A $254 million plan from Senate Republican leadership would raise teacher pay, support literacy initiatives, and increase funding for public and private school students by capping extra funds put into the state’s teacher pension system.
Improving the state’s poor elementary reading scores has been a top issue for lawmakers this year, and the Senate announcement on Tuesday — coincidentally falling on the Capitol’s Public Schools Day — revealed the first funding plan to do so.
The chamber’s GOP leaders said their plan would significantly increase public education funding in a revenue-neutral way, which could be essential in a tight budget year. Their proposed method already has drawn opposition from legislative Democrats who opposed limiting pension contributions.
The Senate’s budget leader, Sen. Chuck Hall, R-Perry, said he’s shared the plan with his House counterpart, Rep. Trey Caldwell, R-Faxon, and would present it to Gov. Kevin Stitt’s staff on Tuesday.
Capping apportionment funds for the state’s teacher pension system at $200 million could free up $254 million needed for the education plan, Hall said.
The Legislature has been adding extra funds, called an apportionment, on top of regular state contributions to the Teacher Retirement System since 2003. The pension system is now 80% funded. It was less than 50% funded 23 years ago, Hall said, which prompted the apportionment.
Senate leaders said redirecting $254 million of the apportionment won’t impact any teachers’ retirement benefits, and it wouldn’t eliminate the possibility of cost-of-living increases for them. Rather, it would slow the pension system’s progress toward full funding, taking an estimated five extra years.
“The apportionment back in 2003 was an emergency,” Hall told Oklahoma Voice. “It was an emergency because we had a failing system. And so, now you look at 2026, and we have a new emergency. That’s to make improvements in our public education system.”
Only 26% of public school students scored on grade level in English language arts in 2025, state testing data shows.
The Senate plan’s single largest expense, $117 million, would afford a $2,500 salary increase for all public school teachers.
Another $4.5 million appropriation would double college scholarship funds available to aspiring teachers.
“If we’re going to improve literacy outcomes, you’ve got to have great teachers who are science-of-reading aligned in their training to help children learn how to read,” Sen. Adam Pugh, R-Edmond, said. “And so, everything we’re doing is aimed at that preparation of a great teacher.”
Senate leaders also proposed adding another $29.8 million to the education funding formula, the lifeblood for many public school budgets. The added funds would allow districts to expand staffing or meet other needs, said Pugh, who leads the Senate Education Committee and is running as a Republican candidate for state superintendent.
The plan would add $50 million to triple the Strong Readers Act fund, which currently distributes $17.5 million to benefit literacy instruction in public schools.
Districts could use the extra money for summer academies, student tutoring and teacher training in the science of reading, among other possibilities, Pugh said.
Senate leaders said they would pledge $10 million to grow the Oklahoma State Department of Education’s team of literacy coaches who work with public schools to improve reading instruction. Another $10 million would establish a similar team of math coaches.
A $7.7 million appropriation would provide books and reading materials for students. That would include $5 million to help expand Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library to distribute free children’s books in all 77 counties of Oklahoma.
The proposal is “a start,” said Tori Luster Pennington, president of the Oklahoma City American Federation of Teachers union.
“My concerns would be the implications it has for (the Teacher Retirement System) so I would need to do more research before I could support it,” she said.
Senate Democrats, while complimenting the proposed investment in teachers and reading instruction, criticized the majority party’s plan as a bundle of “disjointed initiatives” that adds money for private school families while limiting pension funding.
“The Republican proposal would be paid for by lowering the state’s investment in the Teachers’ Retirement System,” Sen. Mark Mann, D-Oklahoma City, said. “We are confident this will put a (cost of living adjustment) for retired educators at risk.”
House Republican leaders also are concerned about any proposal that would negatively impact the teacher pension system, said Caldwell, the chamber’s budget leader.
In a statement Tuesday, Caldwell said he would need to see the full details of the Senate plan “as we work to strengthen our schools without compromising our educators’ long-term stability.”
Senate plan would add $25 million to private school tax credits
The proposal includes a $25 million increase to the Parental Choice Tax Credit Program, which supports students attending private schools.
Nearly $248.4 million of the available $250 million was claimed for the 2025-26 school year, the Oklahoma Tax Commission reported.
Raising the maximum spending limit to $275 million would ensure students aren’t turned away if the state reaches the $250 million cap next year, Pugh said.
A bill passed the Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee on Monday that would raise the program’s cap to $275 million.
Democrats in the committee voted against the measure, contending it disproportionately benefits wealthy families and supports private schools that don’t face the same academic accountability as public schools.
“A significant number of people receiving these credits are folks who make five times Oklahoma’s average wages,” said Senate Minority Leader Julia Kirt, D-Oklahoma City, during the committee meeting. “And for us to talk about increasing it by another $25 million is deeply troubling.”
After agreeing to expand the program, the committee rejected a Republican-backed bill that would require private school students receiving the tax credit to take the same state tests administered in public schools.
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