Aumento salarial para maestros y personal de apoyo de TPS

TULSA, Okla. – During its regular meeting on Monday, April 3, the Tulsa Board of Education voted unanimously to approve pay increases negotiated between Tulsa Public Schools and the Tulsa Classroom Teachers Association (TCTA) and Tulsa Public Schools and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) Local 6049. These increases include an increase in retirement contribution for teachers and historic across-the-board pay increases for hourly support professionals.

The total of the original and revised compensation packages provide a total investment of nearly $20 million in new compensation for educators and hourly support professionals.

Board President Stacey Woolley said: “I am proud to be the president of a school board and part of a school district that prioritizes employee pay despite being flat-funded by the State of Oklahoma. Our employees need and deserve a wage that reflects their relentless commitment to Tulsa children and families.”

The approved agreement with TCTA provides an additional 1% (for a total of 2%) of employee contributions toward teacher retirement starting in June 2023. It also provides all teachers with a retroactive reimbursement for 1% of their contributions toward state retirement. Apprentice teachers will receive an increase in their base salary from $30,000 to $35,000 with retroactive increases for currently employed apprentice teachers.

“This package will result in more take home money in teachers’ pockets while simultaneously saving the district money via impact costs. It will also help to make us a more competitive employer both to new teachers we recruit and to those who have been loyal to Tulsa Public Schools throughout the years. We could not have done this work alone, and we are immeasurably grateful to our teachers across the district who are changing lives every single day,” said TCTA President Shawna Mott-wright.

The AFT Local 6049 agreement provides a $2/hour increase to all non-temporary hourly support professionals with current employees receiving retroactive pay to January 2023. The agreement raises base pay for many of the district’s hourly support roles including bus drivers, cafeteria assistants, and teacher assistants.

AFT Local 6049 President Nancy Leonard said: “Support professionals are the backbone of Tulsa Public Schools. This raise is profound and monumental and moves us closer to a living wage. AFT Local 6049 is proud of and appreciates the partnership, hard work, and negotiations with Tulsa Public Schools that have gotten us to this point.”

“I am incredibly grateful for the continued leadership and advocacy of our colleagues and partners at TCTA and AFT Local 6049. It has been a historic year for our work together to improve working conditions for all of Team Tulsa, and we have made important progress,” said Superintendent Deborah Gist.

“We know, of course, that we need to do more, and we remain committed to working together to advocate for every member of our team until our public school system is funded in a way that provides the professional salaries and wages that every member of Team Tulsa needs and deserves.”