Economics professor: Non-teaching staff surge prevented Oklahoma teacher pay raises

Oklahoma state law tries to hold down administrative expenses in public schools. That is a great idea in theory, but does it result in the hiring of more teachers instead of hiring other staffers? The short answer is no.

According to data reported by the Oklahoma State Department of Education to the U.S. Department of Education, from the 1991-92 school year to 2014-15, the increase in teachers (12 percent) in Oklahoma public schools has not kept up with the increase in students (17 percent).

However, the increase in “all other staff” (folks who are not lead teachers) has increased 36 percent. That's more than twice as fast as the increase in students.

In the 1991-92 school year, teachers constituted 54 percent of all Oklahoma public school employees. By 2014-15, teachers were only 49 percent of public school employees.

Read more: http://newsok.com/article/5531583