Retired Teacher Pay Raises

   Teacher pay raise bills are a dime a dozen (or in Oklahoma's case - two dozen) right now as around 24 bills have been enrolled before the start of the session. This is probably a record number of bills designed to boost teacher pay, but since Oklahoma is among the lowest states in the nation for teacher salaries - legislators see sponsoring a teacher pay raise bill as the popular thing to do. Forget about any of the bills passing, just saying you "support increasing teachers' pay" will garner a legislator much publicity and many votes (teacher votes, in particular). If all teacher pay raise bills passed into law, teachers would receive about a $50,000 annual pay raise, which is approximately double the average teacher's salary right now. If anyone believes that will happen, "I've got some oceanfront property in Arizona" I'll sell you.. and if anyone believes even one bill will pass, I'll sell that person Central Park in New York City. 
   Most of the enrolled bills involve revenue raising measures as well such as an increase in property, sales, or income taxes on the working poor and middle class. It is almost impossible to provide a pay raise for teachers without some sort of revenue stream increase. Big-spending corporate lawmakers in Oklahoma do know how to spend money - if revenue rises in the form of tax increases, but cannot save money. They know how to spend your Oklahoma tax dollars on the 615 state agencies, but say we should consolidate schools (527) in order to cut spending. Corporate Oklahoma lawmakers say we should cut school administrative costs (Oklahoma ranked 42nd among states for school administrative costs) to save tax dollars, but refuse to acknowledge that state legislator pay is out of control (Oklahoma legislative pay is ranked 15th among states). The race for the roses (the legislator competition as to who can provide the biggest teacher pay raise proposal) will probably go to Senator David Holt, who has proposed a $10,000 teacher pay raise in Senate Bill 316. In looking ahead at to what will be the final result of all this politicking for teacher pay raises - it's all one big crap shoot.
   While I certainly believe that teachers in Oklahoma are underpaid, teachers have been underpaid for decades, if not the entire history of statehood (since 1907). As a matter of fact, I believe our retired teachers have been even more underpaid... and still now being mistreated by our state legislature. While our teachers receive most public attention for living in poverty, our retired teachers really do live in poverty. I count several retired teachers as real friends, and I know precisely how they live, and what they've endured for their entire lives. I have retired teacher friends such as Isabelle, Frankie, Mary, Jim C., and several more in Lindsay; Betty L., Pruitt, Glen, Genelle, and several more in Blanchard, plus many more in the local communities around the state.
   I know the life-story of only one retired teacher, Mary (Babe) from Lindsay, and have permission to detail that public school story - so I'll dedicate this blog/column to all the retired teachers in Oklahoma.
   Mary, the daughter of a farmer, grew up in a middle-class home (poverty, by today's standards) like most of us did. She first started working in the fields in jr. hi, hoeing broomcorn in spring and "cutting broomcorn" all summer long throughout high school. She graduated Lindsay High School with a "straight-A" average and as an all-state basketball player, while catching the eye of a rodeo cowboy from Marlow, Oklahoma. They soon married and began having a family (eventually 3 kids), before her "cowboy" began to lose his eyesight, after his horse fell over a steer. Her husband, Johnny, was no ordinary rodeo cowboy, as he personally knew Jim Shoulders (World Champion Bull-Rider), Mickey Mantle (took him to a Yankees game when he rodeoed at Madison Square Garden), and Dan Blocker (Hoss Cartwright of Bonanza), so losing his vision at the age of 36 meant that Mary would become the sole breadwinner for the family. So, at the age of 28, Mary went back to college, attained her teaching certificate, and began teaching kindergarten in 1966. She now had three hungry mouths to feed along with her disabled husband. In her first year of teaching, Mary earned a salary of $3,500, which amounted to approximately $292 per month (before taxes) in take-home pay. The kids in the family believed they were getting rich, as they always ate well - but most of their food came in big (tin) cans from somewhere unknown (a place called "commodities"), except for garden vegetables in the summer. During her career as a school teacher, Mary never received a raise except for the yearly step-increases that all teachers get. She almost got a raise once, but the superintendent told her that a male teacher would get the raise, since he was the sole provider for his family. So, it almost broke her heart - but not quite, because she was still feeding the family, and couldn't quit. After obtaining her Masters Degree, Mary finally retired from "teaching" in 1992, after Johnny was toppled from another horse breaking his leg. Mary was away at school, when the accident happened around noon on a Friday. Her husband, being blind, was disoriented perhaps a half-mile from their home. Not knowing which direction was home and only able to "crawl", he finally after 3 hours, heard the radio in the utility room of the house (it was late August and the window was open. She found him lying in the room dehydrated around 4 PM. Mary retired from teaching the next year in 1992. Her teaching career began with an accident in 1966 and ended with an accident in 1992. In 1993, her first year of retirement saw her pull in $12,000. In the 23 years she's been retired, only a few thousand dollars in "cost of living" increases have been provided by our generous state lawmakers. I'll repeat what many retired teachers have told me - "it's not enough to live on".
   I'll say it once more- "teachers in Oklahoma are underpaid, but retired teachers are more underpaid.