State workers union to vote on joining teachers strike
Staff Writer bfelder@oklahoman.com
Oklahoma’s largest teachers union is enlisting a powerful partner in its threat to walk out of schools on April 2 by agreeing that state workers should get a raise as well.
The alliance with state employees may put more pressure on lawmakers, but it also raises the amount of money those lawmakers will have to come up with to meet all of the union’s demands.
“Schools will stay closed until we get what we are asking for,” said Alicia Priest, president of the Oklahoma Education Association, which is asking for $800 million in additional funding for next fiscal year for teacher pay and school funding.
That figure includes $213 million to be spent on state employee pay raises.
The Oklahoma Public Employees Association board of directors is meeting Saturday to potentially approve a plan to support a state employee walkout.
“State employees are tired of being ignored and are angry because state leaders have failed to do their job,” said Sterling Zearley, state employees union executive director. “If state employees decide it is time to act, we will back them 100 percent in what they want to do.”
Without a lawmaker-approved across-the-board pay raise in 12 years, and health
insurance benefits that have not kept up with rising costs, a quarter of the state’s 32,000 employees make less than $30,000 a year, according to The Oklahoman’s review of state salaries.
The Oklahoma Education Association also has demanded a $10,000 pay raise for Oklahoma teachers, who rank as the lowest paid in the nation and have gone without a statewide raise in nearly a decade.
Over the past year, the Legislature has come up short on passing a teacher pay raise, including a proposal last month for a $5,000 pay hike.
However, House Speaker Charles McCall, R-Atoka, said this week he continues to work for a $5,000 pay raise.
Other lawmakers have also said a $5,000 pay raise remains a goal.
“We are still working on getting to $5,000 and we are working diligently to do that,” said Rep. Tammy West, R-Oklahoma City.
But with a demand for a $10,000 raise, along with additional school funding and pay raises for state employees, the Oklahoma Education Association has presented the Legislature with an even more challenging task, said Rep. Mickey Dollens, D-Oklahoma City.
“I absolutely stand with teachers, and I think their pay raises are way overdue, as well as state employees,” said Dollens, who was a teacher before his election in 2016.
“But this is a big request, especially since the OEA didn’t offer any plans to pay for it. Teachers, if they are going to strike, need to know where that money is going to come from. We don’t need to raid another state agency to pay for a teacher pay raise.”
Funding the teachers union’s demands could come down to just a handful of lawmakers, given the state’s high hurdle for increasing taxes.
“A small number in the Legislature continues to shut it down when it comes to raising revenue,” West said. “I think it’s important for the public to know that. You have to focus on getting a small number of lawmakers to push the green button.”
Short of a statewide majority vote, raising taxes in Oklahoma requires a three-fourths vote of the Legislature.
In its demand for a $10,000 teacher pay raise, the teachers union said at least $6,000 had to be funded next fiscal
year, with the rest to follow over the next two years.
But even an extra $1,000 on teacher pay means lawmakers have to find at least $54 million in additional funding.
State schools Superintendent Joy Hofmeister has advocated for a $5,000 teacher pay raise, even including it in the state Department of Education’s budget for the next fiscal year.
Hofmeister said she supports an increase in teacher pay, school funding and resources for students and families.
“But I think it’s got to be in steps, and I’m not backing off the $5,000 competitive teacher pay raise as a top priority,” said Hofmeister, who added she understands the demands of teachers.
Priest hasn’t indicated her organization is willing to allow for wiggle room in its demands.
“This is what we are asking for; our teachers deserve nothing less,” said Priest, when asked if the union’s figures were negotiable.