In 2016, teachers in the state of Oklahoma fell to 50th place on the pay scale of educators in the U.S. But if state Senator David Holt has his way, that will be changing in the next four years.

Senator Holt has introduced a bill that would raise teachers salaries by $10,000 per educator, broken down into a $1,000 raise this fall, followed by $3,000 raises in 2018, 2019 and 2020. Holt has also introduced separate bills that the senator says will pay for the raises, and another that would exempt teachers from state income taxes, while also reducing the number of school districts in the state.

According to Senator Holt, his plan includes removing the state tax exemption for wind energy manufacturers and ending the wind energy tax credit. Another bill would end the sales tax exemption for state and local governments, and would also end the exemption on taxing the repair, maintenance, delivery and installation of taxable goods and would also decrease the state contribution to local road repair.

In addition to the $10,000 pay raise over 4 years, which would elevate Oklahoma teachers to the middle of the pack in regards to average pay scale of teachers across the country, Holt would also exempt teachers from state income taxes and he proposes to reduce the number of school districts in the state to no more than 200.

Lockers in empty high school corridor
photo courtesy of ThinkStock/Getty Images
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