Oklahoma’s teachers are increasingly deciding to make the move to Texas, reports The Dallas Morning-News.
The teachers are being drawn away by better pay and a more appealing retirement system. For teachers from the two states, the differences are stark. Starting pay in most Oklahoma districts is just over $30,000. In several Dallas-area districts, the pay starts at over $50,000.
Oklahoma is 48th in the nation in the amount of money it spends per student. Texas is 27th. That means Texas spends almost $4,000 a year per student, while Oklahoma spends less than $3,000.
One teacher who recently left Oklahoma for Dallas said she loved the time she spent teaching in Tulsa. But in Texas she’s starting at $58,000 a year. After eight years teaching in Tulsa, she was only making $38,000.