Educators have proven to be a powerful force throughout the primaries and a rising political outsider who opposes a key issue among many teachers is having trouble getting their support.

This November, Oklahomans will be asked to vote on State Question 801. This measure gives schools more flexibility in how they can spend their money, but many school leaders say that flexibility won’t improve their financial situation.

Fifty-four percent of Oklahoma children reported at least one Adverse Childhood Experience, the second highest rate in the country.

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.