Metro-area districts court new teachers

Putnam City Schools is the latest metro-area district to propose paying its first-year teachers a $40,000 annual salary.

The school board will consider an agreement with teachers when it meets Monday night, spokesman Steve Lindley told The Oklahoman on Tuesday.

“That figure was announced yesterday at a back-to-school meeting of all teachers and prompted a loud, enthusiastic reaction,” he said.

If approved, the salary for a first-year teacher with a bachelor’s would increase by $5,670, Lindley said.

A proposed salary schedule must be ratified by teachers prior to Monday’s meeting. Voting concluded Tuesday.

The state-funded portion of the proposed raise is $9.6 million. The district would add $2.4 million, Lindley said.

On Monday, teachers in the Edmond district ratified a labor agreement that will pay starting teachers $40,000 annually, an increase of $5,384 from the previous year.

The school board approved that agreement — which includes state- and districtfunded increases for certified teachers and support personnel — on Aug. 6.

“It’s huge. It really gives the teachers an idea that not only the state, but the school district, is investing in them,” Superintendent Bret Towne told The Oklahoman. “It’s more than symbolic.

“It really shows that Edmond cares about its teachers.”

Kristen Holland, a first-year teacher who teaches first grade at Frontier Elementary, said the pay increase will help ensure that teachers stay in Oklahoma.

“I think it’s a wonderful start for getting more and more teachers into this career field and I think education is going to improve,” she said. “I hope it makes more and more teachers reconsider leaving the state.”