For short stretches of my high school experience, I walked between classes in the dark because the school couldn’t afford the electricity bill for the entire building, and had to light the classrooms at the expense of the hallways. Other districts moved to four-day school weeks to save costs. Shared photos of rotting textbooks have become some of the most recent visible examples of the decay of public education in Oklahoma, but anecdotes of the fiscal corners cut, extracurricular programs cannibalized, and learning opportunities lost could fill libraries. It’s long past time to rethink the way we value education in Oklahoma, and by continuing to press the legislature for a long-term funding solution, the ongoing statewide teacher’s walkout is the best way to effect this change.

Two weeks ago, the House and Senate took a commendable first step by passing the first legislative tax increase in nearly three decades. Raising the Gross Production Tax (GPT) to a level more commensurate with the tax policies of other energy-producing states was actually a more proactive measure than I had expected, especially from the collection of lawmakers we have resigned ourselves to continually elect. It’s critical to persist in demanding these legislators progress beyond the first step House Bill 1010 served as; they are the only ones able to secure the long-term funding sources needed to achieve the quality of education Oklahoma youth deserve, and this walkout is the only viable way to hold their attention.

The degree to which the politics of the entire state have been impacted by the 1990 teachers’ walkout is stunning. Besides creating unenforced regulations for limited class sizes and school resources, the strike was followed by 1992’s State Question 640, where voters approved a constitutional amendment requiring any tax increase to be ratified not by a straightforward majority, but a full three-quarters of the legislature. The recent increase in GPT, passed with a handful of other minor revenue-raising initiatives, was the first tax hike passed by Oklahoma’s legislative branch since 1990's walkout and 1992’s state question. In a state where the word “tax” has been neatly removed from most legislators’ vocabulary, the only successful public revenue increase since the 1992 referendum had to come, ironically, from a 2004 statewide vote of the people to improve education funding. Like the 1990 strike, previous legislative efforts to support teachers have not necessarily failed for a lack of trying, but since 1992 they have always come up short of the three-quarters threshold the constitution has required. The only way around this uniquely self-sabotaging roadblock is to repeal the amendment with another state question (something I support, but which is beyond the scope of this essay), or by continuing the walkout to sway enough lawmakers to raise further revenues through fair tax increases.

When questions around raising revenue come up, particularly in Oklahoma, tired cries of boundless government waste, “needing to live within our means,” and “not wanting a better car” follow quickly and inevitably. Are there some additional cost-saving measures that could be considered? Certainly. Oklahoma has one of the lowest average district enrollment in the country, for example, and in an urbanizing state, careful district consolidation in rural areas may prove to be a viable way to save a buck. However, expecting to fund the education system we say we want by looking for spare change under the sofa is ignorant of both the amount of funding needed, and the woeful condition of Oklahoma public finances. A state whose legislature hasn’t raised new revenues in 28 years cannot both increase education spending and maintain the barebones level of existing government services without a corresponding increase in income. Substantial yet purposeful tax hikes that don’t overly burden Oklahoma families are the only long-term solution here.

While exploring certain areas for possible cost reductions can be beneficial, overzealous and reactionary measures will further destabilize the public education system we seek to build. As any student can tell you, teaching occurs beyond books and homework. We should not seek to diminish the contributions of coaches, counselors, administrators, and others who job title may not include the word “teacher”, but who do just as much to foster student development. Education is more than classrooms, and we need the funding to keep the lights on in the hallways (and the gyms, and offices, and libraries), too.

On a final, hopeful note, I have complete trust in Oklahoma’s educators, some of whom have been my most important supporters and role models, to lead the way through this all-important walkout. The moment we are in as a state, with an unprecedented national spotlight upon us, is the direct culmination of years of public revenue erosion and state neglect. The stakes are too high to go home anytime soon.