National news stories have frequently framed the Oklahoma teacher walkout as a “red-state revolt,” a sudden explosion of dissatisfaction with education funding in the Sooner State. Such a framing is understandable. After all, who expected deep-red Oklahoma to be the site of massive protests over the state of public services? Although the “red-state revolt” framing is intuitive, it greatly oversimplifies a highly complex issue.
Education funding in Oklahoma—and the inseparable issue of teacher salaries—has been a long-simmering frustration of citizens in the state. And while the boil-over of these frustrations has garnered significant headlines, the factors that initially ignited the flame have gone largely unreported. Fully understanding the current teacher walkout requires grasping three interrelated issues: first, the history of teacher labor stoppages in the state; second, institutional rules and partisan composition of the Oklahoma legislature; and finally, prior proposals to address the issue of education funding, particularly with respect to the proposed revenue sources. The teacher walkout is the product of a collision between a fiscally conservative policy environment, citizen frustration with the state of public education, and a structural funding roadblock that has hamstrung policymakers.
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