, although there were negatives, too. Work on the restoration of the Capitol was slowed considerably. Several annual events had to be canceled. The list included Autism Day, CareerTech Day, 4-H Day, Ag Day and Senior Day. These events are a big deal for these groups. The senior citizens who normally would have been able to mill around the Capitol and meet their senators and representatives wound up meeting off site with about 20 legislators.

There were other ripple effects, such as parents seeing holes blown in their budgets by additional child care costs. Even the Oklahoma Blood Institute was concerned — about 20 percent of its blood is procured at drives conducted at high schools. “We’re worried that should it (the strike) go on and on, it definitely will have an impact,” a spokeswoman said.

That’s not happening. Several districts that approved walkouts had already returned to school, something the Oklahoma State School Boards Association recommended after Week 1 of the strike. The OSSBA seemed to understand that education, recipient of a 19 percent funding increase, had made out quite well and that the focus needed to be on finishing the school year.

The OEA, which received 95 percent of what it requested for fiscal year 2019, finally did the same, allowing parents and students burdened by the walkout to resume their normal routines.