Oklahoma
Senate approves slate of bills increasing teacher pay, investing in school security
Senate Bill 1339 by Senate Education Chair Adam Pugh, R-Edmond, finalizes teacher pay raises of $3,000 to $6,000 approved by lawmakers in 2023. Pugh introduced the measure on the Senate floor on Tuesday.
“This is to reconcile the access to dollars that were calculated for teacher pay raise and allowing the state Department of Education to use those dollars for that pay raise,” Pugh said.
Pugh also presented SB 201, which raises the minimum salary schedule for teachers by another $2,000 this year, and SB 1189, which appropriates $50 million to the School Security Revolving Fund, to be split equally among all school districts in the state annually for the next three years.
“I’m all in on trying to figure out, whether it be through the funding formula, the teacher empowerment funds or other unique and innovative ways… to have a baseline of pay and funding dollars for school districts, but also reward schools really for growth,” Pugh said in defense of his proposals.
Some Republican lawmakers question budget impact
While the measures passed the Senate floor with overwhelming support from both parties, Pugh’s fellow lawmakers questioned their fiscal impact and whether paying teachers more actually improves educational outcomes.
Sen. Kendal Sacchieri, R-Blanchard, raised questions about the fiscal impact in light of a tight state budget this year, first regarding SB 1339.
“What is the estimated fiscal impact on this, including maybe projected costs in the first year and over the next couple of years?” Sacchieri asked.
Pugh said the measure has no fiscal impact this year because it makes existing appropriations available for disbursement on a more permanent basis. The attached dollar amount three years ago was $500 million.
Sacchieri also pressed the education chair about the cost of his other proposals, given this year’s projected budget shortfall. SB 201 allocates about $92 million from the General Revenue Fund for a $2,000 pay raise for teachers beginning with the 2026-27 school year.
Sen. Dusty Deevers, R-Elgin, wondered about the relationship between the money spent on teacher pay and any measurable improvements in student outcomes.
“What measurable outcomes are tied to this increase in spending?” Deevers said.
Pugh said his bills don’t specify any provable outcomes tied to teacher pay raises alone because raising teacher pay is part of a larger plan, along with his proposed investments in early reading and math intervention programs.
He added that the pay raises aim to keep experienced educators in classrooms long-term, as school districts across the state struggle with retention and are forced to fill gaps with emergency certified teachers with less experience and training.
“Having a qualified teacher in the classroom every single day is the number one factor in a child’s education,” Pugh said. “We’re actually bending that curve down in terms of the number of emergency certifications. I think our high water mark as a state was somewhere around 4,500 … emergency certifications. I think this year will probably end significantly below 4,000.”
Quiet for most of the discussion on the measures, Sen. Cari Hicks, D-Oklahoma City, took the opportunity during the debate of SB 201 to point towards the big-picture problem as she sees it.
“As we have heard that we’re bending the curve down on emergency certified individuals in our classrooms, that is accurate,” Hicks said. “There are currently 2,664 emergency certified in the 2025-2026 academic calendar year.”
But she said that, even with the upcoming investments, Oklahoma is still far behind other states in the region, such as Kansas, Texas, Arkansas and Missouri, in its per-student investment rate.
“We are $2.1 billion behind the regional investment per student,” Hicks said. “Salary is one component of whether or not our students have the resources… to meet their academic potential.”
And until more students reach that potential, she said, Oklahoma lawmakers must remain “laser-focused” on spending strategically to help its children get there.
TULSA, OKLA (KTUL) — A new program in Oklahoma is giving adults another way to finish high school by allowing them to use past credits and test scores to earn a diploma, an option officials say could help thousands of people and strengthen the state’s workforce.
For years, adults in Oklahoma who did not finish high school largely had one main option: earning a GED. Now, Oklahoma CareerTech is rolling out the Career Readiness Diploma, a pathway designed to build on what students have already completed rather than requiring them to start over.
“So in Oklahoma right now, if you look at the demographics, we have about 279,000 people in our state without a high school diploma. So it’s almost 10% of our population doesn’t have a high school diploma,” said Lance Allee, an adult education and family literacy specialist with Oklahoma CareerTech.
Allee said the program allows adults to apply previously earned high school credit and combine different assessment scores into a single record to qualify for a diploma.
“It allows the student to use previously earned high school credit. So, it’s kind of like a portfolio where you can take multiple assessment scores and put them into one portfolio to get your high school diploma,” Allee said.
The program is open to adults 21 and older. In some cases, officials said, participants can finish in just weeks, depending on how many credits they already have.
CareerTech officials say the program is also aimed at improving job prospects for individuals while helping Oklahoma remain competitive when attracting employers.
“When you’re a company and you’re looking at moving into Oklahoma, you look at the demographics and say, is there a workforce there that we can employ? And you say, well, about 10% of the population doesn’t have a diploma, they may start looking at states that surround us. So, we definitely want to get as many diplomas out there as we can,” Allee said.
The program started issuing diplomas in recent weeks, and officials said dozens more people are already in the process. For more information or to sign up click here.
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NORMAN — Cord Rager’s return comes at a pivotal time for Skip Johnson’s Oklahoma Sooners. Not only do they get their day three starter back in time for big road matchups against Auburn and Arkansas on the horizon, but the Sooners pitching strength, their rotational depth, is primed and ready for the test.
The freshman lefty finished with eight strikeouts and only gave up one hit in only 65 pitches before his day ended in the sixth.
No. 14 Oklahoma earn its first conference sweep of the season, defeating Missouri 8-4. It was OU’s fourth conference series win.
Oklahoma (27-12, 10-8) put their best foot forward as they turn the page to the meat of their schedule where they will do battle against No. 13, No. 20 and No. 16 over the next three weeks — two of those series’ on the road.
Four runs in five hits in the second got things rolling for the Sooners.
Camden Johnson continued his brilliant play of late with a triple in the second. This came after a Brenden Brock solo home run to put OU up 1-0. Deiten LaChance grounded out to short but scored Johnson. Dasan Harris and and Nolan Stevens each found home before the inning ended.
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OU found fortune from the plate again in the fourth. Four runs off of four hits highlighted by a three-run home run by Johnson put Oklahoma up 8-0. It was Johnson’s seventh home run of the season, second on the team behind Brock’s nine.
Trent Collier got the nod in the sixth to relieve Rager.
In the seventh, Missouri finally got on the board for the first time since the ninth inning of Friday night’s Sooner victory. Cam Durnin hit a solo shot — his fourht of the season — to make the score 8-1 in favor of the home team.
The Tigers got their third hit of the game shortly after. From there, Collier’s short day was done. Gavyn Jones came on to relieve
LaChance missed a home run by inches when Tiger center fielder Kaden Peer made a leaping catch, jumping into the fence.
In the eighth, the Tigers continued to chip away. With bases loaded, Blaze Ward hit a basehit to score two Missouri base runners. OU led 8-3 heading into the final inning.
Harris led the Sooners with three hits. His day was accented by an RBI, stolen base and a run.
Oklahoma will travel to Auburn to take on the No. 13 Tigers for a three game series starting on Friday. Before that, they will host Oral Roberts for a midweek game at Kimrey Family Stadium in Norman. The Sooners won 4-0 against ORU earlier this season.
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New Iowa State wrestling coach Brent Metcalf outlines vision for team
New Iowa State wrestling coach Brent Metcalf outlines vision for team
Iowa State wrestling’s first commitment of the Brent Metcalf era will be a transfer portal addition.
The Cyclones added Oklahoma State transfer Brayden Thompson, who announced his commitment on April 18 via Instagram. Thompson is a one-time NCAA qualifier at the 2024 NCAA Championships, doing so as a true freshman. He redshirted in 2024-25, but competed in open tournaments at 184 pounds and was 9-0. He did not wrestle a match in 2025-26 and will have at least two years of eligibility remaining.
Out of high school, Thompson was ranked the No. 3 pound-for-pound wrestler and No. 1 at 182 pounds in the 2023 recruiting class by Flowrestling. He also won Powerade and Ironman titles, two of the more prestigious high school tournaments in the nation. Assuming Thompson returns to 184 pounds where he last wrestled, he should fill in nicely as a potential replacement for Isaac Dean after his graduation.
Thompson is Iowa State’s first transfer portal addition after several departures, including Anthony Echemendia and Christian Castillo, who also entered the portal.
Eli McKown covers high school sports and wrestling for the Des Moines Register. Contact him at Emckown@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @EMcKown23.
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