House Bill 1727 by Rep. Anthony Moore (R-Clinton) opens eligibility to OHLAP, the state’s tuition scholarship program, to teachers who have taught in Oklahoma schools for at least 10 years.
While traditional OHLAP — also known as Oklahoma’s Promise — eligibility ranges from $60,000-$80,000 in annual income, teachers’ families qualify at up to 700% of the federal poverty level. For a family of three, that would be about $186,000.
House Bill 1087 by Rep. Dick Lowe (R-Amber) allows teachers to receive step raises for 10 additional years of service. Previously, step raises stopped after 25 years.
Both bills are co-authored by Senate Education Chair Adam Pugh (R-Edmond).
According to a legislative fiscal impact report, OHLAP is funded “off the top” and not appropriated by the legislature. Additional participation, it said, will likely result in less money available for future appropriations.
The fiscal impact is expected to reach about $740,310 for the first year and, by the fourth year, more than $3 million.
For House Bill 1087, the projected fiscal impact is more than $23 million.
Jami Jackson-Cole, an Edmond teacher and administrator for a popular Oklahoma teacher advocacy social media page, said the passage of the two bills were the main highlights of the legislative session for teachers.
“I genuinely have not been pleased at all with everything that’s happened this session, and so I think that this is going to help. I mean, at least we got two,” Jackson-Cole said. “I will definitely take these two wins right now for sure.”
Jackson-Cole said she wants to see more emphasis from lawmakers in future sessions to prioritize Oklahoma’s teacher shortage.
The governor’s office did not return a request for comment about the bills before publication.
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