Oklahoma Educators React To Senate Education Agenda

A plan of 14 Senate bills totaling $541 million were presented this week, and they’re all about recruiting, retaining and rewarding teachers, as well as reforming education. 

Educators across the state said they're excited for this plan, saying it's the kind of investment the state needs to make to get teachers in the classroom and keep them there.

“I'm not sure there's a greater profession," Interim Dean of the College of Education at UCO Dr. Bryan Duke said.

“We cannot have legislative sessions passed and not do big moves like Senator Pugh has done here," Senior Director of Teacher Education at OSU Dr. Shelbie Witte said.

The plan is focused on getting great teachers into Oklahoma classrooms and rewarding them to stay. 

“It encompassed the priorities we've been talking about for over a decade," President of the Oklahoma Education Association Katherine Bishop said.

While some may see this plan as an expensive endeavor, many say it’s what the state needs to put in place to be competitive, and this would actually save the state and districts money in the long run.

"It costs money to recruit teachers. If we can actually recruit and retain prepared teachers, then we're going to see some real payoff from our investment," Duke said.

“So, let's invest in teachers staying- making sure that their climate and the structures support their work instead of coming up with safety nets," Witte said.

Of the 14 bills, this plan would implement a teacher pay raise, paid maternity leave and multiple incentivizing programs.

“Comprehensive approach to many of the problematic areas within education," Witte said.

A Senate bill would create the Oklahoma Teacher Corps. This would provide scholarships to students who enter Oklahoma colleges, graduate and receive teaching certificates. 

Those who pass their program must commit four years of service in a Title I school or pay a scholarship amount back to the state.

"So many students who might be interested in becoming a teacher need some incentives to help them along the way. they need some financial support," Duke said.

While all three agree this is a great plan, they emphasize that there needs to be more conversations about recurring legislation to get Oklahoma education moving in the right direction.

“This is a step in the right direction and then we need to find sustainable funding- recurring sustainable funding- to put us on the right track," Bishop said.

Duke and Witte said they were both seeing dropping enrollment rates in their college education programs, largely due to COVID-19. 

Overview of all 14 bills:

Recruit:

1. SB 529 - $15 million- Create Oklahoma Teacher Corps – provide scholarships to students who enter Oklahoma Colleges of Education, graduate and receive teaching certificate. Those who pass their program must commit four years of service in a Title I school or pay scholarship amount back to state.
2. SB 522 - $5 million – Mentorship Program - this bill will provide $500 stipends for mentors of new teachers. The goal is to pair every new teacher (both to the career or new to the district) with a mentor.
3. SB 361 – Create a multistate teacher licensure compact – Be the first state to recognize teacher licensure reciprocity in a multistate compact. Recognize professional experience and licensure from other states, and not lose teachers because of bureaucratic paperwork that discourages immediate entry into the workforce upon moving to Oklahoma.

Retain:

1. SB 364 - $25 million Paid Maternity Leave – Will give teachers who have been with a district for at least one year 12 weeks of maternity leave. With a career field that is 76% female, this will allow new mothers to take time away to be with their newborns and return to the classroom as able. Solves a key workforce issue, is pro-life, and does not force a new parent to choose between career and family.
2. SB 523 – $50 million School Safety – Provide the Oklahoma School Security Institute with $50 million in grant funding to allocate by application process to meet unique and individual district needs for added security personnel, infrastructure, technology, training.
3. SB 525 - $1 million Credentialing – Reimburse each school district to pay for recertifying each teachers’ credentials if they are asked to gain additional credentials.

Reward:

1. SB 482 - $241 million Teacher Pay Raise – Provides a teacher pay raise. Moves starting teacher pay to $40,000 with a $3,000 raise at entry through four years. Years five-through-nine will receive $4,000; 10-14 years of experience will receive $5,000; and a teacher with 15+ years of experience will receive $6,000.

Reform:

1. SB 531 - Removed attendance metric on A-F report card and replaced it with school climate survey, which includes parents, students, and teachers/staff.
2. SB 527 – Puts more money toward kindergarten through third grade reading proficiency, with the ultimate goal being 100% reading proficiency for kids entering the fourth grade. Increases K-3 weights, special education weights, transportation weight, and gifted/talented, and socio-economic disadvantaged weights. *K-3 100% literacy rate. The last round of NAEP scores showed Oklahoma at 25% ELA assessments.
3. SB 523 – Learn Everywhere Bill – Recognize that learning takes place in non-traditional settings and allow for credit to include internships, externships, part-time jobs, or other non-classroom activities that directly contribute to learning and college or career advancement.
4. SB 516 - $1.5 million – Charter School Reform – Combine the virtual charter school board and charter school board. Add stricter accounting requirements, financial controls, and reporting criteria. Require any authorizer fee be expended on charter school oversight, provide training for charter school authorizers, and prevent authorizer ‘shopping’.  
5. SB 359 - $60M – Funding Formula – Move the funding formula ad valorem dollars to account for previous year actuals and not projected. All chargeables in the funding formula are based on actual numbers except for ad valorem dollars, that is based on a projection. This also accounts for potential ad valorem protests, which can withhold ad valorem dollars despite projected incoming money. Would predominantly protect rural schools.
6. SB 520 – Graduation Credits – Build 3 graduation tracks to include college, career, and core. Require four years of math and science for college track to increase STEM preparedness. Recognize that a career and core track can still pursue college and concurrent enrollment. Address Oklahoma’s lagging STEM standards and help build modern high-tech workforce. Opportunity to leverage many partnerships across private and public sector to include local businesses, higher education, career tech and more.
7. *Funding Request - Move to common Student Information System and update SDE accounting system $11 million – provide SDE and all school districts with technology upgrade to ensure seamless and standardized date entry system. Will also allow SDE to track how schools spend weighted dollars. For example, K-3 funding should be spent directly on K-3 students. There are federal requirements on funding but no such requirements on tracking accountability and transparency of state dollars in funding formulas.

Full statement from Senate President Pro Tem Greg Treat:

“Last year, I asked Sen. Pugh to come up with concepts to improve public education in the state holistically, while getting input from major stakeholders and coming up with a plan to get Oklahoma on the right path for our students. I appreciate the thoughtful efforts Sen. Pugh put into his ideas. His agenda this session is ambitions, and I hope Sen. Pugh unveiling his ideas sparks a discussion with others on how to improve education in the state. While individual members will have their own suggestions on how to improve upon his ideas, it is a great place to start as we put our children, their parents and hardworking teachers first. I have full confidence in Sen. Pugh’s abilities to lead these conversations on this important topic.”