The teacher walk-out is officially over, but the issues which drove many to leave the classroom remained largely unsolved. The promise of a teacher walk-out did result in the most substantial approved pay increase ever. It was only the promise of the walk-out, not the actual walk-out on April 2 which forced lawmakers to provide the pay raise. Many lawmakers were "astonished" then, when teachers walked out anyway, in support of operational and student funding increases. Will Rogers once said "Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest." Many lawmakers were indeed astonished, as teachers were referred to as exortionists, were vilified with profanity laced rants, or simply avoided teachers by hiding in offices or not showing up for work. It was really pretty funny to watch. Some lawmakers just could not understand why teachers were not just walking out for higher pay, as the quest for more money is at the top of all corporate lawmaker lists of important issues. Teachers everywhere said "the game is not over" until lawmakers provide appropriate operational and student funding for our schools. This fact perplexed many lawmakers. Many teachers also believe the fight for appropriate public school funding is not over until every corporate lawmaker is swept from office on November 6, 2018 - the date of the state elections. It's a fact that 21 legislators, all republican, chose not to seek re-election in November. While the reasons were varied as to why so many republicans threw in the towel early - ranging from "spending more time with family" to "taking a more profitable job", several lawmakers quit after just a year and a half on the job. In my home House District 42 in Garvin and McCLain counties, Representative Tim Downing quit the job, after being first elected in 2016. While he hasn't elaborated on the reasons for his early departure, it must be assumed that he wants to spend more time with his family or that he used the office (his constituents) to land an easier and better-paying job - or both. Many constituents of Mr. Downing didn't know he was "throwing in the towel", until the first day of signing up for election - when his hand-picked successor was seen roaming the halls of the Capitol with Mary Fallin.
Several friends who knew I ran for the District 42 House seat in 2016 ask me to run again in 2018. Even though I knew Mr. Downing was not running again by the first day of sign up, I still chose not to enlist, for several good reasons. First and foremost, I chose not to run again because two of the most important people in my life asked me not to - my wife Sherrie, and my mother Mary Beckham.
I always heard "you find out who your real friends are when you run for office", so I found out... and I thought it would be a good thing, but it turned out to be a double-edged sword. Many friendships were re-affirmed, as over 1000 people voted for me in the 2016 republican primary. They are my friends, and I know each and every person. However, there are those who I thought were friends, that slammed me, for being "politically incorrect". I believe it is politically correct to lie, cheat, and steal when seeking public office for one's own benefit, as Martin Hauan espouses in his book How To Win Elections Without Hardly Cheatin' At All. Chapter titles such as Politricks University, Justice for Sale, Things I Could Go to Hell For, and Senator Reachout seem to be in the play-book for many corporate politicians. While several "friends" criticized me for simply stating "politically incorrect" facts, they "looked the other way" when the "mud-slinging" came from the other side. It is a fact that Mr. Downing moved into District 42 from Norman in order to acquire the House seat. I analogized it as "carpetbagging" from the post-civil war days. One present-day carpetbagger was Hillary Clinton, when she moved from Arkansas to New York State in order to acquire the New York Senate seat for a future presidential run. Many Oklahomans also believe "carpetbagger farmers" or "suitcase farmers", were easterners who caused the "Dust Bowl" during the 1930's - by acquiring generous federal tax breaks, now known as "corporate welfare". I simply pointed out that I believed Mr. Downing was a "carpetbagger", since he became a District 42 resident in order to acquire the seat. Stating the obvious angered a few of my "friends", and they told me so. On the flip side, they were not angry at Downing, for running negative ads concerning my candidacy. Many friends provided the mud-slinging negative mailers to me, that Mr. Downing sent to District 42 voters. I know for a fact that several so-called friends also received the negative mail from Mr. Downing, but failed to "call his hand" on it. I don't blame Tim Downing for these political shenanigans, as he did what he thought was the right thing to do for his family, and I still consider him a personal friend - although not a political friend. His way of campaigning and his political philosophy was just different than mine. As a matter of fact, when the first attack ads were released, he was the first one to apologize to me, and to tell me that "he didn't know anything about them". Anyway, Tim Downing is not a candidate for the District 42 House seat, and neither am I... which brings up my second reason for not running this year - Liz George, a public school advocate, is running...
I only know two of the official signees for district 42 - Liz George of Blanchard, an attorney and school board member for Blanchard Public Schools, and Allie Burgin (chair of the Garvin County republican party), and hand-picked successor for Mr. Downing. As many people know who regularly read this blog/column, my focus is advocating for public schools in Oklahoma. Since many public school advocates and district 42 constituents would like to know the position of each candidate concerning our schools, I'll invite all four candidates to the KBLP 105.1 FM (Lindsay) public school advocacy program at 8:30 AM, on Mondays. Each candidate will have the opportunity to visit about his or her position (platform) concerning education. If the 2018 state elections are as important as many teachers say they are, tune in for more information. I'll keep readers informed as to when each will be scheduled...
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