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This story is part of our SPOTLIGHT series focusing on the state of education in Oklahoma. Read more here.

On a Sunday afternoon in late May, Nancy Jarvis, an Oklahoma kindergarten teacher, was working in her classroom, preparing for an end-of-the-year awards ceremony and making a slideshow for parents. 

The routine offered a helpful reminder of why she鈥檚 stayed in the field for 26 years. 

鈥淚 look at where these babies have started. Some of them might have known two or three alphabet letters,鈥� said Jarvis, who teaches in the Chickasha district, southwest of Oklahoma City. 鈥淣ow, looking at their test scores, I’m sending six to first grade on a third grade reading level.鈥�

But when she looks at her paycheck, she doesn鈥檛 get the same satisfaction.

Her take-home pay has increased about 17% since 2018, about half the rate of inflation. Gov. Kevin Stitt signed a bill last month raising teacher salaries by $2,000, but when Jarvis calculated the amount after taxes, it translates into less than $6 a day.

鈥淚 definitely don’t do it for the money,鈥� she said, 鈥渂ut that was an eye-opener.鈥澛�

Eight years ago, she was part of a massive, nine-day teacher walkout that saw more than 30,000 educators descend on the state capitol to demand increases in education funding. Then-Gov. Mary Fallin had already signed a $6,100 raise, but teachers wanted $10,000 and increases in the education budget. They also saw raises in and .

But since that historic 鈥淩ed for Ed鈥� movement, teachers like Jarvis say the incremental progress is barely noticeable. Starting teacher pay in the state still hovers near the bottom in the country, while neighboring states have climbed in the rankings. Some districts say they鈥檒l have to come up with to extend the $2,000 increase to non-teaching staff, and teachers are likely to return next year asking for more.

鈥淲e have to have substantial increases annually to catch up,鈥� said Shawn Hime, executive director of the Oklahoma State School Boards Association and a former assistant state superintendent. He applauds lawmakers for increasing teacher pay 37% since 2018, but high numbers of teachers still either leave the field or for better pay. 鈥淲e’re all in the same race, and we started a lap behind.鈥�

Districts can pay higher salaries above the state scale, but there are limits. That鈥檚 because to avoid large gaps in funding between poor and wealthier communities, the state caps how much they can raise .

鈥淚f you’re an equity warrior, in theory, this is like the perfect funding formula,鈥� said Rebecca Sibilia, executive director of EdFund, a nonprofit focusing on school finance. But in a state that鈥檚 reluctant to increase taxes, she said, districts are often 鈥渇orced to decide between hiring more people and giving pay raises.鈥� 

To deliver the 2018 salary increase, the legislature overcame a 75% supermajority threshold to increase taxes. But now, in an election year, some lawmakers who voted for it are 鈥済etting hammered鈥� by their opponents as they seek higher office, said Hime, with the school board鈥檚 association. 

One of them is Charles McCall, the former House speaker and now a Republican candidate for governor. , Chip Keating, a challenger in the June August GOP primary, accuses McCall of passing 鈥渢he largest tax increase in Oklahoma history. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 why taxes are too high.鈥�

The state needs a long-term plan for funding education, Hime said, but lawmakers鈥� hands are tied because they can鈥檛 obligate money for future years. One former legislator has been arguing that point for years. 

鈥淲e have this year-to-year budgeting and that’s got to stop,鈥� said Mark McBride, a Republican who chaired an education appropriations committee in the House. He recalled voting against a previous $2,000 pay raise prior to the walkout because he preferred to support a substantial hike over several years. Educators, he said, 鈥済ot really irritated with me.鈥�

鈥楧isrespect crept in鈥�

Pay is not the only reason teachers in Oklahoma leave the classroom. Some advocates say mandates like making struggling readers repeat third grade will force more out.

鈥淭his is going to exacerbate our teacher shortage,鈥� said Erika Wright, a community organizer for the Oklahoma Appleseed Center for Law and Justice and the founder of the Oklahoma Rural Schools Coalition. 鈥淲ho the hell wants to teach third grade now?鈥� 

When former state Superintendent Joy Hofmeister was in office, she commissioned a of thousands of teachers who were currently certified but not teaching. While pay was a factor, nearly a quarter said their views rested on 鈥渢he inability to make decisions related to instruction鈥� and 鈥渂urdensome standards and curriculum requirements.鈥� 

Rhetoric that teachers found demeaning hasn鈥檛 helped either. Former state Superintendent Janet Barresi, Hofmeister鈥檚 predecessor, once said she wouldn鈥檛 let the 鈥渆ducation establishment lose another generation of Oklahoma’s children.鈥� 

She was the first to remove an educators hall of fame display from the state Department of Education building, former Superintendent Ryan Walters repeated when he took office in 2023. He sought to from educators, publicly criticised them in videos from his car and instituted a to weed out applicants from states he deemed too liberal.

鈥淒isrespect crept in,鈥� said Bryan Duke, dean of the College of Education and Professional Studies at the University of Central Oklahoma. 鈥淛ob creep,鈥� was another factor, he said, as teaching became more complex and behavior problems escalated. 鈥淚t’s like screaming into the wind. I think many teachers felt that their voices weren’t heard.鈥�  

Lawmakers introduced this year to lower class sizes in the elementary grades, a frequent request from teachers, but it died in committee.

Some years, Jarvis, the Chickasha teacher, has had as many as 28 students in her class. This year, she had 21, but doesn鈥檛 have a classroom aide. With about eight more years until retirement, she feels more fortunate than some of her colleagues who work a second job at a nearby steakhouse because the tips are so good.

But she often puts off vacations and big-ticket purchases now that she鈥檚 paying health and car insurance for her two sons. Eight years ago, they demonstrated with her at the state capitol.聽

鈥淚 remember sitting them down and explaining why we were going,鈥� she said. Her youngest made a poster with the names of his teachers. 鈥淚t was very meaningful to see the kids there.鈥�

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