The Oklahoma Education Association, a wing of the National Education Association, deserves credit for getting public education in such a mess in Oklahoma.

Last year, the OEA promoted a walkout/strike to raise teacher salaries after the Republican-led Legislature voted in salary increases for public teachers.

No amount of tax increases is enough in the eyes of the OEA leadership.

When the Legislature convenes in February, the OEA will present its “agenda” which includes an across-the-board $10,000 a year pay increase for “teachers.” That is not just for classroom teachers but also for administrators and another $5,000 a year raise for “support professionals (secretaries, bus drivers, food service workers, paraprofessionals, etc.).

The OEA will demand an additional $400,000,000.00 for school operating budget and a cost-of-living adjustment for education retirees. And add to that a demand for raises for all state employees. This is what gigantic unions do. They make outrageous demands, and even when they are met, the demands continue to increase.

How do you pay for all of this money being thrown at education? With another tax increase, of course.

And the OEA and their ilk want more millions with no meaningful reforms. In other words, they want more money for a system that producing more and more students who are ill equipped to do well in college or even function in society.

Thanks to the onslaught of biased coverage by the Oklahoma news media, there are a host of new members of the Oklahoma House with public education ties.

The OEA doesn’t care if state government goes bankrupt or if taxes skyrocket. They just want a bigger slice of the pie.