New plan offers up to $50,000 signing bonuses to teach in Oklahoma schools

WARNER — A new signing bonus program will offer teachers up to $50,000 to work five years in Oklahoma early elementary and special education classrooms next school year.

State schools Superintendent Ryan Walters announced the plan on Wednesday in Warner, a town of 1,500 people whose school district scored an overall A on the latest Oklahoma School Report Cards.

Walters said the signing bonuses will draw teachers from other states and job sectors to alleviate Oklahoma's teacher shortage, particularly in rural areas and high-poverty schools. He said the state will use private funds for an out-of-state advertising campaign promoting the bonuses.

"You’re going to see me go around the country, and we’re going to recruit teachers right here," Walters said. "We’re going to be actively out — pursuing the teachers with active teaching certificates around the state. We’re going to be going after these teachers and letting them know, ‘Hey, we want you back.'"

The Oklahoma State Department of Education said it is financing the $16 million program with $8 million from the American Rescue Plan Act and $8 million in Plan B funds from the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

The program already is accepting applications for the 2023-24 school year.

This is a "one-time bonus plan," Education Department spokesperson Justin Holcomb said.

The program's future is unclear beyond 2024, which is the deadline for all American Rescue Plan stimulus funds to be spent.

There's no surety the state Legislature will fund the bonuses once stimulus dollars run out, said Rep. Mark McBride, the chairperson of the House budget committee on education. McBride, R-Moore, said legislative leaders on appropriations haven't had the chance to review the program.

"We’re trying to recruit teachers and we’re trying to get new teachers, but what are we doing for those teachers that are already in the classroom?" McBride said. "I think right now the big push should be to show appreciation for teachers in the classroom and do something for them."

Teacher shortages a long-term problem in Oklahoma

The "one-time" plan attempts to resolve a long-term problem in Oklahoma. Teacher departures and a lack of qualified candidates to replace them have plagued schools in the state for more than a decade.

The shortage seemed to reach new heights this school year, as the state issued record levels of emergency certifications to hire teachers who have not been traditionally trained.

Walters said too many teachers leave the profession after two or three years. That's why the state will require a five-year commitment from those who accept a signing bonus. Teachers who leave before five years have passed will have to pay the money back.

"That's where we’ve been for well over 10 years is this cyclical (process of), ‘We’ll do the program and then we get some more folks in’ and they leave," Walters said.

To earn a signing bonus of $15,000 to $50,000, the teacher must be certified and commit to work five years for an Oklahoma school in the "critical shortage areas" of pre-K through third grade or any grade in special education. A fully certified candidate cannot have worked in an Oklahoma public school in the previous school year before accepting the signing bonus.

More: Record emergency certifications are being issued as Oklahoma faces teacher shortage

An early elementary teacher with less than three years of experience could qualify for a $15,000 signing bonus, $20,000 if they agree to work in a rural or high-poverty school district, or $25,000 if they move from another state to Oklahoma.

Educators with three or more years of experience could earn a $25,000 signing bonus and increase it to $30,000 by taking a position in a rural or high-poverty school.

The largest signing bonus of $50,000 is reserved for educators with five or more years of experience teaching special education. It also applies to teachers who have worked five years or more in the classroom who agree to work in a rural or high-poverty school or who move to Oklahoma from out of state.

Warner Middle School Principal Jeremy Jackson said he could think of two or three teachers whom a $50,000 signing bonus might coax out of retirement. Jackson said his school typically has success finding qualified candidates for open positions, but Warner has had to rely on some emergency certified hires in the past three years.

More: Crunch time: Big legislative decisions coming for Oklahoma on school support, tax cuts

A large signing bonus could help the school compete with private-sector wages, he said, and bring back teachers who've "still got a lot of life left."

"They were fantastic classroom teachers before," Jackson said. "I do think that it would be enticing to them to come back and teach again."

Walters also celebrated the first allocation of $13 million in excess lottery funds to the Teacher Empowerment Revolving Fund. State lawmakers created the program last year to offer matching funds for salary bonuses to high-performing teachers who spend a certain amount of the school day out of the classroom mentoring and leading their colleagues.

But, matching dollars are impossible for districts to produce, especially while inflation drives up costs and state funding remains flat, Warner Superintendent David Vinson said.

“I don’t have any money to work with," Vinson said. "I love the idea. I can think of teacher after teacher in the Warner public school district that deserves more money."

Other plans to address teacher pay in the Oklahoma Legislature

Walters' signing bonus plan is separate from other efforts at the state Capitol to raise teacher pay.

Gov. Kevin Stitt proposed Oklahoma spend $300 million to boost teachers' minimum salaries by $2,000 to $5,000, with gradually higher increases for longer-tenured educators.

House leadership suggested an across-the-board $2,500 salary increase for all public school teachers in Oklahoma. A Senate plan would increase minimum pay by $3,000 to $6,000 depending on years of experience.

Legislative leaders are still negotiating ways to reconcile their plans on teacher pay, education funding, and tax credits for private-school students and homeschooling families.

Walters advocated for a $150 million merit-pay program for teachers, but that idea doesn't appear to be a factor in lawmakers' plans.

House lawmakers have been pursuing a meeting with Walters for weeks, and McBride predicted they will have "a lot of questions" on the singing bonus plan, among other concerns. The House Appropriations and Budget Committee issued a notice on Wednesday it that it scheduled a Monday mid-session update at the Capitol on the state Education Department.

"Can we sustain this? How long is it going to last?" McBride said. "The Legislature doesn’t know the answer to these questions, and that’s why we need him to come up here."

Reporter Nuria Martinez-Keel covers K-12 and higher education throughout the state of Oklahoma. Have a story idea for Nuria? She can be reached at nmartinez-keel@oklahoman.com or on Twitter at @NuriaMKeel. Support Nuria’s work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma teachers could earn up to $50,000 signing bonuses in new plan