Latest pay plan would raise teacher salaries by $10,000

The latest in a series of teacher pay raise proposals would bump up salaries by $10,000 over the next four years.

In the first year, Oklahoma teachers would get an extra $1,000. The annual raise would increase by $3,000 in each of the next three years, said the bill’s author, state Sen. David Holt.

Holt, R-Oklahoma City, has proposed similar pay increases before. His proposals last year didn’t pass and teacher pay remained unchanged.

“We cannot have the future we want for our state without a solid education system, which we cannot have without great teachers, which we cannot have without competitive pay,” Holt said in a news release on Thursday. “There are so many things Oklahoma needs to do, but none are as important as this.”

He announced in November that he would pursue another $10,000 raise. Oklahoma voters had just rejected State Question 779, which would have raised sales taxes to fund an extra $5,000 for each teacher.

It would cost the state about $550,000 per year to raise salaries by $10,000.

While support for teacher pay raises is significant among lawmakers, one of the biggest challenges they’ve faced is finding the money. To pay for his idea, Holt has introduced a dozen more bills that would raise revenue, cut spending and reallocate money. If all of those bills are enacted, there could be more than $1 billion available for teacher pay and other priorities.

One of those measures would exempt teachers from paying income tax.

“I believe we need to be talking about a $10,000 raise because we let this fester so long, because we are so far behind and because it will take years to implement,” Holt said.

Several of his bills to pay for the raises aren’t new ideas. For $59 million, he would reinstate the tax on the repair, maintenance, delivery and installation of taxable goods. A year ago, Gov. Mary Fallin said the state should begin to eliminate tax exemptions, particularly on goods and services that are taxed by other states.

Another measure would end the income tax credit for producing wind energy. It’s another idea that lawmakers have left on the table to help soften the state’s budget shortfall.

Holt also proposed creating a commission that would spend three years redrawing Oklahoma’s school district map to reduce the number of superintendents. It could save the state $50 million, he said.

“We can be a low-tax state or we can be an inefficient state, but we can’t be both,” Holt said. “We have to spend money more wisely and get those funds into the classroom.”

If the Oklahoma Senate adopts Holt’s pay raise plan, it could face a tough path through the House. Speaker Charles McCall has already endorsed legislation on his side of the Capitol that would raise teacher pay $6,000 over three years. But in a year where lawmakers will have to decide how to handle a nearly $870 million budget shortfall, the House didn’t propose a way to pay for their teacher pay raise proposal.

Senate leader Mike Schulz, R-Altus, hasn’t endorsed a specific plan, but a spokesman said Thursday that raising teachers’ salaries is a priority for the session that begins Feb. 6.