Shawn Shehan, Oklahoma’s Teacher of the Year announced that he and his wife and their newly born daughter were leaving Oklahoma for a variety of reasons. “I feel like schools are struggling to get out of ‘Teaching 101’ because they’re losing veteran and experience teachers to higher paying states.” They filed for only one job in Texas and were immediately accepted. He will be making $20,000 above what he was making. “I will never ever see (that) as a public school educator in Oklahoma.”
He stated “We love our district (in Oklahoma) our city, our students and their families, but what’s happening in education in the state of Oklahoma is is criminal. But this session in the state legislature, it became clear that the legislators were uninterested in finding solutions.” Oklahoma’s schools have the lowest pay rate of any state.
There is a nation-wide as well as a global shortages of teachers. While there are a variety of reasons why teachers leave teaching, starting with a major pay raise is a good place to begin. No other professional with as much education and responsibility is lower paid.