Public choice theory and the Oklahoma teachers' strike

Here is a textbook example of public choice theory, coming from a Norman school teacher, who was complaining that leaders of the Oklahoma Education Association, the state affiliate of the far-left National Educational Association, haven't been listening to teachers and aren't thinking strategically about accomplishing their tax-hike goals.

Norman High School teachers agree that the OEA's demands are not realistic, especially calling for a capital gains tax that could hurt agriculture.

They would rather see a repeal of the income tax break.

'They are absolutely being unrealistic, because...agriculture has a great lobbying force,' said Dawn Brockman. 'With income tax, there's not going to be the calls to legislators, so why not go after income tax. It's a cost of an average of $30 per person.'

The concentrated cost to agriculture of a capital gains tax would motivate them to fight effectively, despite the strong motivation of the teachers to secure a concentrated benefit. Why not instead diffuse the cost over the general public? Joe Taxpayer won't feel enough pain to march on the State Capitol. He has no lobbyists; no one at the State Capitol represents his interests.

Legislators are also complaining about the OEA leadership. An OEA handout summarizing the state of play claims that only 95% of the "ask" is funded by tax increases, so more taxes are needed. (Click to enlarge.) OCPA Action's Dave Bond posted this flyer on Facebook, noting that lawmakers "have fully funded teacher pay raises, support staff pay raises, more textbook $, more funding formula $ and more (paid for by raising over $560 million in new revenue)":

The OEA flyer drew a strong reaction from State Sen. A. J. Gay-Griffin, a strong supporter of the tax increases:

This is such crap. I'm just so tired of the lies. STOP LISTENING TO THE OEA!

Chad Warmington, president of the Oklahoma Oil and Gas Association,

In response to a question, Sen. Gay-Griffin wrote:

I support the current investment funded by well thought out and vetted policy cussed and discussed for over a year. I don't support the current money grab OEA is pushing and the diminishing of the investment secured for education.

Having betrayed the taxpayers by voting for a tax increase, these legislators find that they haven't won new friends among the OEA. The legislators passed the pay raise and the tax increase before the strike began, and had the union been negotiating in good faith, there wouldn't have been a walkout at all. The OEA's game, it appears, was all along to have two weeks of disruption and protest at the Capitol leading up to the filing period now underway. No amount of concessions by the Republicans would have sent the teachers home, because the protest was the point. It's all about setting up the Democrats (and RINOs) to win in November, so that taxes can be raised more easily in the future.

If only the Republican governor and Republican supermajority in the Legislature had approved performance audits back in 2013 (or earlier), they might have been able to provide raises before now without raising taxes, and the OEA's leverage would have been minimal.

MORE: Here is another summary of taxes and allocations that shows $29 million more in new revenue than the "ask":

MORE commentary from Oklahoma and elsewhere:

Jon Gabriel at Ricochet writes about the teacher strikes across the country:

Like most non-government workers, I've gone years at a time without a raise. For the same reason, I have been laid-off due to a bad economy. A pension? As if. Yet I never picketed my various employers, stopped showing up to work, or demanded that my overtaxed neighbors pony up cash.

I'm sure that teachers believe they're underpaid; pretty much everyone thinks they're underpaid. But they should remember that the vast majority of taxpayers also are struggling and have been for a long time. These strikes aren't harming politicians, but kids and their parents. And the last thing an angry parent wants to do is to give more money to people making their lives miserable.

Meanwhile, all the teachers are showing up at my kids' charter schools here in Arizona. I expect that a lot of new students will be joining them in the fall.

Dave Ruthenberg writes in the Enid News and Eagle about the well-funded OEA leaders and their far-left causes, and he has his suspicions about the reasons behind the strike:

There is little need to rehash the causes of the work stoppage other than to note teachers continue to march upset they were voted a 16 percent (on average) pay raise. The average worker would be quite thrilled with such a pay hike, but that's not enough to appease the OEA, which has steadfastly managed to move the goalposts (first it was all about pay then it was about textbooks, then it was about classroom overcrowding), making it impossible to reach any resolution.

If it appears the OEA's objective all along is the Capitol chaos we are witnessing, it's because that's exactly what it's all about. The OEA has been itching for this fight, damn any reasonable discussions....

According to the most recently available filing of IRS form 990, an annual filing requirement for tax exempt organizations, in 2016 OEA President Alicia Priest was pulling down a cool $92,349 (or about three times the average teacher salary). Its executive director, David Duvall, was really living the life, raking in $152,091, above most school superintendents' pay.

Ruthenberg notes the OEA/NEA's outspoken support for illegal immigration and gun control, and their opposition to measures that would protect students from attackers.

OEA's agenda goes far beyond wages and takes a hard left turn into advocacy of policies that are anathema to common-sense Oklahomans, who, through their taxes -- which are going through a significant hike -- are helping to fund and being told it's not enough.

However, each day the walkout continues, the OEA overplays its hand, and the growing sentiment becomes enough is enough, more so when OEA's full agenda is exposed.