Oklahoma Senate takes up tax hike to halt teachers' strike

TULSA, Okla. (Reuters) - The Oklahoma Senate is set to debate a tax hike package on Friday to raise education funds in the hope of halting a strike by its public school teachers, who are some of the lowest-paid educators in the country.

The strike that started on Monday has affected more than half a million students. It comes after a successful West Virginia strike last month ended with a pay raise and as teachers in other states angry over stagnating wages are considering walk-outs.

The Oklahoma package includes a $20 million internet sales tax, a hotel tax hike expected to generate about another $50 million and a gambling measure that could bring in about another $22 million.

If the legislation clears the Senate, the language of the measures will determine if they head to the House for reconciliation with previously passed items or go directly to Republican Governor Mary Fallin’s desk for her signature.

Tens of thousands of teachers have come to the state capitol this week seeking fresh spending for an education system that has seen inflation-adjusted general funding per student drop by 28.2 percent between 2008 and 2018, the biggest reduction of any state, according to the nonpartisan Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

Some have spent the entire school week at the Capitol, filling galleries, joining rallies outside and trying to lobby lawmakers. Many say they are tired but energized by their mission and support they have received.

“This isn’t a one-day fix,” said Lindsay Burkhalter, a fourth-grade teacher in Ponce City, about 105 miles north of Oklahoma City. “We just want to make sure that they are going to fix the problem and not dismantle it the minute we leave.”

Last week, lawmakers approved the state’s first major tax increase in a quarter century, a $400 million revenue package that would have raised teacher pay by an average of about $6,000.

That was not enough for the teachers, seeking $10,000 over three years. Even with the pay raise already approved by lawmakers, they would still receive lower mean salaries than teachers in every neighboring state, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data showed.

Republican-dominated Oklahoma has the lowest median pay among states for both elementary and secondary school teachers, according to 2017 data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The minimum salary for a first year teacher was $31,600, state data showed.

Oklahoma has some of the lowest U.S. oil and gas production taxes. One reason for the budget strain comes from tax breaks the state has given its energy industry, worth $470 million in fiscal year 2015 alone.