Both parties get the blame if you ask teachers who are at fault for the failure of the Step Up Oklahoma plan in the House earlier this week. SoonerPoll asked that very question and found that of the teachers surveyed, nearly 63 percent blamed Republicans and Democrats for the failure of the plan which would have led to a $5,000 teacher pay raise.
Among those who chose a party to blame, Democrats led Republicans by 4 points.
The SoonerPoll question and results are below.
[QUESTION] On Monday, the State House voted down the Step Up Coalition Plan with 53 of 72 House Republicans voting for the proposal, or 74% of Republicans, and 10 of 28 House Democrats voting for the proposal, or 36% of Democrats. If passed, the plan would have funded the current budget deficit and given teachers a $5,000 pay increase. Knowing this, who do you believe is most to blame for its failure to pass? [RESPONSES OFFERED IN RANDOM ORDER]
- Both Equally – 62.6%
- Democrats – 14.8%
- Republicans – 10.7%
- Don’t Know – 11.8%
Sixty-three percent of teachers viewed the state legislature as very unfavorable, and Governor Fallin was not far behind with 55.6 very unfavorable.
Nearly 72 percent of teachers disagreed when asked it they felt they were treated with respect from their elected officials.
The study was conducted online February 13-15, 2018 and respondents were selected at random among those with a teaching certificate in the state of Oklahoma and registered to vote. Teachers were identified by filtering out only teachers who were currently employed, retired, or looking for a teaching position in the state.
Weighting was not required for the study as the demographical profile of the sample was very similar to the profile of all teachers in the state.
The study has a Margin of Error (MoE) of ± 2.88 percent.
To view SoonerPoll’s topline results click here.
Perhaps the teachers should consider the fact that the Step Up bill was a lousy bill. But sadly, they are so fixated on getting more money that they don’t seem to think much about that.
Well you know, Castor, when they’ve been waiting all these years for something to finally be done–struggling to make their rent/mortgage payments and their car payments, juggling expenses in order to have insurance for their families while still keeping the gas and lights turned on, and striving to have enough left over to pay their bills while still maintaining some semblance of a middle-class existence, the question becomes “so why doesn’t SOMEBODY propose a GOOD bill?” We have good teachers leaving the profession in DROVES while more and more public schools are bringing in under-qualified individuals who are emergency certified; college students are being actively discouraged from going into education by the teachers, themselves; and experienced, qualified individuals who really have a lot out offer their students are bailing out because they just can’t afford to stay in the classroom anymore–do you blame them for getting “so fixated on getting more money” (your words) that they don’t think much about the content of some of these proposed bills anymore? If I can give you an analogy, thirsty people don’t refuse drinking water just because they don’t like the color of the glass it’s served in.
Don’t the teachers understand they were PAWNS in the step on US bill. Why should teachers get a raise and NOT state workers and those who have retired as teachers and state workers. There is plenty of money, just being spent wrong in Oklahoma.
Divide and conquer is the GOP’s strategy. Get the Teachers Union desperate enough and they will vote for anything that smells like a raise. The Union should demand the same respect the big Energy Co.s get. How long will they keep putting GOP back in control and expect a different result? Their voting record shows how much they care about there own pay.
A good bill would include [i] structural reduction of administrative costs and [i] recognition of the fact that there are excellent teachers, good teachers, mediocre teachers and bad teachers. Reducing non-teaching costs would allow raises without imposing increased taxes on people in worse financial condition. And paying teachers according to how well they perform would allow the best teachers to get more and the worst teachers to get less – or nothing. Otherwise, an across the board raise to all teachers, regardless of quality, is another way of telling the really good ones to hit the road.
As to the OEA, it has been the functional equivalent of a Model T for years now, and has been losing members steadily.