OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin compared teachers striking for more classroom funding to ‘‘a teenage kid that wants a better car’’ as schools throughout the state planned to close for a fourth straight day in a protest over education funding that has spread to several Republican-led states.

Fallin and other Republicans in the Oklahoma Legislature broke with the party orthodoxy last week and endorsed hundreds of millions of dollars in tax increases to fund public schools and give teachers a raise of 15 to 18 percent. But now that’s forcing them to walk a fine line in the months before midterm elections between placating constituents who are angry over education cuts and conservative supporters who want a smaller government and low taxes.

They acted after Oklahoma teachers launched their protests, inspired by a nine-day strike in West Virginia, where they won a 5 percent raise. The rebellion also has spread to Kentucky as teachers thronged the state Capitol Monday to protest cuts in pensions. And in Arizona, restive teachers demonstrated again Wednesday, wearing red while demanding a 20 percent pay raise.

associated press