Oklahoma Teacher pay raise $1200 plus Support Staff Crash needing fixed working on it.

The Oklahoma Teachers are getting a raise but support staff is not on HB1780!
There is a bad crash on the support staff. This is a time to be looking and getting ready for the  "Knowledge Economy." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EzOLhYNd84
It is not a time to have impoverished workers. What will the schools look like with overwhelmed workers working in a time limit spending all of their time on petty issues getting done in the very last second! Getting it done half ass but faster as they have to do more with less in that says it's a fail a panic to get things done! Your workers should not be out in that position in the first place!

Teachers need the funding and also support staff because buildings will get bad with no foundation to keep them up. They will be kept down! 

The Oklahoma Teachers Union responded and is pushing for higher pay!

~~~~~"It is positive that Stitt wants to make teacher pay top in the region, but $1,200 won’t get us there. We’re asking for a $3,000 teacher pay raise this year. At the same time, we can’t forget our support professionals, many of whom make just above minimum wage in very difficult jobs. We are still seeking a $2,500 raise for them. The OEA is also asking for $150 million for our classrooms, to help schools hire more teachers to lower classroom sizes and bring back AP, fine arts, world language and other dropped classes."
http://okea.org/oea-blog/oea-response-to-gov.-stitts-2019-state-of-the-state-address

~~~~~House Passes $1200 Teacher Pay Increase
The State House of Representatives today (2-21-19) passed HB1780, a $1200 pay raise for teachers. Here is Pres. Alicia Priest's response:

“It’s a positive development that the House invested in public education today with a pay raise for teachers. We must remember, though, that a $1,200 increase does not get us to the top of the region in average teacher pay. It does not put a dime into the funding formula so schools can hire more teachers. And it doesn’t give our support professionals a badly needed raise. We’re optimistic more can and will be done for our students, and we’ll continue to work with legislators to see that progress happens.”
http://okea.org

~~~~~Oklahoma support staff bill SB43 2019 raise. "Bill Title: Schools; increasing compensation for school support personnel over certain time period. Effective date. Emergency." https://legiscan.com/OK/text/SB43/2019 Support staff is like glue less glue well...

~~~~~Support staff pay raise and restoring cuts is key to improving Oklahoma’s schools
Total number of school support staff is down across the state
Over the past decade, the number of support staff in schools has not kept up with student enrollment. This 2018-2019 school year has almost 54,000 more students — more than double the total undergraduate enrollment of the University of Oklahoma — than a decade earlier, but 391 fewer support employees. With more students to serve, schools have fewer support professionals to get students safely to school, ensure they are well-fed, keep buildings clean, and provide needed classroom assistance. 

Apart from special education support staff, which can be funded through federal dollars, districts use general funds received through the state aid formula to hire support professionals. In the face of insufficient state aid funding, districts often have to cut multiple support positions in order to hold on to a teacher. The declining number of support staff across the state likely reflect these kinds of bare-bones staffing dilemmas. 

Poverty-level wages and support staff turnover challenges school climate 
Administrators at one school district explained that staff turnover is a problem in many of their schools. Low wages can force staff to look for jobs outside public education or find positions that more easily accommodate working two jobs. Just as high teacher turnover negatively impacts student achievement, high support staff turnover challenges a school’s ability to create sustained collaboration with staff that is necessary for vibrant school climates. To create climates where students feel a strong sense of trust and belonging, staff must establish shared systems of communication, interaction, and response to student needs. Fostering a positive learning environment takes time and consistency. High staff turnover challenges a school’s capacity to establish these norms. 

Despite their importance to student success, support staff earn poverty-level wages. Last year, support staff received a $1,250 pay increase, which nudged the average support staff salary to $21,583 — just barely over the federal poverty line for a single parent with two children. Low salaries mean that many live paycheck to paycheck, and Ed McIntosh, President of American Federation of Teachers Tulsa, says that the vast majority of support employees in his organization take on second jobs. Many support professionals also rely on safety net programs like Medicaid and SNAP (food stamps) to supplement their low wages.

Budget cuts also mean many support employees are doing more work for the same low pay. Carmon Williams, an elementary school secretary in Oklahoma City who supports herself and four children on a $19,000 a year salary, also fills in (unpaid) as the school nurse, handing out medication during the four days a week her school does not have a dedicated nurse. She often stands in for other staff when the school is short-handed. 

Schools can hire more staff and increase pay with additional state funding
Education support professionals are central to the success of every school and child, but they are too often overlooked by policymakers. Improving Oklahoma’s schools means increasing education support professional pay and funding state aid so that schools can hire enough staff. This session lawmakers have the capacity to fulfill these goals, and Oklahomans should remind them that this is a top priority for our schools. 
https://okpolicy.org/support-staff-pay-raise-and-restoring-cuts-is-key-to-improving-oklahomas-schools