Broken Arrow Public Schools announces historic increase in teacher pay
District to invest an additional $4.2 million to raise salary scale
Launch the media gallery 1 playerBroken Arrow Public Schools announced today a historic financial investment into its teacher salary scale, which will increase a starting teacher’s compensation by nearly $3,700.
The pay scales, which are pending approval by the Board of Education and the Broken Arrow Education Association, will provide all teachers in the district with a salary that is $1,720 above the state minimum in addition to completely funding the 7.5% employee contribution to the Teachers’ Retirement System of Oklahoma (OTRS).
“Increasing teacher pay has been a constant focus of our Board of Education,” said Superintendent Dr. Janet Dunlop. “I commend our board members for their support and commitment to investing every additional state operational funding dollar toward teacher compensation. We are excited to be able to reward our teachers while maintaining small class sizes and direct classroom support. We appreciate our teachers’ union, BAEA, for coming to the table with this shared priority of raising teacher pay.”
The new scale would pay a teacher with a bachelor’s degree in their first year a total compensation of $41,348 when including base salary, the district-paid retirement contribution and life and disability insurance. (State law requires teachers to join OTRS and contribute 7.5% of their salary. BAPS pays the entirety of this contribution directly on the employee’s behalf as an added benefit.)
These salary increases will result in the district investing an additional $4.2 million directly into teacher compensation, made possible by the support of our state legislators through increased common education funding.
“We are so proud to make this historic investment in our teachers,” said Dunlop. “Our teachers deserve the best, and these increases will directly benefit our students in recruiting and retaining outstanding educators.”