"Step Up Oklahoma" says they can solve OK financial woes

[Okie4570]

Football is the money maker, the other sports not so much. Speaking of salaries, and funding being heavy on top. Just happened to hear how many schools there were in Broward County FL where the shooting happened. There are 327 schools in that district, and the superintendent makes $335,000 plus perks is close to $400k. Compare that to Grant Co, OK. Three school districts, which includes 4 school buildings, and the those three combined superintendent salaries were $348K three years ago. I'm sure there are other assistant supt in Broward Co, but something is askew here in OK imo.

27 schools in Garfield Co, 9 Districts and 9 superintendents making $990k combined in 2015, surely over the one million mark this year............................Not sure about the other districts, but I believe Enid Public Schools has three assistant superintendents as well.

 

[jmike314]

Since we are talking about schools and teachers.......


At the risk of getting blasted, here are some quick facts I dug up.

I did a quick google search for teacher salaries in Oklahoma.....it said minimum salaries range from $31,600 to $46,000 plus benefits for roughly 180 work days (10 month contract).

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From the Moore Oklahoma public schools website (first one I found when snooping around):

http://www.mooreschools.com/page/734

Teacher Facts

• 
  Teacher Facts
  Moore Public Schools Employment
  “An Equal Opportunity Employer”
  
  COMPENSATION
  • Above (+) Okla. Minimum Teacher Salary
  • Schedule
  • M.P.S. – 6-tier salary schedule (BS, BS +15,
  • MS, MS+15, MS+30, Ph.D.)
  • Adjust @ midterm - # of hours or additional degree
  • Experience – All Oklahoma Certified Public
  • School, 10 years out of state, 5 years military
  • Additional stipend (5% total comp) – Special
  • Education Teachers, Counselors, Alternative
  • Stipends for selected Vocational
  • Mentor Teachers - $500.00 per year
  • Summer School - $18.00 per hour
  • Night Alternative – Staff - $18.00 per hour
  • Extra Duty – One of state’s highest paid (i.e.
  • Department Chair, Sponsors, Coaches, etc.)
  • Pay 2 (two) times per month
  CONTRACT WORK YEAR
  • (Work Year) 182 Days
  • 175 teaching (with 2 parent/teacher conf)
  • 2 Record days
  • 3 Inservice days
  • 2 Professional days
  • Day – 6 ¾ hours
  • Prep time : Elem. – 225 minutes/week. Secondary - 275 minutes/week
  • Lunch – Duty Free
  • Class Size – Grade Level*
  • Pre K = 20 students with assistant
  • K-3 = 20 students or max of 26 students with assistant
  • Grades 4 – 6 = 20 students + (state formula) = max of 26 students
  • Secondary = 140 students per day (exceptions : Music, PE)
  • Holidays :
  • Labor Day (1)
  • Fall Break (2)
  • Thanksgiving Break (3)
  • Christmas Break (10)
  • Martin L. King Day (1)
  • Spring Break (5)
  LEAVE BENEFITS
  • Leave – (per year)
  • Personal – 3 days
  • Emergency – 2 days
  • Sick Leave – 10 days
  • Sick Leave “District-Wide Share Plan” -maximum 100 days
  • Extended Sick Leave - maximum 20 days
  • Leave without pay – option
  • Leave of Absence (LOA) – 1 semester and/or year (3 yrs prior service in district required)
  • Military – 30 days
  • Jury Duty/Legal Proceedings – available
  • Family Medical Leave (FMLA) max 12 weeks per year / concurrent
  PAID INSURANCE BENEFITS
  Click here for more information.
  Major Medical
  Life Insurance - District-Paid Life Policy: AD&D/Term $10,000.00
  Retirement – Oklahoma Teachers District paid 100%
  Travel Allowance – IRS rate per mile
  • When applicable
  Payroll Deductions offered
  
  • *Annuities
  • *American Family Life: (AFLAC), cancer, heart, disability, various other products
  • *American Fidelity: accident,cancer, critical care, disability, GAP, life, long term care, various other products
  • *Cancer
  • *Dependent Day Care-FLEX
  • *Dental
  • *Dread Disease
  • *Flexible Savings Account for medical (FSA)
  • *Health Care
  • *Health Savings Account (HSA)
  • Legal Shield
  • Life Insurance
  • *NTA-cancer
  • *Vision
  * Denotes items that may be eligible to be deducted on a before-tax basis under IRS Section 125. Please visit the Insurance Coordinator or your agent.
  
  http://www.mooreschools.com/site/Default.aspx?PageID=751
  
  Certified Insurance/Benefits
  • 
    DOE FAQ about the paid Flexible Benefit Allowance
    
    Certified personnel contracted at least (6) six hours a day/(30) thirty hours a week or more will receive an additional PAID monthly flexible benefit allowance (FBA) of $571.04* ($285.52* each payday) when any one of the state’s health plans is chosen. The full FBA amount is paid regardless of which health plan is chosen.
    
    The FBA is reduced to $69.72* ($34.86* each payday) when the certified employee is contracted for thirty hours or more per week or is an eligible full time certified employee but chooses to opt out of health coverage.
    
    *FBA is based on the current negotiated contract between the current certified association and the Moore Public School Board of Education.
    
    Moore Public Schools offers major health, dental, vision, and life insurance under the Plan Administration of the Oklahoma State Employees Group Insurance Division (EGID); a division of Oklahoma's Office of Management and Enterprise Services (OMES).
    
    
    
    OKLAHOMA TEACHER’S RETIREMENT
    100% District-Paid
    
    District-Paid Life Insurance
    All full-time employees receive a district-paid group life insurance: $10K Basic Life/$10K AD&D. Administrators receive an additional STD/LTD package under this group benefit.
    
    SECTION 125 BENEFIT OPTIONS
    The Section 125 plan allows employees to deduct a wide variety of needed benefits from their gross earnings on a before tax basis, which increases your take home pay. Some of these benefits include: FLEX accounts for unreimbursed medical and child care, health, dental, vision, cancer plans, and dread disease.
    
    PAYROLL DEDUCTED OPTIONS
    Moore Public Schools contracts with AFPlanServ to be our Third Party Administrator (TPA). Employees have a variety of investment options to choose from. Other optional after-tax benefits may also be elected such as disability, long term care and life insurance.
    
    Investment 403(b) Providers
    AMERICAN FIDELITY
    GWN MARKETING
    HORACE MANN
    NATIONAL LIFE GROUP (FORMERLY LIFE INSURANCE OF THE SOUTHWEST)
    METLIFE
    SECURITY BENEFITS
    AXA EQUITABLE LIFE INSURANCE
    
    457 Investment Plan
    
    GWN Marketing administers this plan.

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Also from google, the median household income in Oklahoma last year was $51,424.

There are LOTS of folks in Oklahoma working a lot more hours for a lot less pay......not saying that is necessarily good, it is just a fact.

Yes, I know teachers have a higher education degree, but I have often wondered.....do we really want folks teaching our kids that weren't smart enough to figure out salary potential of their intended profession before getting a degree??

Did they not think about what they would earn before spending 4 years getting that degree??

Another thought....Could we quit building multimillion dollar school sports facilities and use that money to actually educate students??

The actual hours worked by teacher is not accurately reflected in that contract information. I challenge you to find a teacher that only puts in 6 hours a day. Also you should do a little research into coaches/sponsors and do some math on the number of hours spent with their respective activities vs. the additional stipend they receive.

And teachers aren’t smart because they chose to teach? Seriously?

So who is it that you want teaching your child?
Most teachers are there because they enjoy what they do and they genuinely care about the students. Teachers will use money from their own pockets to provide materials that budget cuts have deemed too expensive. Teachers will feed kids that don’t get enough to eat at home. Teachers do plenty more than “6 hours”. We only have to look at the recent news to see that there were teachers that gave their lives to protect the students in their school.

And you want to call them stupid for choosing to become a teacher?

Nice.



“Crying is for babies, little girls, and men who just had their ears ripped off.”
- Winston Churchill

 

[Buzzgun]

The actual hours worked by teacher is not accurately reflected in that contract information. I challenge you to find a teacher that only puts in 6 hours a day. Also you should do a little research into coaches/sponsors and do some math on the number of hours spent with their respective activities vs. the additional stipend they receive.

And teachers aren’t smart because they chose to teach? Seriously?

So who is it that you want teaching your child?
Most teachers are there because they enjoy what they do and they genuinely care about the students. Teachers will use money from their own pockets to provide materials that budget cuts have deemed too expensive. Teachers will feed kids that don’t get enough to eat at home. Teachers do plenty more than “6 hours”. We only have to look at the recent news to see that there were teachers that gave their lives to protect the students in their school.

And you want to call them stupid for choosing to become a teacher?

Nice.



“Crying is for babies, little girls, and men who just had their ears ripped off.”
- Winston Churchill

Where, exactly, did I say they only work 6 hours a day?? Go ahead, find it and post it here, I'll wait.......I never said teachers only worked 6 hours a day, I know better, but go ahead and try to put words in my mouth if it makes you feel better. I posted FACTS I found on the Moore school district website.......those FACTS include the number of DAYS they are required to work and the total compensation they receive from a 10 month contract. I also pointed out that there are lots of people working just as hard, or harder, who do so for less money and no benefits, and you don't see them constantly whining, moaning and protesting that they aren't paid enough.

Again, I do question their intelligence if they are surprised and disappointed by their salary, it's not like it's a secret and it certainly shouldn't be a surprise! And, yes, they are stupid if they spend 4 years getting a degree to teach and then aren't satisfied with the compensation, when that information is posted for anyone to see. I feel the same way about ANYONE who chooses an occupation that pays less than they want to make and then they complain about not being paid enough!!

If teachers choose to teach because they care about students and enjoy what they do, that is great, but it still doesn't change the fact that teaching pays what it pays and they can either be happy with it or go do something else.......what is so difficult about that??

It's not stupid to choose to teach if that's what you want to do......it IS stupid to make that choice knowing that you won't be satisfied with the pay! Even more stupid is blaming other people for the results of the choices that you make....especially when you can see the consequences of those choices BEFORE you make them!!

As I said before, nobody is holding a gun to their heads, they are free to go where the grass is greener.......just don't expect the rest of us to feel sorry for the choices they made!!

 

[rawhide]

As I said before, nobody is holding a gun to their heads, they are free to go where the grass is greener.......just don't expect the rest of us to feel sorry for the choices they made!!

You seem to fail to understand that leaving is exactly what they are doing.

 

[Buzzgun]

No, I don't fail to understand that......and I don't blame them if they can make a better living somewhere else. I actually think they have a pretty good deal considering they only work 10 months out of the year, but, if Oklahoma doesn't pay what they can make in Texas....maybe they should move to Texas.

What you seem to fail to understand is that I'm not against teachers, I'm not against paying them a competitive salary........I am against all the whining, moaning and protesting they do.

I have a nephew who is a radiology tech in the Dallas area.......he is from Oklahoma and would rather live and work here, but he made the choice to live and work there because Texas requires radiology techs to be licensed and Oklahoma does not.......consequently, radiology techs earn a much higher salary in Texas. He didn't get on TV and whine or go to the state capitol to protest the salary for radiology techs in Oklahoma, he loaded up his belongings and his family and moved to Texas. I can respect that.

 

[dennishoddy]

Football is the money maker, the other sports not so much. Speaking of salaries, and funding being heavy on top. Just happened to hear how many schools there were in Broward County FL where the shooting happened. There are 327 schools in that district, and the superintendent makes $335,000 plus perks is close to $400k. Compare that to Grant Co, OK. Three school districts, which includes 4 school buildings, and the those three combined superintendent salaries were $348K three years ago. I'm sure there are other assistant supt in Broward Co, but something is askew here in OK imo.

27 schools in Garfield Co, 9 Districts and 9 superintendents making $990k combined in 2015, surely over the one million mark this year............................Not sure about the other districts, but I believe Enid Public Schools has three assistant superintendents as well.

Ponca City has the second highest paid super and he runs one school district. Same old mantra from those that hired him. If you want the best, you have to pay for the best. Meanwhile our students are low in every category, and our football team can't win but one game a year in recent years, while in the past were perennial state champion contenders.

If school teachers want a raise, we need to dump every school superintendent, redistrict the schools so one super and several assistants run three or four counties in the lower populated counties.
Make the pay appropriate to the position and the number of students under their umbrella.
Make the position and pay appropriate to student academic success or boot them out and get someone in there that is performance oriented.

 

[Poke78]

Another thought....Could we quit building multimillion dollar school sports facilities and use that money to actually educate students??

Nope, not allowed by state law. Your ad valorem property tax for your local school district(s) (K-12 and vocational/technical, if you have one) is divided into two buckets - one for operations that pays for things like salaries, one for buildings that pays for construction and facility maintenance. There is a very high legal and fiscal wall to keep from co-mingling the two buckets.

 

[Pokinfun]

Ponca City has the second highest paid super and he runs one school district. Same old mantra from those that hired him. If you want the best, you have to pay for the best. Meanwhile our students are low in every category, and our football team can't win but one game a year in recent years, while in the past were perennial state champion contenders.

If school teachers want a raise, we need to dump every school superintendent, redistrict the schools so one super and several assistants run three or four counties in the lower populated counties.
Make the pay appropriate to the position and the number of students under their umbrella.
Make the position and pay appropriate to student academic success or boot them out and get someone in there that is performance oriented.

The requirement to bus students would prevent you from combining districts.
I agree about superintendents being over paid. But, you can not punish classroom teachers, ultimately students, for something they do not have any control over. Most teachers would agree about superintendent salaries and the fact that we have too many administrators. At the same time, we have to realize that state and federal requirements are causing these issues, not the teacher or student.

 

[Okie4570]

Northwestern Oklahoma is already full of consolidated school districts, from the late 70's and 80's. Some of them still have less than 100 students from prek-12. Lot's kids bussed or drive 10 miles or more.

Aline-Cleo less than 100 students

Carmen-Dacoma was consolidated and still couldn't survive. They drive either to Alva, Aline-Cleo or Timberlake.

Timberlake serves Goltry, Helena, Jet and Nash. Jet and Nash consolidated, still couldn't make it and some Nash students go to Pond Creek-Hunter, some to Timerlake, some to Kremlin-Hillsdale.

Kremlin-Hillsdale, they have a huge amount of students from Enid who don't even live in district. They bus students from Enid even.

Frontier School serves Marland and Red Rock area. Billings was offered the chance to be apart of that, declined, and somehow is allowed to remain open and the last I heard they average 5 students per grade.

Freedom has less than 100 students the last I heard, they're a considerable distance to the next school.

Ames closed, Meno closed, and are part of Cimarron School in Lahoma. They could also go to Ringwood or Drummond.

Drummond sits half way between Cimarron and Enid, and is smaller than Cimarron lol.

Covington-Douglas consolidated, but also receives students from Marshall. Halfway between Covington-Douglas and Waukomis is Pioneer School. They draw students from Fairmont, Waukomis and Enid.

Chisholm was created to handle the North Enid and Carrier students.

Enid schools are packed, and there are a ton of students who live there, but go to Kremlin-Hillsdale, Pioneer, Waukomis, Chisholm, or one of five private schools in the area.

Not sure what the answers are, but long commutes to school are nothing new here, and some consolidated school districts so small that they still can't even support an 8-Man football team. Hate to see towns loose their schools, but I'm not sure how these schools with so few students can still remain open in our current state money misappropriation within our system.

 

[Pokinfun]

Northwestern Oklahoma is already full of consolidated school districts, from the late 70's and 80's. Some of them still have less than 100 students from prek-12. Lot's kids bussed or drive 10 miles or more.

Aline-Cleo less than 100 students

Carmen-Dacoma was consolidated and still couldn't survive. They drive either to Alva, Aline-Cleo or Timberlake.

Timberlake serves Goltry, Helena, Jet and Nash. Jet and Nash consolidated, still couldn't make it and some Nash students go to Pond Creek-Hunter, some to Timerlake, some to Kremlin-Hillsdale.

Kremlin-Hillsdale, they have a huge amount of students from Enid who don't even live in district. They bus students from Enid even.

Frontier School serves Marland and Red Rock area. Billings was offered the chance to be apart of that, declined, and somehow is allowed to remain open and the last I heard they average 5 students per grade.

Freedom has less than 100 students the last I heard, they're a considerable distance to the next school.

Ames closed, Meno closed, and are part of Cimarron School in Lahoma. They could also go to Ringwood or Drummond.

Drummond sits half way between Cimarron and Enid, and is smaller than Cimarron lol.

Covington-Douglas consolidated, but also receives students from Marshall. Halfway between Covington-Douglas and Waukomis is Pioneer School. They draw students from Fairmont, Waukomis and Enid.

Chisholm was created to handle the North Enid and Carrier students.

Enid schools are packed, and there are a ton of students who live there, but go to Kremlin-Hillsdale, Pioneer, Waukomis, Chisholm, or one of five private schools in the area.

Not sure what the answers are, but long commutes to school are nothing new here, and some consolidated school districts so small that they still can't even support an 8-Man football team. Hate to see towns loose their schools, but I'm not sure how these schools with so few students can still remain open in our current state money misappropriation within our system.

it is not the distance that would be the issue, I rode a bus for 45 minutes to school. The issue is the ethnic makeup of the districts. If you only had one school, it would be easy. However, if you had lots of schools with different ethnic populations, you would have to balance them.