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City, Economic, School Leaders Call on Lawmakers to Increase Education Funding

With a penny sales tax proposal to fund education failing two weeks ago, there’s a renewed call for Oklahoma lawmakers to fix the problem.

Broken Arrow city and economic officials and several school district leaders held a news conference Monday urging legislators to boost education funding.

Mayor Craig Thurmond said the state needs a comprehensive solution, not a bandaid.

"We're not trying to strive to be 40th in the country. We want to be first in the country," Thurmond said. "We want to move up, and as businesses look at our state, they do not look at schools like Broken Arrow and Union and Jenks and Owasso. They're looking at the national ranking and the weakest link, and so we need to bring all education up."

Thurmond said on a recent economic development trip with the governor to New York, the state of Oklahoma education gave company site selectors pause.

Teacher Amanda Bowser said raises are a necessity, not a luxury, and lawmakers must get educators’ input.

"The solution must be clear, concise and transparent. Now is the time to build trust across our state by avoiding loopholes and ambiguities," Bowser said.

State Rep. Michael Rogers said teacher raises will be the legislature’s number one priority next session.

"You'll hear a lot of plans coming out in the next few months, many of them without solutions, but I will tell you, our job as a legislature is to go in there and to fix this and to make it right," Rogers said. "To make sure that we go back to our communities, go back to our friends, go back to our spouses and say, 'You are valued. What you do matters. What you do will change the direction of the state.'"

The Broken Arrow Republican authored a teacher raises bill during the 2016 session. Rogers' bill was stuck in committee.

Matt Trotter joined KWGS as a reporter in 2013. Before coming to Public Radio Tulsa, he was the investigative producer at KJRH. His freelance work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times and on MSNBC and CNN.