TO no one's surprise, a state question asking voters whether they want to pay an additional penny in state sales tax to benefit Oklahoma education is headed to the November ballot. The initiative petition easily cleared a key procedural hurdle last week when the state Supreme Court said there were enough signatures to put it to a vote.

It's estimated the 1-cent tax increase sought in State Question 779 would generate $615 million per year. Of that, 69.5 percent would go to common education, to be used in part for $5,000 pay raises for every public school teacher in Oklahoma. Revenue also would go to programs to improve early reading, boost high school graduation rates, and bolster college and career readiness.

The remaining 31.5 percent of the $615 million would be split among higher education, CareerTech and early childhood education.

These are laudable pursuits. We support the idea of paying Oklahoma's teachers more, particularly its best teachers, in order to attract men and women to the profession and to help keep existing teachers in the state. Yet we're uncomfortable with the notion that if only there was more money infused in Oklahoma education, tangible improvements would result.