Betsy DeVos criticizes teachers’ strikes, urges educators to ‘stay focused on what’s right for kids’

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos isn’t a big fan of the recent round of state teachers’ strikes, given their impact on students.

Asked about the Oklahoma teachers’ walkout, now entering its second week, she said adults should avoid allowing their conflicts to affect children.

“I think about the kids,” Ms. DeVos told the Dallas Morning News last week. “I think we need to stay focused on what’s right for kids. And I hope that adults would keep adult disagreements and disputes in a separate place, and serve the students that are there to be served.”

The Oklahoma walkout, which began April 2, came after West Virginia teachers and other state employees won a 5 percent pay bump last month by “shutting down every public school in the state” and “creating a crisis,” as the Nation put it.

In Oklahoma, more than 500,000 students in grades K-12 were unable to attend class Monday as schools closed and thousands of teachers flooding the state Capitol in Oklahoma City to demand more education funding.

The Oklahoma Education Association, the state’s largest teachers’ union, has called on the state legislature to raise taxes in order to fund pay increases for educators and other benefits.

The walkout shows no sign of stopping even though Gov. Mary Fallin signed last week a $2.9 billion education funding bill for fiscal 2019, a 19.7 percent increase over the current fiscal year, which included nearly $600 million in pay hikes for teachers, support staff, health care benefits and textbooks.

American Enterprise Institute scholars Frederick M. Hess and Grant Addison accused the OEA of becoming “intoxicated” by its victories and emboldened to seek additional concessions, despite the cost to students.

“The consequences of this for children and working parents are severe, even if they’ve drawn little attention amidst a narrative focused on the heartwarming story of middle-class earners winning an overdue raise,” the scholars said in a Saturday op-ed in the Hill.

The OEA has called on Ms. Fallin to veto a bill cutting taxes for hotels and motel stays and for legislators to approve a measure eliminating a tax exemption on capital gains.

Here is what OEA members are lobbying for today. #OKwalk4kids #TogetherWeAreStronger #okteacherwalkout pic.twitter.com/iWux1unlcg

— OK Education Assoc. (@okea) April 9, 2018

Oklahoma teachers earned on average $45,276 in 2016, placing it 49th among the 50 states, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, although Mr. Hess and Mr. Addison pointed out that Oklahoma also has the third-lowest cost of living.

State polls show that the teachers enjoy strong public support. A Sooner Poll released Friday showed 72 percent “strongly” or “somewhat” back the walkout even though the governor has already approved a $6,100 annual pay increase for teachers.

“What we’re seeing here is a run-away freight train of public opinion that will take more than a week to slow down,” said Bill Shapard, CEO of SoonerPoll.com.