Home | About OEA | Contact The Staff | Calendar

Legislative Achievements

2007 Legislative Achievements

OEA achieved funding for an average $1,200 teacher salary increase. Every teacher employed in a school district paying on the state minimum teacher salary schedule will receive a minimum raise of $600, and teachers with 10 or more years of experience an additional $425. Teachers with masters’ degrees and 10 or more years of experience will receive $850 beyond the initial $600, and those with doctorate degrees and 10 or more years of experience will receive $1,700 beyond the initial $600.

OEA secured almost $55 million in new funding for teacher pay increases, to be allocated to school districts through the student funding formula. An additional $4.5 million in general operational funding will go to school districts.

OEA achieved continued full state funding of individual school employee health insurance premiums, in spite of the significant premium increases that took effect January 1, 2007. OEA also achieved health insurance protection for school employees when transitioning from employment in one district to another.

OEA secured more than $7 million in new funding to annualize the fifty cent per hour state-funded education support personnel raise granted in the 2006 legislative session.

Working in cooperation with other state education organizations, OEA secured second year funding for the Education Employees Service Incentive Program, which significantly improves benefits for Rule of 80 educators when they retire.

Working with others, OEA achieved passage of legislation that will greatly increase funding to the Teachers’ Retirement System over the next 20 years, bringing the system to an acceptable level of funding.

OEA supported movement of bills through the legislative process aimed at providing an equitable cost-of-living raise for retired educators in the 2008 legislative session.

OEA achieved funding for remediation of students not scoring at least at the satisfactory level on 7th grade reading and math tests.

OEA prevented passage – for the third straight year -- of legislation that would have seriously harmed existing job protection for career teachers.

For a second straight year, OEA prevented enactment of legislation that would have robbed millions of dollars each year from the Permanent School Trust, a sacred trust fund which provides annual revenue to our state’s preK-12 schools and higher education institutions.

OEA secured continued state funding for the annual $5,000 stipends granted to teachers achieving national certification through the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards, and similar $5,000 stipends for school psychologists, speech pathologists and audiologists holding national certification in their respective fields.

OEA supported legislation providing for the separation of student or employee victims of certain felony offenses from their student offenders both at school and during school transportation. If separation is impossible, the student offender would be required to transfer to another school district.

OEA worked with other education organizations to oppose indiscriminate expansion of charter schools.

OEA worked to ensure that school employees will not have to participate against their will in the implementation of individual diabetes medical management plans for students.

OEA continued to monitor public education revenues from the education lottery and regulation of tribal casinos to ensure their use for education purposes.

OEA fought against legislative efforts to cut revenue sources crucial to the financial support of schools, limiting the size and scope of tax cuts eventually passed.

OEA continued efforts to create opportunities for improved student performance and accountability without imposing unrealistic and unnecessary burdens on school employees.

OEA defeated several legislative bills, the passage of which would have been harmful to public education and/or the teaching profession

Year