House Bill 3151 by Rep. Rob Hall, R-Tulsa, advanced from the Senate Education Committee Tuesday morning.
The measure initially drew the attention of teachers due to a provision that prohibited schools from counting professional development and parent-teacher conferences as instructional time. That would have meant those things would be outside of teachers’ paid, contracted time.
But, last month, the bill was amended to exclude that language.
As is, it only requires districts that operate on an hours-based calendar to be in school for at least 173 days — up from 166. It also requires districts to offer in-person parent-teacher conferences.
Per state law, districts must choose to be in session either 181 days or 1,086 hours spread over 166 days.
It will only go into effect by July of 2027 if the total Fiscal Year 2028 appropriations to the State Department of Education is at least $175 million more than the amount appropriated during last year’s session for the current school year, Fiscal Year 2026. That means the legislature has this session and next session to hit the $175 million target.
That target will likely be acquired, if last week’s announcement of a budget deal sticks. OSDE stands to gain more than $232 million more this year than last year.
Critics say there’s no language in the bill specifying that money would go to paying teachers for the extra days. But supporters point to a probable $2,000 teacher pay raise currently in the works. However, after taxes, critics say the increase per-paycheck would be marginal.
At the committee meeting, the HB3151’s senate author, Pro Tem Lonnie Paxton, R-Tuttle, presented the bill. During questioning, Paxton said it would impact 176 Oklahoma school districts and cost $20-25 million per extra day of instruction. He said to get students in the classroom more, he believes the legislature’s funding is fair.
“This legislature has continued to pour more and more money, continually — record investments in education. And I’ve got two years left in the legislature after this year. I don’t [plan to] to stop,” Paxton said. “I want us to continue to make sure our teachers are well paid, but part of that is, those kids have to be in front of the teachers.”
The bill advanced committee 7-3. The three nay votes were Sen. Carri Hicks, D-Oklahoma City, Sen. Mark Mann, D-Oklahoma City, and Sen. Kendal Sacchieri, R-Blanchard. It now heads to the Senate Appropriations Committee.
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