State Educators Continue Push For Teacher Raises

<p>Thousands of school board members and superintendents from around the state came together Friday to talk education at the Oklahoma State School Boards Association conference.</p>

Friday, August 26th 2016, 3:28 pm

By: News 9


Thousands of school board members and superintendents from around the state came together Friday to talk education at the Oklahoma State School Boards Association conference. One of the big topics this year was teacher raises. 

The push for a one-cent sales tax increase started last October, with OU President David Boren at the helm. He spoke at the conference, encouraging the local education administrators to get their communities involved. 

In November, voters will decide whether to fund across-the-board teacher raises through a one-cent sales tax. Boren warns, "We're going to have the position of spending less to educate our children than any other 50 states in the country. That's not who we are as Oklahomans."

Teachers are leaving Oklahoma for better-paying jobs elsewhere, and Thursday the state issued hundreds more emergency teaching certifications to fill in the gaps, bringing the total to 730 for this school year alone. State superintendent Joy Hofmeister says, “That was never intended to be something that was used over a long-term period because that means that teachers don’t have the kind of readiness opportunities that come with a traditional pathway.” 

Hofmeister still has not endorsed the ballot initiative, but she admits they have already tried and failed to get more money from the legislature. Opponents of the tax say there are still other options, like consolidating districts or tax reform.  

“We have, I think, a tipping point at this moment in time that will tip wrong if we do not get it right,” says Hofmeister. “The stakes are high and our kids are counting on us.” 

If approved, that extra cent would give Oklahomans some of the highest taxes in the country. Teachers here, though, are at the bottom of the list nationwide when it comes to salaries, so educators at the conference say something needs to change quickly.

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