Better Outcomes for Oklahoma’s Kids (BOOK) aims to develop 10-15 policy proposals for lawmakers before the 2026 legislative session. Over the next year, it plans to hold a series of community forums and listening events to help guide legislative priorities.
BOOK is organized by Advance Oklahoma’s Kids, a coalition of statewide organizations that includes the Oklahoma Appleseed Center for Law and Justice and the Oklahoma Rural Schools Coalition.
2023 National Teacher of the Year Rebecka Peterson, a Tulsa Union Public Schools educator, said her focus is elevating teacher pay and allotting more paid planning time.
“If we want to restore respect and appreciation to the profession, we have to put our money where our mouth is,” Peterson said. “We have to pay teachers like the professionals they are. We cannot keep relying on altruism alone to fill teacher voids.”
Peterson said because teachers’ step raises don’t keep up with inflation, their buying power decreases the longer they work. She said while she was grateful for the Oklahoma legislature’s historic investment in education two years ago, which included pay raises, inflation rates are still high. Last year’s rate was the highest it has been since 1991.
She said time spent grading and preparing for lessons should also be paid. Oklahoma teachers are provided one hour a day of paid planning time, but Peterson said it’s not enough.
“All that magic happens before the kids enter. But all that time is often spent before school, after school or during weekends,” Peterson said. “Our great teachers are carving out that time and not being paid for that time, and we wonder why they’re being burned out or why they are disenchanted.”
Kyle Reynolds is the superintendent of Seiling Public Schools in northwestern Oklahoma and works as an education consultant. Reynolds is a proponent of multi-tiered systems of support for students to reach mastery of concepts. He said in his previous position as Woodward Public School’s superintendent, the district received a multi-million dollar federal grant to train teachers on more individualized student interventions.
“It was very intensive on the amount of training that we went through and the ways that we can recognize when students need that help, and then to equip the teachers with the skills that they need to implement those tier-two resources,” Reynolds said. “And then tier three, a lot of times has to do with staff time and adding additional staff to be able to catch those students.”
Ashley Philippsen is the executive director of education advocacy nonprofit ImpactTulsa. She said her vision for policy change addresses transportation disparities, which could help alleviate chronic absenteeism.
“Legislation that supports wraparound services,” Philippsen said. “Because it’s not enough just to say the teacher or the principal or the curriculum is the unit of change. What happens outside of school dictates how a student comes to us at school.”
She also supports “re-imagining workforce pathways” for schools by involving corporations and chambers of commerce.
All of the policy ideas will require significant investments from the legislature. David Blatt is the director of research and strategic impact at Oklahoma Appleseed. He said he understands there might be cynicism about lawmakers’ willingness to inject more funds into public education, but he’s hopeful that supporting their local schools is still important enough to communities to push for improvement.
“People are still deeply attached to their neighborhood schools and really want schools to succeed. So I think that’s what we’re trying to tap into and remind people of that,” Blatt said. “And people still, despite everything, still believe in public education. We’ve got to give them a reason to continue to believe.”
Those interested in adding input to the organization’s legislative agenda can fill out a survey here.
StateImpact Oklahoma is a partnership of Oklahoma’s public radio stations which relies on contributions from readers and listeners to fulfill its mission of public service to Oklahoma and beyond. Donate online.
