For Luper, it was a trip to New York with her students that galvanized her fight against segregation.

When teachers and school administrators filed for political office in the 2018 election, most were not shy about supporting the first tax increase in nearly three decades, even though it’s a progressive political message in a deeply conservative state. But one teacher won her primary, and beat an incumbent who voted for the tax increase, on the opposite message.

Many educators in Oklahoma say the teacher walkout awakened them to the importance of staying informed, and voting. Now, these teachers, principals and school officials are not only working to educate themselves, but are also organizing into groups with the goal of enacting widespread political change.

This past legislative session lawmakers passed a $430 million tax package in order to fund teacher pay raises. Now a group called Oklahoma Taxpayers Unite is working to overturn the tax increases. This has created a lot of uncertainty for school leaders who now wonder if they’ll be able to afford the teacher raises they fought so hard for.

An anti-tax group is circulating a petition to overturn new state taxes, but multiple education groups have challenged the petition, saying it is unconstitutional.