Angela Box: Oklahoma Teachers Walkout Proves Why You Can’t Trust Leftists
A curious thing is happening in some deep red states. The leftists are getting mighty uppity.
This could not be more true than in my home state of Oklahoma. Currently, teachers are staging week two of their almost state-wide teacher walkout sponsored by the left-wing Oklahoma Education Association.
Many readers know that I used to be a teacher. I taught elementary and middle school as a substitute in the inner cities of Los Angeles, and full time elementary in inner-city and suburban Houston. As many conservative teachers can attest, we stay deeply closeted. Well…most do. Me — not so much.
I have the utmost sympathy for all of the never-ending insanity teachers face. I used to tell my students that actual teaching is about one-quarter of what teachers do. The rest of our days are spent in idiotic professional development, lesson planning, grading papers, dealing with discipline problems with little administrative support, meeting with parents, engaging in superficial gossip, refereeing student dramas, tedious team planning meetings, and all of the other minutia teachers handle on a daily basis.
I am of the opinion teachers absolutely should be paid more, and Oklahoma has not had a great track record in this regard. In fact, until their recent pay raise, the last raise teachers received was ten years ago — WITHOUT raising taxes, I might add.
Everyone can agree this is unacceptable.
I now work with a political consultant, and statewide candidate filing began on Wednesday. Therefore, I got a front row seat at the state capitol for Woodstock in Oklahoma.
As the strike entered its second week, with a jubilant rally to commemorate it, I was struck by the Occupy/Antifa/Women’s March/March for Our Lives atmosphere — Oklahoma style.
In the parking lot, the smell of marijuana lingered in the air. There were tents, makeshift shelters, and vendors everywhere. Kiosks advertised about legalizing pot and the Green Country Democrat Socialists of America. On stage, the dulcet tones of a wailing Arlo Guthrie wannabe singer bleated out “Why We Walk” — over and over and over again. And, oh yes, — thousands of teachers, parents, and students were in attendance, carrying signs like “Stop electing idiots” and “Vote Democrat!”
I even overheard one student say, “This is much better than being in class!”
Ahem.
Before you think, “Wow! Activism in action!”– let me stop you.
The Oklahoma teacher walkout has devolved into the sibling of every other left-wing cluster since time immemorial. And as any student of politics knows, leftists have always used children as pawns since the early days of communism. Their tactics have not changed.
Commies and their ilk have always used education as a way to brainwash students’ vulnerable minds, using the classroom as a left-wing petri dish in order to shove their increasingly radical agenda down unsuspecting children’s throats. This can be seen in kindergarten all the way through graduate school. Horror stories abound of left-wing indoctrination. This is nothing new.
They are always in full Saul Alinksky Mode.
They tell you that if you don’t support every left-wing agenda item on their wish list, then you must hate The Children.
But here’s what they’re not telling you.
The teachers said they wanted a raise, so the Oklahoma legislature passed a tax increase bill that will increase the size of the entire state budget by almost ten percent. ALL of the money went to education.
But it still wasn’t enough.
They promised not to strike if they got their raise. Whoops! Never mind.
The strike is now in its second week, and they want even more tax hikes — including tax increases that are detrimental to economic growth. You know, like income taxes, capital gains taxes, sales taxes, etc. Basically, anything that has helped the state grow, they want repealed.
What they seek is a rollback of all the tax cuts the Republicans passed when they took the majority ten years ago. The American Legislative Exchange Council said Oklahoma’s tax changes during this period were the most pro-economic growth changes of any state in the entire country.
They will kill the golden goose if they have their way.
(Side note: during this period, Oklahoma also passed the most conservative immigration legislation in America — leading the way for Arizona. In fact, an immigration reform advocate in the Wall Street Journal called it the “gold standard” of immigration reform for the entire country.)
Also, keep in mind the OEA will oppose any reform measures whatsoever. I’m not even speaking of teacher accountability or cutting off funding for illegal aliens.
No.
Get this: currently, there are over 100 school districts in Oklahoma — roughly twenty percent of all the districts in the state — that have no more than twenty students per grade level. Why? Nobody can justify this waste. For years, district consolidation proponents have been shot down by — you guessed it — liberals in the OEA, among others.
As well, if you drive from town to town in Oklahoma, you’ll see unbelievably extravagant football stadiums and basketball arenas being built for multiple millions of dollars.
A radio ad running by the OEA now complains about “Ten years of education cuts.” Except, in reality, Oklahoma spends more on education now than it did ten years ago, or any other time its history. But the liberals still want more.
I am also amused when I hear complaints about “40-year-old textbooks.” First of all, I have no doubt that in almost every case that’s an exaggeration.
But think of this: 40 years ago, did 2+2=4? 40 years ago, was 1776 the year the Declaration of Independence was signed? 40 years ago, did human and plant cells look the same? 40 years ago, were nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs the cornerstone of English grammar?
The answer to all is yes.
Now, clearly, there are some subjects like high-level genetics, computer science, modern history, political science, or literature where a modern textbook would be needed.
But let’s be honest. The vast majority of subjects at most academic levels simply don’t change. Independent clauses need a comma at their ends — that was the same in 1970 as it is today. Algebra, geometry, physics and biology would still be as confounding to me today as they were 40 years ago. The basics don’t change. Give me a break with the complaints about books that are a few years old.
What we have on our hands is a very loud, very leftist minority that uses the language of radicals in order to scare Normal America into silence. Their tactics — much like education basics — don’t change. What needs to change is our reaction to their nonsense. Push back. Hold your ground. Challenge them.
We must fight the Left in every nook and cranny in which they dwell — and that especially includes academia. If not, they’ll continue to churn out brainwashed little robots who will eventually vote to strip economic and Constitutional freedoms from you.
Pay attention, Patriots. Now is not the time to cower. Now is the time to mobilize and beat them at their own game.
Angela Box is a former teacher, devoted to the Constitution and conservatism and proud to live in Texas. A version of this article originally appeared on her blog, angelassoapbox.com.
The views expressed in this opinion article are those of their author and are not necessarily either shared or endorsed by the owners of this website. If you are interested in contributing an Op-Ed to The Western Journal, you can learn about our submission guidelines and process here.
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