Last year’s teacher pay raise averaging $6,100 that lawmakers passed under threat of a statewide walkout boosted Oklahoma’s national rank in teacher pay from 49th to 34th.
According to a report by the National Education Association, Oklahoma's average teacher salary increased from $46,300 to $52,412. Oklahoma's average teacher salary is now higher than Missouri, Kansas and Arkansas’, but lower than Texas and Colorado’s.
The national average is almost $62,000.
"Last year’s legislature did a great job of taking a first step and dedicating most of the $481 million new dollars to education to teacher pay. Now, to get to where we need to be, we need to have annual investments," said Oklahoma State School Boards Association Executive Director Shawn Hime.
"Not only do we have a teacher shortage, but we have a support professional shortage as well, and, on average, our support professionals make anywhere from $16,000 to $20,000, not even a living wage," said Oklahoma Education Association Vice President Katherine Bishop.
Bishop said as lawmakers hash out this year’s budget, education funding needs to be a "yes, and" conversation rather than focused on a single issue.
"It is making sure that our teacher pay — as well as our support professional pay — is competitive and more money into our classrooms," Bishop said.
Hime and Bishop said Oklahoma needs to reduce class sizes, restore cut programs and boost per-pupil spending after a decade of inadequate education funding.
