Legislative leaders unveil teach pay program

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- Oklahoma's legislative leaders announced plans Monday for a program that would provide $3,000 pay raises to public school teachers, but a teachers' representative said it

Monday, January 24th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- Oklahoma's legislative leaders announced plans Monday for a program that would provide $3,000 pay raises to public school teachers, but a teachers' representative said it would take even more to bring Oklahoma's teacher pay in line with other states.
The across-the-board teacher pay plan, expected to cost about $170 million, will be the Legislature's first order of business when the session begins Feb. 7, Senate President Pro Tem Stratton Taylor and House Speaker Loyd Benson said.

"All of the statistics tell us that we have some of the best teachers in the country, but because we pay them so poorly, many are leaving Oklahoma for better jobs in other states," said Taylor, D-Claremore.

Benson, D-Frederick, said low pay prevents the state from attracting good college graduates to fill open teaching positions.

"As a result, we are facing a crisis in the classroom," he said.

Among other things, Benson and Taylor cited a recent report by the National Center for Education Statistics that ranked Oklahoma
48th nationally in teacher pay. They also noted that last year, Texas approved a $3,000 teacher pay increase. On average, a veteran
teacher in Texas makes $8,000 more than teachers in Oklahoma.

Oklahoma Education Association president Carolyn Crowder said the plan is a good first step, but that it would take an upfront raise of $3,500 per teacher plus increased yearly incremental raises to bring Oklahoma in line with regional averages. She said a planned Feb. 16 education rally was probably a contributing factor in calling early attention to teachers' issues.

"I'm very encouraged that the interest piqued over our rally has produced such early results. Not to say this is all we're looking at," Ms. Crowder said.

She said her group will still push for more funding for technology, alternative education and support for after- and before-school learning programs.

Legislative leaders said they plan to use growth revenue to finance the plan.

In a statement, Gov. Frank Keating said he was pleased Taylor and Benson had presented a plan to raise teacher salaries, but
added, "As our teachers know, their low salaries are solely the result of the Democrat-controlled Legislature."

Keating, who has supported merit pay for teachers, said funding the salary increase with growth revenue will be "improbable to do
considering other vital needs of state government."

Keating also said he was concerned about "previous joint commitments like the continuation of the statewide road
construction plan."

"In addition, they make no mention of increased funding for higher and vo-tech education, corrections, mental health services,
rural hospitals and public safety," Keating said.

Taylor called the pay increase proposal "a real raise with real money.

"Teachers deserve an honest pay increase program with no gimmicks or accounting shell games that raise class sizes to finance a pay hike."