OKLAHOMA CITY — The state’s shortage of teachers has become a “scary” situation, a legislative panel was told Wednesday.
Clinton Public Schools Superintendent Kevin Hime told lawmakers during a joint interim study on common education funding sources that money alone will not solve the problem. Teacher satisfaction needs to be improved, he said.
Class sizes are a big issue for teachers in his district, he said. Once class sizes grow to 22 to 23 students per teacher, teachers leave, Hime said.
“The teacher shortage is about kids,” he said. “I want an effective teacher in every room. I can’t do that until I can put a teacher in every room.”
Ryan Owens, general counsel for the Oklahoma State School Boards Association, said teachers have not had a raise since 2006. Giving the state’s 50,500 teachers a $2,500 raise would cost slightly more than $126 million, said Owens, who is also executive director of the United Suburban Schools Association.
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Sen. Eddie Fields, R-Wynona, said it is doubtful a $2,500 raise would be provided for fiscal year 2016 but said it is possible a phased-in increase could be approved.
Fields, one of the lawmakers who requested the interim study, described the teacher shortage as a “real problem” and said, “There are better opportunities for college graduates other than going into the teaching profession.”
In recent months, a lot has been said about school administrative costs, Owens said. In fiscal year 2013, administrative costs were 3.54 percent of district expenditures statewide, he said.
Schools are down nearly $160 million in formula dollars coming from the General Revenue Fund compared with 2009, he said.
But Sen. Jim Halligan, R-Stillwater, pointed out that common education gets dollars off the top before it goes into the General Revenue Fund, the state’s main operating account.
