2023 Oklahoma Council Of Public Affairs. Teachers in the public schools of Oklahoma shall receive in salary and/or fringe benefits not less than the amount specified in the following schedule. Bordering states of Texas, Colorado and New Mexico pay more on average than Oklahoma, while Kansas, Missouri and Arkansas pay less, the state agency reported. He told The Center Square he hoped the pay raises would alleviate the state's teacher shortage. The nearly $8.1 billion spending plan does not include an additional $163 million in one-time spending. The state Board of Education has approved 3,593emergency teaching certifications this year, including a record number issued in a single month this summer, indicating traditionally qualified teacher candidates are still hard to come by. Oklahoma teachers have been given raises over the last four years totalling more than $7,000. She has won awards from both the Georgia Press Association and the Georgia Association of Broadcasters. Most state agency funding is kept flat under Stitt's budget proposal. PublishedDecember 19, 2022 at 3:41 AM CST. The Edmond senator has suggested the state spend $241 million on his pay-raise plan and another $300 million on further education reforms. Read Oklahoma Gov. Part of the increase, should lawmakers give the OK, would include a $100 million investment in kindergarten through third-grade literacy. "If we don't get this part right it gets progressively more difficult when students can't read at the later levels," Walters said. Flat wages, heavy workloads, and the politicization of schools have been cited as some of the biggest influences behind these decreases. Senate Bill 482 would raise the base salary for public-school teachers in their first four years of service by $3,000. SB 482 would reset the starting minimum at $39,601. Gov. From his first year in office when he worked with the Legislature to deliver a $1,200payraise, to this years proposal topaythose in the classroom six figure salaries, GovernorStitthas been a tireless advocate for getting Oklahomateachers to be the highest paid in the region and looks forward to continuing that effort with the next state superintendent, Kate Vesper wrote in a statement to The Oklahoman. Pemberton said its up to the legislature to catch Oklahoma up. Outside candidates. Teachers in the state earn an average of $54,096 a year. There was a problem saving your notification. But by the 2019-2020 school year, the number of teachers fell to 3.2 million and by 2020-2021 to just over 3 million. We already have a teacher shortage, now the pipeline is almost empty. Matt Pinnells efforts to create a cohesive brand for the state. Thats $390 million more than the state Education Departments current $3.18 billion budget, the vast majority of which goes directly to public schools. In SB 1048, the OSDE is required to make a report of pay raises given in 2019-2020. In addition, all charter schools receive state-appropriated dollars through the funding formula. StateImpact Oklahoma is a partnership of Oklahomas public radio stations which relies on contributions from readers and listeners to fulfill its mission of public service to Oklahoma and beyond. We need to pay teachers more.. This session, education support professionals must be a bigger part of our conversations about how to Oklahoma Budget FY 2020 Highlights SAVINGS $200 million in Oklahomas savings account, putting Oklahoma on the path to storing two months of expenses, more Panel passes Oklahoma teacher pay raise bill. Over time they were able to work to accomplish that.. Teachers with 10 through 14 years' experience would receive a $5,000 raise. Instead, he suggested the state spend $150 million to offer incentive pay raises for teachers who are highly rated based on their students' performance, classroom practices and time spent in professional development, such as achieving National Board Certification. (Emphasis added). Oklahoma teachers earn an average of $54,000 a year, which ranks fourth among all bordering states. That figure broke down just about evenly at the elementary and secondary education levels. She can be reached at nmartinez-keel@oklahoman.com or on Twitter at @NuriaMKeel. 18. Kevin Stitt's 2020 State of the State speech, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. Among public school teachers who stopped teaching after March 2020 but before they were scheduled to retire, almost half did so because of the pandemic. Between 4,200 and 5,300 teachers left the classroom each year from the 2012-2013 school year to 2020-21, according to a 2021 report from the Oklahoma State Department of Education. Kevin Stitts State of the State speech Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device. Weve slipped to number four in the region, so that means Texas and Colorado and New Mexico and a lot of these states are paying more and are drawing our teachers out of the state, Pemberton said. Please reload the page and try again. $2 million for Lt. Gov. Between the 1999-2000 and the 2017-2018 school years, the number of full- and part-time public school teachers rose 18% to 3.5 million teachers, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. The proposed budget appropriates Oklahoma teachers have been given raises over the last four years totalling more than $7,000. When considering pay raise amounts, districts are encouraged to ensure that the average across all certified staff members equals a $1,220 increase. The Education Departments budget request would remain the same no matter who wins in November, Hofmeister said, but the next superintendent could advocate for different policies. The leader of the Oklahoma Senate's Education Committee, As a result, the funding for increases will be distributed through the formula. In addition, Senate Bill 1048 is the budget limits bill for the State Board of Education. The new superintendent nixed Hofmeister's proposed $5,000 across-the-board teacher pay raise, which would have cost nearly $310 million. Are principals and other administrators required to receive a pay raise? Does the amount appropriated include district obligations? We can ascertain from the final result of the appropriation that the Legislature intended for districts to have flexibility on how raises are distributed to staff. Charter schools are exempt from minimum salary requirements. Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, Proudly powered by Newspack by Automattic, Stanley Hupfeld at Western Village (Charter), Tulsa School of Arts and Sciences (Charter. Senate Bill 482, by Senate Education Committee Chairman Adam Pugh, R-Edmond, would increase the minimum teacher salary schedule. Stitt unveiled Monday his executive budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1. Oklahoma starts its minimum salary scale at $36,601 for first-year educators. New Mexico is expected to surge to No. We are hurting for people., Director, Center for Independent Journalism. The intention of the law makes clear that certified personnel, on average, should receive a $1,220 raise, to be annualized and continued in future years. Oklahoma teachers earn an average of $54,000 similar to the regional average of $53,600 but below the national average of $64,000, according to the state Department of Education. Sen. Adam Pugh, R-Edmond, introduced a comprehensive education package last week that includes a bill allocating $241 million for teacher pay raises. Educators in New Mexico, Texas and Colorado already earn more on average than teachers in Oklahoma. At the graduate level, 13% of institutions had a significant drop in enrollment in 2021. The measure, which the governor backed, would use excess lottery proceeds to pay for half of a teachers raise. More than four in 10 responded that they "always" or "very often" felt burned out at work. The Quality Counts report also showed that only six states have a lower share of 18-to-24-year-olds enrolled in postsecondary education than the 48.7 percent enrolled in Oklahoma. The measure passed the Senate Appropriations Committee by a vote of 21-0. Averages in the searchable table below are based on 2017-18 data and minimum salaries are for 2018-19. The same expectation applies to districts that receive only the salary incentive aid and not foundation aid. House Bill 2765 and Senate Bill 1048, enacted and signed into law during the 2019 legislative session, establish requirements and opportunities for Oklahoma public schools (LEAs) to prepare for and disseminate annual salary increases to the certified personnel they employ. Giving Oklahomas teachers a pay raise has been proclaimed as one of the highest priorities of legislators and This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. The teacher pay raise would cost the state about $110 million, but Pemberton said given the states $2.8 billion in revenue savings collections, its time to strike while the iron is hot., You need to put your priorities out front, Pemberton said. New teachers in Texas start at $44,527. A new state law offers matching funds to cover half of a pay raise for teachers who earn certain credentials and mentor their colleagues, but it's unclear whether the criteria to earn an incentive raise would meet the same qualifications for matching funds from the 2022 law. No. How much of a salary increase should certified personnel receive? All opponents were Republicans while those in favor consisted of the remaining Republicans and all Democrats. The poor educational quality of Oklahomas K-12 education has ripple effects that extend into other areas. An Oklahoma lawmaker is pushing for a teacher pay raise to combat the states teacher shortage. New Kansas teachers make slightly more than their Oklahoma counterparts at $39,100. Sen. Dewayne Pemberton, R-Muskogee, filed a bill for the The Governor and Legislature stated that teachers in districts not receiving state appropriations through the funding formula were not included in the cost estimate calculations. He said it would put money toward reading materials, tutoring in the science of reading, dyslexia intervention grants, and hiring high school and college students to assist in schools. First through fourth-year teachers would see $3,000 raises. Search by district or county. Charter schools like this one are slated to reap the biggest benefits from a recent State Board of Education action to equalize funding between charter and traditional public schools. Outside candidates. For support staff and paraprofessionals, its a little more complicated: Senate Bill 25 would give districts $1,200 per support staff member. She is term limited after eight years in office. 26-103, to receive the salary increase, regardless of whether employed by an off-the-formula district, a charter school, or otherwise. 2011-2023 Oklahoma Public Media Exchange. 5. Reporter Nuria Martinez-Keel covers K-12 and higher education throughout the state of Oklahoma. This document is not intended to serve as legal advice, but is general in nature and reflects the questions OSDE has received as of June 24, 2019. Oklahoma legislator files bills for teacher, support staff pay Ateachersminimum starting salary would, for the first time, exceed $40,000 in the state. Some or all of those funds could be combined with other funding sources to provide state retirees a cost-of-living adjustment a top priority for state legislators, Mazzei said. Whoops! 17. Donateonline. SoonerCare 2.0, financially, doesnt need to be addressed in the FY 21 budget, he said. The teacher pay raise would cost the state about $110 million, but Pemberton said given the states, $2.8 billion in revenue savings collections, , its time to strike while the iron is hot.. The current fiscal year budget appropriated enough for average teacher pay raises of $1,220 and state employee pay raises up to $1,440. The state passed a $10,000 salaryincrease that is estimated to reset its average teacher pay at $64,000. A survey by the RAND Corporation discovered that 90% of school districts had changed operations in one or more schools during the 20212022 school year because of teacher shortages. Pemberton said he hopes measures passed last year like the Oklahoma Future Teacher Scholarship and Employment Initiative Program combined with more legislative efforts this year will start attracting new teachers and retaining current teachers. Oklahoma Democrats respond to Stitt's State of the State address But Stitts budget guru hinted that offering retirees a 4% cost-of-living adjustment at a cost of $1 billion could be more generous than the state can afford next year. There is no language in either bill requiring pay raises to begin September 1. * Include the Oklahoma Watch logo (found here). The Courts opinion, effectively striking Referendum Petition 25 Salary ranges can vary widely depending on the city and many other important factors, including education, certifications, additional skills, the number of years you have spent in your profession. she said. COVID appears to have increased the stress of an already stressful job. Its also the fourth lowest in the region. Sen. Dewayne Pemberton, R-Muskogee, a retired educator, introduced a bill in December that would give teachers a $2,000 annual raise for the 2023-2024, 2026-2027 and 2029-2030 school years. 13. Please subscribe to keep reading. However, the Governor and legislative leaders stated publicly that the amount appropriated $58,858,503 was intended to fund ten months of a $1,220 pay raise, and they committed to fund it for twelve months next year. No. The new state superintendent will present his budget request to House and Senate lawmakers in the following weeks. Are there different reporting deadlines for this pay raise outside of already established personnel reports? In 2018, state lawmakers approved some of the largest tax increases in Oklahoma history, arguing a larger tax burden was required to increase teacher salaries, which politicians claimed were necessary to reduce teacher shortages. The state minimum salary was increased at all years of experience and degree levels by an average of $6,100. The raise is Additionally, one-quarter to one-third of districts had increased pay or benefits for bus drivers, relaxed hiring requirements for substitute teachers, and assigned staff to cafeteria duties. State schools Superintendent Joy Hofmeister announced earlier this week she would include the raise in an annual budget request for the Oklahoma State Department of Education. I have worked for the Tulsa World since 1990. Can this be paid as a stipend/bonus? Then cast your vote, Meet the 2023 Mr. Inside/Mr. Fish, Oklahoman, Oklahoma Supreme Court rules school districts, not governor, should decide mask mandates, Superintendent election a 'battle' for future of Oklahoma public education, some teachers to be paid $100,000 or more, Epic Charter School changing how it takes attendance after state investigation, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. Will the OSDE tell districts how much to spend on pay raises? The salary increase provided for in this section shall be in addition to, and not as a replacement for, the step increase indicated for the certified employee pursuant to the State Minimum Salary Schedule, as provided in Section 18-114.14 of Title 70 of the Oklahoma Statutes. $3 million for the governors Quick Action Closing Fund, an economic development fund used to lure businesses and jobs to Oklahoma. StateImpact Oklahoma is a partnership among Oklahomas public radio stations and relies on contributions from readers and listeners to fulfill its mission of public service to Oklahoma and beyond. ** Charter schools are exempt from minimum salary requirements. We can't find teachers, especially in the math and science areas.". But even then, Oklahomas again fallen behind neighboring states. The requests will continue to the Legislature, which has the final say on state funding of education. Previous pay raises for all educators have proven to increase quality candidates to the profession.". By: David Blatt. A reminder: This raise is permanent and recurring, and State Law prohibits a teachers salary from being reduced from one year to the next. "The metrics used to determine merit-based pay are controversial and inequitable," OEA President Katherine Bishop said in a statement. Click here to donate online to support our journalism. This is a year where weve just got to be fiscally prudent and careful and make sure we dont get into a position where we have to start cutting budgets next year because somewhere out there theres an economic downturn and we need to be ready for it, he said. I think the market is telling us that were short of teachers, and the market is telling us the teaching profession overall is not an attractive profession to step into, he said during the committee hearing. 11. This is also consistent with statements made by the Governor and legislative leaders teachers are to receive a pay increase in the 2019-2020 school year. Oklahoma schools don't have enough support staff to meet needs, and their salaries are far too low averaging just $21,583 a year. Support Nurias work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com. The governor hopes to spark a discussion with legislators about how to spend those funds.