Teacher Pay Raises Ignored ... Again

Having worked in and around politics since 2000, it is safe to say I have had my finger on the pulse of Oklahoma when it comes to how people feel about government. And the one thing I’ve learned is that most – because you can never find 100-percent consensus on anything – want to help teachers.

It would be easy to counter that isn’t necessarily true after the teacher pay raise that was sent to the people last November was voted down. However, word had gotten around that some of the money was going to higher education and CareerTech, and even the common education money was being split up among various areas. It wasn’t all going to teacher pay raises. And the people showed their disdain for the politics behind the teacher pay raise by rejecting it.

 With less than 100 hours remaining in the legislative session, it appears teachers are once again being left out of the mix. Despite a lot of last-minute negotiating and some creative revenue-raising measures, Oklahoma teachers seem to be on the outside looking in. Again.

As of this writing, two general appropriation bills had been introduced by legislative leadership. The one containing a $1,000 pay increase for teachers didn't advance to the floor. It was yet another example of teachers feeling the pinch of politics.

For the first time since I graduated high school in 1988, I returned to the classroom earlier this year and saw firsthand what it was like to experience life as a teacher. Working as a substitute educator was an eye-opening experience and I had an opportunity to see the true value a teacher can bring to the lives of a great number of kids.

Prior to that, I had shadowed a principal for a day at Capitol Hill High School, which gave me a chance to see a variety of different challenges that took place over the course of hours at an inner-city school. It showed me that the stereotypes that exist regarding students, teachers and administrators in the Oklahoma City Public School District just aren’t accurate. And clearly money was missing from the equation. Whether it is teachers having to pay for their own school supplies or the lack of text books or the over-sized classrooms, it is clear the state is failing to hold up its end.

The Oklahoma Legislature funds a variety of services and education has routinely been at the top of that list. However, the low ranking in teacher pay is reflective of our lack of commitment to do better by our children, and we tell them each and every year that we don’t care as much about them as we do some other less important priorities.

Being in the classroom and spending time in schools doesn’t make me any more qualified in insisting we need to do more for our teachers. And this year’s budget shortage didn’t make this the best year to make that happen. But, we need to stop making excuses and do something about it. Our teachers deserve better. Our kids deserve better. Our state deserves better.