Crooked Oak District starts $50,000 base pay for teachers

OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) - Teaching is the foundation for all other careers. For the first time in state history, Crooked Oak School District in Oklahoma City said all their teachers will earn a minimum base pay of $50,000.

"The only way to have a good school is to have the very best teachers," said Bradley Richards, the Superintendent of Crooked Oaks.

After board approval on Thursday, Richards said his district is now the highest-paying in Oklahoma.

"Our very brand new teacher with no experience straight out of college will make a base pay $50,000 plus there benefits," said Richards.

According to data from the state, the base salary for a teacher straight out of college is nearly $40,000 a year.

Depending on the district, it would take some teachers 15 years to reach Crooked Oak's base pay.

With this new foundation, experienced Crooked Oak teachers, like Juanita Cunningham, are also getting a big bump.

"It will probably be a few thousand, I believe," said Cunningham.

This fall, Cunningham will start her 17th year of teaching.

"It actually will probably be one of my bigger paychecks over the years," said Cunningham. "I think we could get teachers to stay longer and not retire either."

Richards said there are a few other bonuses teachers could get, like a sign on bonus, retention bonus, attendance incentive, bilingual bonuses, and more.

In order to do all of this, Richards said the district has been trying to find the best bang for their buck.

"We are very frugal, if not cheap in many, many ways," said Richards. "Do I think that other schools could do it? For most schools, it would be very difficult."

"It's not just about the money, but we love getting money because we see that they're supporting us for that," said Cunningham.

The superintendent said while they worked hard for the new $50,000 base pay, he adds it's still not enough especially in the current economic climate.