Oklahoman Analysis Questions Success Of Teacher Pay Plan
The Oklahoma ‘teacher pay raise’ plan that wasn’t
by Dale Denwalt
The teacher pay raise offered this year wasn’t what it seemed.
Nearly every proposal filed at the Oklahoma Capitol, including the failed last-ditch effort by House Republicans to work a pay raise into the budget, would have only increased the state’s baseline salary for teacher pay by $1,000.
An analysis by The Oklahoman, however, shows that more than 36,500 teachers already make at least $1,000 more than the state minimum salary, according to publicly available salary data.
That means if lawmakers had adopted any bill raising the minimum salary that much, most teachers wouldn’t receive an automatic pay raise. The Legislature adjourned Friday without hiking salaries or doling out raises.