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Oklahoma Education Association

Legislative Agenda

OEA’s Legislative Agenda for 2008 includes support for increased pay and benefits for education employees, school reform and improved instruction. The Agenda, which was developed by OEA members, also promises to fight issues that will harm our schools and their missions to provide a great public school for every child.
Salaries
  • Reach the regional average salary for teachers – a $2,000 increase with language guaranteeing the raise for all teachers.
  • Increase support professional pay by 5%.
 
Health Insurance
  • Support passage of 75% family coverage for school employees (state employee equity).
  • Support legislation for at least a $50 monthly increase in the health insurance subsidy for retired educators.
 
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OEA's Legislative Agenda
 
 
Negotiations Reform
  • Support passage of legislation which will level the playing field for local negotiators at the bargaining table.
  • Support passage of legislation to allow for the recall of school board members.
 
Improving Instruction
  • Support passage or expansion of funding of quality instructional development programs including Connected Math, Children of Poverty (Ruby Payne), and mentoring.
 
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School Reform
  • Support referendum to allow local districts to increase up to 5 additional mills for operational costs to implement a school improvement proposal. These dollars would be non-chargeable and the plans would be locally developed.
 
Teacher Protection Act
  • Support passage of SB 612 (Coates & DeWitt), which provides for VPOs and immunity for teachers when using responsible control and discipline of students at school or in transport. Also, 612 provides immunity for school districts in the suspension of students.
 
 
Extended Day/Year Focus on Quality of Time, not Quantity of Time
  • Oppose efforts to extend the school day/year prior to salaries being brought up to the regional average and require any additional time be fully reimbursed for both personnel and operating costs.
  • Support efforts to require more instructional time within the current school day/year.
 
College Tuition
  • Support efforts to provide free tuition for children of school employees who graduate with a 3.0 or higher GPA.
 
OEA OPPOSES
  • ABCTE – an alternative certification program that requires only passage of an online test to earn teacher certification.
  • Additional tax or revenue reductions.
  • Elimination of trial de novo as part of the Teacher Due Process Act.
  • Changing the method of lottery money distribution that would prevent citizen oversight of how the funds are spent.
  • Changes to the current restrictions on initiative petition circulation.
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