By Associated Press
Oklahoma City, OK – Oklahoma board to make retirement system payment
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) The state Board of Education will take the $18 million it planned to use to pay for teachers' health insurance costs and apply it toward the teachers' retirement system.
The board voted 4-3 Thursday to make the move after Attorney General Drew Edmondson said in a formal opinion that the board was violating the law by not making a required $35 million contribution to the Oklahoma Teachers' Retirement System.
State Superintendent Sandy Garrett, who cast the deciding vote in favor of the move, says local school districts will have to absorb the $18 million unless more funding comes from the Legislature.
Later in the meeting, the board asked lawmakers for $17 million in supplemental funding to cover the remainder of the cost of its payment toward the retirement credit.