Earlier this week, the Oklahoma Senate proudly unveiled a comically bad proposal that would rob from the Oklahoma Teacher Retirement System to fund things like teacher pay raises, private school tax credits, and literacy initiatives.
Here are the details via KOCO:
The Oklahoma Senate has proposed a plan to allocate $254 million to education initiatives, including teacher pay raises, literacy funding, and more, by redirecting funds from the Teacher Retirement System.
State Sen. Adam Pugh, a Republican from Edmond, wants to give every teacher in Oklahoma a $2,500 pay raise as part of the investment in schools…
"Not only do we need a plan, but we have to invest in the people implementing that plan," Pugh said.
The proposal also includes funding for literacy and math coaches and raising the cap on the parental choice tax credit.
Listen, I don’t want to be too critical here. I guess it’s nice to see lawmakers doing something to address low teacher pay and our state’s low reading scores, but this proposal is dumber than a stoned kid in detention.
First of all, is it really a “teacher pay raise” when you're tapping into teachers’ own retirement to pay for it? To borrow an analogy from one of Ryan Walters’ old Trump Bibles, that would be like robbing an old Peter to pay a young Paul!
Second, since when is dipping into retirement savings to pay regular everyday expenses ever a good idea? Good luck finding an Edward Jones advisor who will advise that!
“Instead of putting more into retirement, have you considered buying a new car? Maybe take out some cash from your IRA for a down payment.”
Although the Senate plan makes little financial sense, don’t worry. They’re super confident everything will be fine:
"With the TRS serving approximately 70,000 retirees currently, the system should be strong, and it is strong. There's no reason to think that it won't stay that way," said state Sen. Chuck Hall, a Republican from Perry.
Wow. How’s that for a vote of confidence? The system “should be strong” and “there’s no reason to think” it won’t stay that way. Well, that is until this law is passed and we destabilize our teachers’ retirement system. Then it may get a little dicey, but whatever.
In addition to the screwball financial implications of this bill, another reason it blows is because lawmakers are using teacher pay raises as cover to rob educators’ retirement funds and help rich parents pay private school tuition.
Via Oklahoma Voice:
The proposal includes a $25 million increase to the Parental Choice Tax Credit Program, which supports students attending private schools.
Nearly $248.4 million of the available $250 million was claimed for the 2025–26 school year, the Oklahoma Tax Commission reported.
As a whole, I’m pretty neutral on the whole private school voucher thing. As someone who indirectly benefits from it, I can see both the program’s pros and cons. But there have to be better ways to fund it than stealing from the retirement savings of public school teachers. For example, why don’t we raise taxes on the wealthy families who send their kids to private schools? That would be the fairest option.
Via The Oklahoman:
A report issued in early January by the Oklahoma Tax Commission found that less than 10% of the tax credits issued for the current school year went to families receiving income-based government assistance, such as food stamps. Families earning $250,000 or more received about 20% of the credits.
They want to rob public school teachers’ retirement funds so higher-income families can receive tax credits to send their kids to private schools? I know Republicans seem to have it out for public schools, state employees, and retirement entitlements, but that’s even a bit twisted by their standards. What’s next? Raiding the police pension to subsidize private security guards?
Although the bill seems to have broad support in the Oklahoma Senate, the House of Representatives isn’t so sure about the proposal.
Via KOCO:
The proposal has stirred debate in the Capitol, with questions about collaboration between the Senate and the House budget team. Hall said that the House budget leader, state Rep. Trey Caldwell, was informed of the plan.
"We have serious concerns about any proposal that negatively impacts the Teachers’ Retirement System (TRS). The House has consistently supported commonsense retirement reforms to help experienced teachers return to the classroom, which the Senate has repeatedly rejected. We want to see the full details of the Pugh plan as we work to strengthen our schools without compromising our educators’ long-term stability," Caldwell said in a statement.
Well, I guess that’s a slight relief. It’s good to see at least the House acknowledges the dangers of siphoning from the teacher retirement system. Then again, that also means they’ll get to develop their own equally bad and insulting measure to fund pay raises. Considering the House is generally more diabolical than the Senate, I can’t wait to see what scheme they introduce to fund pay raises — yet weaken public education in the process.
When they do, we’ll do our best to cover it.
Stay with The Lost Ogle. We’ll keep you advised.
