© 2024 KGOU
News and Music for Oklahoma
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Holt Proposes $10,000 Raise For Oklahoma Teachers

Teachers and education supporters rally at the state Capitol in Oklahoma City in March 2015, asking for better pay.
Emily Wendler
/
Oklahoma Public Media Exchange
Teachers and education supporters rally at the state Capitol in Oklahoma City in March 2015, asking for better pay.

State. Sen. David Holt is proposing $10,000 teacher pay raises over the next few years, and says it’s possible without raising taxes.

His plan is three-pronged. School districts would be consolidated and excess money would go to teacher pay. All revenue growth after fiscal year 2017 would go directly to raises, and the state would find another $200 million by reforming tax credits.

Holt said legislators have a moral obligation to raise pay, and help solve the teacher shortage.

"To have the future for Oklahoma that we want, we have to have educated citizens, and to have educated citizens, we have to have good teachers, and to have teachers we have to have a competitive salary schedule," Holt said. 

He said $10,000 raises will bring Oklahoma teacher salaries in line with the national average. Under this plan, teachers would get their first $5,000 raise in the 2018-2019 school year.

The president of the University of Oklahoma, David Boren, recently announced a plan to raise sales taxes one cent in order to fund $5,000 pay raises for teachers, and to fund other aspects of education in the state. 

Holt doesn't think Oklahomans are in favor of raising taxes, and that's why he's proposing an alternative plan.

In graduate school at the University of Montana, Emily Wendler focused on Environmental Science and Natural Resource reporting with an emphasis on agriculture. About halfway through her Master’s program a professor introduced her to radio and she fell in love. She has since reported for KBGA, the University of Montana’s college radio station and Montana’s PBS Newsbrief. She was a finalist in a national in-depth radio reporting competition for an investigatory piece she produced on campus rape. She also produced in-depth reports on wind energy and local food for Montana Public Radio. She is very excited to be working in Oklahoma City, and you can hear her work on all things from education to agriculture right here on KOSU.
More News
Support nonprofit, public service journalism you trust. Give now.