Education

Give school districts flexibility to raise teacher pay

January 30, 2018

Brandon Dutcher

Oklahoma’s education system is enjoying near-record revenues. Unfortunately, as OCPA’s education data tool makes clear, too much of the money is cordoned off in silos. Thus we end up with unfortunate scenarios like what’s going on in Catoosa Public Schools. Citing a lack of funding, Catoosa went to a four-day school week. Yet at the same time the district bought MacBook computers for all middle-school and high-school students and built a $1.5 million press box at the high-school football field. Removing the chains that keep some of the billions of taxpayer dollars locked in various accounts could open the door for a significant boost in teacher pay.