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. The committee also passed Senate Bill 364, also by Pugh, to provide 12 weeks of paid maternity leave to teachers. If Pembertons bills pass, he said it wouldnt prohibit the legislature from implementing more raises in the future. 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. That figure broke down just about evenly at the elementary and secondary education levels. In a 2019 English class at The Academy of Seminole, students write descriptive essays. The compromise at the end of session was as follows: districts would receive funding for pay raises, and be expected, but not required, to give an average $1,220 raise, to be annualized in future years. The $3.51 billion request would increase state education funding by about $330 million over current levels. The Oklahoma Board of Education voted to give teachers a $5,000 pay raise as part of its proposed $3.5 billion education budget for 2024. 26-103, to receive the salary increase, regardless of whether employed by an off-the-formula district, a charter school, or otherwise. When Hofmeister was first elected in 2014, she askedthe Legislature to add a $5,000 teacher pay increase on top ofthe budget request from the prior superintendents administration. But it isnt possible without your support. There are several reasons why a teacher might choose to leave the classroom, but the two most generally cited are burnout and inequitable earnings. Budget & Tax 5. Because teacher retirement benefits are tied to the last three years of income, one impact of the teacher pay raises was to temporarily slow the pace of retirements while educators racked up credit for newly increased salaries. I cover politics, appellate courts, state agencies and the governor. We need to put more money into the (education funding) formula. Oklahoma starts its minimum salary scale at $36,601 for first-year educators. The minimum for a first-year teacher with a Addison Kliewer and Nathan J. Of the funds appropriated in Section 1 of Enrolled House Bill 2765 of the 1st Session of the 57th Oklahoma Legislature, Fifty-eight Million Eight Hundred Fifty-eight Thousand Five Hundred Three Dollars ($58,858,503.00) shall be used for the purpose of providing an increase in compensation for certified personnel as defined by Section 26-103 of Title 70 of the Oklahoma Statutes. A survey released in February 2022 by the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education found that in both the fall of 2020 and the fall of 2021, 20% of undergraduate-level teaching programs saw a drop in enrollment. For support staff and paraprofessionals, its a little more complicated: would give districts $1,200 per support staff member. Giving Oklahomas teachers a pay raise has been proclaimed as one of the highest priorities of legislators and Furthermore, wages that are not keeping up with inflationcombined with increased levels of stress and anxietyare forcing some teachers from the profession. What is the expectation for pay raises in 2019-2020? 8. An additional salary increase averaging $1,220 passed in 2019 is not reflected here; funding for that raise was added to the funding formula, and the minimum salary schedule didnt change. More: Oklahoman finalist for She also questioned what sort of economic downturn it would take to justify tapping state reserves. Oklahoma legislator files bills for teacher, support staff pay Districts can decide if they want to give staff a one-time pay increase of $1,200 or a one-time increase in an amount based on performance or the need to retain staff. Lawmakers discussed the teacher-shortage issue this week while debating Senate Bill 267, by Pemberton, which extends existing incentives to lure retired teachers back to the classroom. 14. Stitt unveiled Monday his executive budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1. This budget request is Hofmeisters last as state superintendent. 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. In addition, Senate Bill 1048 is the budget limits bill for the State Board of Education. In the wake of a statewide teacher walkout, the Legislature raised teacher salaries by $6,100in 2018 and by $1,200 in 2019. It is clear that the pay raise legislation is intended to give districts the maximum flexibility in implementing pay raises. Pemberton said its up to the legislature to catch Oklahoma up. Pemberton's bill is assigned to the Senate Education Committee. Teachers with 15 years of experience and more would receive a $6,000 raise. Arkansas Gov. $50 million for technology improvements at state agencies. The Legislature also boosted overall funding of public schools, allowing districts to use the extra funds for teacher compensation if they chose. Lawmakers acknowledged that the teacher shortage in Oklahoma was larger this year than it was prior to the tax increases and pay raises, and that the teacher shortage is expected to grow even larger next year. Kevin Stitt will face Democrat Joy Hofmeister in the November general election for Oklahoma governor. 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. The cost for a $1,200 pay raise for twelve months is $70,630,204. The state minimum salary was increased at all years of experience and degree levels by an average of $6,100. In that section of law, certified personnel is defined to mean a certified person employed on a full-time basis to serve as a teacher, principal, supervisor, administrator, counselor, librarian, or certified or registered nurse, but shall not mean a superintendent of a school district. The salary increase, like last years, will not include district superintendents. Oklahoma lawmakers last approved teacher pay raises in 2018 and 2019, with an average increase of $6,100 and $1,220 respectively. He has two decades of experience in journalism and communications. Walters' budget plan differs from the version his predecessor, Joy Hofmeister, put together. Should the Legislature agree to the increase, Oklahomas average teacher pay would rise to $59,000. It's why he le, "What you're doing is, you're bringing chaos to order," Stewart tells the lawmaker from Broken Arrow during a nine-minute segment about Dahm's, All gender-reassignment therapies would be banned, including hormones, puberty-blockers and surgery for minors, and private insurers would be , Gov. The state last increased teacher wages by $6,100 in 2018 and by $1,200 in 2019. It took three years to get there, but we had to start with lets put facts in front of our legislators, lets talk about what it would actually cost to keep teachers. We figured the amount that (the $5,000 raise)would cost and made that ask in addition, she said Thursday. That was the last survey taken by the organization prior to the first round of teacher pay increases. Previous pay raisesfor all educatorshave proven to increase qualitycandidates tothe profession.". While HB 1010xx gave support professionals a $1,250 pay raise, it was well short of the $5,000 they asked for. Kevin Stit. Most state agency funding is kept flat under Stitt's budget proposal. Kevin Stitt and the states top education official, Ryan Walters, said Oklahoma should offer incentive-based raises instead of an across-the-board increase for all teachers. 9 Investigates: Oklahoma Still Losing Teachers Despite Pay Raises. 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. A majority of the school districts in the state do not pay over the minimum salary schedule, he said. A chronic teacher shortage persists in 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. The Oklahoma State Board of Education, with three new voting members sworn in, approved Walters' budget request on Thursday for the 2024 fiscal year. The association is not backing the merit plan. A sweeping raise for all Oklahoma teachers' minimum pay unanimously advanced out of a Senate committee on Tuesday. Every day we strive to produce journalism that matters stories that strengthen accountability and transparency, provide value and resonate with readers like you. 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 plan could cost $150 million. There is no language in either bill requiring pay raises to begin September 1. Support Nurias work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com. But even then. Charter schools are not required to follow the minimum salary schedule. 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. PublishedDecember 19, 2022 at 3:41 AM CST. The incentives would range from $2,500 to $10,000 and would be in addition to the minimum salary schedule, according to the proposal. Click or tap on a column hearing to re-order the table. As a result, the amount appropriated provides enough funding to give a raise of $1,220 rather than $1,200 over twelve months. "The metrics used to determine merit-based pay are controversial and inequitable," OEA President Katherine Bishop said in a statement. The teacher-shortage figure of 600 cited by Pemberton exceeds the shortages reported prior to the 2018 tax increases and pay raises. 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. Over time they were able to work to accomplish that.. The raise is estimated to cost $310 million with the price of insurance and retirement benefits included. You have permission to edit this article. We are seeing moms step out of the work force altogether, Pugh said. Teachers with 10 through 14 years' experience would receive a $5,000 raise. 1 in the region this year. She can be reached at nmartinez-keel@oklahoman.com or on Twitter at @NuriaMKeel. A high estimate of the cost to the state would be $25 million, he said. Stitt expresses 'strong disagreement' with Oklahoma AG over Catholic charter school, Former NFL star Chad Johnson says he saved money by living inside Cincinnati Bengals stadium for 2 years, Oklahoma's new Teacher of the Year celebrates by gifting her tuition waiver to aspiring nurse, Meet the 2023 Ms. Inside/Ms. Thats $390 million more than the state Education Departments current $3.18 billion budget, the vast majority of which goes directly to public schools. I have worked for the Tulsa World since 1990. A reminder: This raise is permanent and recurring, and State Law prohibits a teachers salary from being reduced from one year to the next. An Oklahoma lawmaker is pushing for a teacher pay raise to combat the states teacher shortage. The Senate Appropriations Committee also passed Senate Bill 522, again by Pugh, which would provide a $500 stipend to mentor teachers, regardless of how many people they mentor. For support staff and paraprofessionals, its a little more complicated: Senate Bill 25 would give districts $1,200 per support staff member. Is this amount appropriated for the raise for 10 months only? Only five states had a lower share of students scoring proficient in 8th grade math than Oklahoma. * Use the following credit line at the end of the story, with oklahomawatch.org hyperlinked online: Oklahoma Watch, atoklahomawatch.org, is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that covers public-policy issues facing the state., by Oklahoma Watch, Oklahoma Watch August 5, 2019, This and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.. StateImpact Oklahoma reports on energy and the environment, education, health, criminaljustice, and the intersection of government and everyday Oklahomans. There was an error and we couldn't process your subscription. 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. 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. We can't find teachers, especially in the math and science areas.". But this week members of the Oklahoma Senate effectively In 2017, a survey conducted by the Oklahoma State School Boards Association showed there were 536 teaching vacancies that year. The proposal would move starting teacher pay to $40,000 annually with a $3,000 pay increase through the next four years, and incremental pay raises after that. The cost to the state would be $1.6 million, Pugh said. When the salaries are adjusted for inflation, teachers are earning on average $2,179 less per year than they did a decade ago. The number of undergraduate education degrees conferred each year remained stable until the early 2010s, when a gradual decline soon led to fewer than 90,000 bachelor's degrees being awarded in the 2018-2019 school year. Changes in enrollment is one causative behind this drop. Educators working five to nine years in the classroom would see their minimum pay increase by $4,000, and base pay would jump by $5,000 for teachers with 10 to 14 years of tenure. Is the increase including or in addition to the step? The intent is clear and the OSDE supports this expectation. 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. State education officials said in a news release that it will require about $310 million to fully fund the teacher pay raise for Oklahoma's 52,850 The National Education Association published figures in April 2022 showing the average teacher salary to be $66,397 for the 2021-2022 school year. Please subscribe to keep reading. Were trying everything we can to get young people back involved and keep older teachers in the system.. In a press conference before the start of the Legislative Session, he estimated the maternity leave measure to cost $25 million. Read the reports and hear the stories onNPR member stations. But even then, Oklahomas again fallen behind neighboring states. The budget proposal includes $11 million to annualize the teacher pay raises appropriated this year. The starting annual salary for an Oklahoma teacher is $38,074, and the average salary is $54,762, according to theNational Education Association. Read Oklahoma Gov. she said. The Oklahoma State Department of Education will include a $5,000 teacher pay raise in its annual budget request during the state board of education's upcoming 9. The measure also passed the committee by a vote of 21-0. This probably isnt the year for an additional pay raise on top of what happened last year, Mazzei said. OKLAHOMA CITY The Oklahoma State Department of Education will include a $5,000 teacher pay raise in its annual budget request during the state board of education's upcoming meeting. Part of the increase, should lawmakers give the OK, would include a $100 million investment in kindergarten through third-grade literacy. Effects on the number of teachers employed soon reflected the decline in teaching degrees awarded. 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. The Quality Counts 2021 report released earlier this year by Education Week showed that only four states had a lower share of 4th grade students reading at grade level than Oklahoma, based on National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) tests that are administered in every state. Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. 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. By: Alex Cameron. Some state lawmakers have suggested pay raises for all teachers. The governor hopes to spark a discussion with legislators about how to spend those funds. Employer Reporting: Direct Line: 405-522-3130 Email: helpdesk@trs.ok.gov Lawmakers approved an average teacher pay raise of $6,100 in 2018 and added another $1,200 in 2019. Kevin Stitt claimed it could cause some teachers to be paid $100,000 or more, though this would fall on the extreme end of the bills capacity. 2011-2023 Oklahoma Public Media Exchange. What does it mean to give an average of $1,220? More:Oklahoma Supreme Court rules school districts, not governor, should decide mask mandates. And I think education, our young people and our teachers need to be a priority.. The measure would move the starting teacher pay to $39,601 from $36,601. No. Oklahoma starts its minimum salary scale at $36,601 for first-year educators. "We had 3,338 emergency certifications last year," he said. The number of students completing teacher education programs fell by more than one-third between 2008 and 2019, according to a 2022 report by the AACTE. Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. 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. The minimum and average salary amounts include benefits. In order to meet these deadlines in a timely fashion, OSDE will calculate the amount of raise for each teacher based on the October 1 personnel reporting period and subsequently provide this information as required. As a result, the funding for increases will be distributed through the formula. Kevin Stitts State of the State speech, Stitt asks lawmakers for $100 million to fund education during ongoing gaming dispute, Oklahoma Democrats respond to Stitt's State of the State address, Read Oklahoma Gov. 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. In the decade preceding the COVID-19 pandemic, most states saw moderate to more significant drops in students seeking teaching degrees. Despite a $1.3 billion budget shortfall and the near certainty of cuts to all No, while principals and other administrators could receive a raise under these provisions, they are not required to receive a raise. Oklahomacould reach the second-highest average in the region with$59,000, should the Legislature approve the $5,000 raise. 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.