Facts to consider on Oklahoma teacher pay

The 1889 Institute is out with a new policy report, "Teacher Pay: Facts to Consider." Below are some highlights. I encourage you to read the entire report here.

• Oklahoma’s average teacher salary was $44,921 in 2016, which is $13,600 more than in 2000 (but only $1,000 more when adjusted for inflation).
• Including benefits and payroll taxes, Oklahoma’s average teacher pay in 2016 was about $66,034.
• Assuming a 45-hour workweek during contracted days and an additional 40 hours outside contracted days, an average teacher work hour’s total compensation in Oklahoma amounted to $39.45 in 2016.
• Nationally and in Oklahoma, average teacher salaries reached their historical maximum in 2010.
• In 2010, Oklahoma’s average teacher salary, adjusted for cost of living, ranked 14th in the nation and on a par with Texas.
• In 2010, average compensation with benefits included for Oklahoma’s teachers undoubtedly exceeded that for Texas’ teachers.
• In 2016, Oklahoma’s average teacher salary, adjusted for cost of living, ranked 30th in the nation.
• Teacher salaries were insulated from the early impacts of the Great Recession (2008-2009) by federal funds provided to public education across the nation through 2010.
• By 2015, the national inflation-adjusted average teacher salary had only begun to recover from the drop after 2010.
• The national inflation-adjusted average teacher salary has yet to recover to its long-term trend.
• Oklahoma’s inflation-adjusted average teacher salary was at its long-term trend in 2016, and never fell below it.
• Since 2010, Oklahoma’s inflation-adjusted average teacher salary has fallen more than any other state’s except Mississippi, but this fall is from a level that was anomalously high compared to other states in 2010.
• Texas’ high average teacher salary status in the region must be tempered by the realization that Texas’ pay in benefits is much lower than Oklahoma’s.
• National studies comparing teacher pay to that of other similarly skilled professions show that teachers compare well.
• Any teacher shortage in Oklahoma is extremely small and the evidence is so sketchy that there actually could be a small surplus.
• Emergency certification numbers provide no evidence of a true teacher shortage.
• Only 2.1 percent of Oklahoma teachers were emergency certified in 2016.
• Forty-one percent of emergency certifications were for elementary education and early childhood.
• There were no emergency certifications for Special Education.
• In Advanced Math, Biology, Chemistry, Early Childhood, English, and Science, 70 percent of emergency certification candidates had strongly subject-related college degrees.