Teachers, activists not always aligned
DURING this year’s teacher walkouts, activists vowed to “remember in November.” The implied message was Republican candidates would face rough sledding. That didn’t happen. Republicans continued to dominate statewide elections and maintained supermajority control in both legislative chambers.
That said, education was a top issue and many educators successfully ran for office. But the activist groups making the most noise, including teachers’ unions, had little to do with those outcomes and sometimes stretched the truth to suggest otherwise.
In May, Oklahoma Parents and Educators for Public Education, a group active on social media, issued candidate endorsements. The group labeled now Gov.-elect Kevin Stitt “dangerous for public ed” because he wanted to fund teacher pay raises without tax increases. The label clearly didn’t hurt Stitt, who receive a record number of votes for a gubernatorial candidate.
The group slapped its “dangerous” label on numerous Republican and Democratic candidates running for statewide and legislative offices, yet 13 of those candidates won, including Stitt, Sens. Marty Quinn and Mark Allen; Reps. Tom Gann, Sean Roberts, Chad Caldwell, Tommy Hardin, Todd Russ and Lewis Moore; and Reps.-elect Jim Olsen, Denise Crosswhite Hader, Jay Steagall and Ajay Pittman.
Several incumbents were declared “dangerous”
after they voted for tax increases and teacher raises. The Oklahoma Education Association touted the “Oklahoma Education Caucus,” a list of teachers or individuals otherwise affiliated with schools who were running for office. The union identified 60 general election candidates as educators, including 56 running for legislative seats. Fifteen of those 56 won election.
But in its 2018 election guide, the OEA’s Fund for Children and Public Education endorsed just five of the 15 winning teacher candidates. And several winning teachers opposed portions of the OEA’s agenda.
In its questionnaire, the OEA asked candidates if they would “oppose all” the following policies: authorization of new charter schools by the state Board of Education, education savings accounts, and even the Opportunity Scholarship Fund, which provides a tax credit to those who donate to private-school scholarship funds for needy children.
Rep.-elect Toni Hasenbeck, a Republican and seventh-grade teacher at Elgin, rejected that demand, writing, “We must realize Charter Schools are public schools.” Rep.-elect Kelly Albright, a Democrat who teaches third grade at an Oklahoma City charter school, also declined to embrace the union’s anti-school choice position. Sen.-elect David Bullard, a Republican and longtime teacher from Durant, is another school choice supporter.
On the other hand, Reps. Donnie Condit and Karen Gaddis, two incumbent Democrats and former educators who received OEA endorsements, were ousted.
The OEA says 25 educators will serve in the Legislature. Four years ago, at least 20 legislators were former teachers, administrators or school board members.
The Legislature benefits from a diverse membership representing different backgrounds, including teachers. But it’s wrong to assume all educators walk in lockstep or parrot the views of teachers’ unions and activist groups, let alone owe their campaign success to them.