SUPPORT ING OKLAHOMA’S SCHOOLS For the second year in a row, the Chamber was one of the strongest voices at the Capitol for efforts to increase teacher pay. The final budget included $58.9 million for a $1,200 teacher pay raise. When coupled with the 2018 pay increase, Oklahoma educators will be become the highest paid in the region. The Legislature also provided increased funding for other education programs expenses: $74.4 million in new funding for the classroom that will be added to the school funding formula, $18.9 million for funding teacher health care and $5.5 million to increase the focus on reading (Reading Sufficiency Act). In total, there was a $157.9 million increase in funding for K-12 education, making the FY 2020 budget a successful one for common education. The Chamber also supported other important education reforms, including protecting the number of instruction days, the development and implementation of a new pre-K to 20 longitudinal data system and the implementation of trauma- informed responsive instruction for Oklahoma teachers, all of which were successfully signed into law by Gov. Kevin Stitt.
G R E A T E R O K L A H O M A C I T Y C H A M B E R / 2 0 1 9 A N N U A L R E P O R T 7
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