Hickman: Facts, New Ideas Must Be Part of Teacher Pay Discussion
Oklahoma House speaker: Facts, new ideas must be part of teacher pay discussionBY STATE REP. JEFF HICKMAN
Recent claims that Oklahoma schools can’t fill 1,000 teaching positions have education proponents again demanding the Legislature provide more taxpayer dollars to increase teacher salaries. Education organizations argue that schools are unable to find quality applicants because Oklahoma’s best teachers move to neighboring states to earn more money. Yet Oklahoma’s starting minimum wage for first-year teachers is higher than Texas, Missouri, Arkansas and New Mexico.
The truth is, there is a national teacher shortage. Every state except Pennsylvania is experiencing teacher shortages. Some teachers do earn more in surrounding states, primarily because local school boards in those states choose to pay more than Oklahoma’s local school boards.
Total funding for Oklahoma schools during the 2013-14 academic year reached nearly $5.5 billion, an all-time high. So why don’t Oklahoma’s local school districts just pay more? A recent report from the U.S. Department of Education shows it may be because local school boards have committed a growing percentage of their funding to salaries and benefits for administrative and nonteaching staff.
Between 1992 and 2013, enrollment in Oklahoma schools increased by 14 percent while the number of teachers increased by 11 percent. Administrative and nonteaching staff increased by more than 33 percent. If nonteaching staff had increased at only the same rate as enrollment, Oklahoma schools would have nearly $300 million more available annually to pay teachers higher salaries.