Oklahoma
National Council on Teacher Quality Report Card: Oklahoma Teacher Policy
Legend
 | Best practices. |
 | State meets goal. |
 | State nearly meets goal. |
 | State partially meets goal. |
 | State meets a small part of goal. |
 | State does not meet goal. |
| Full Report – National Council on Teacher Quality | |
Meeting NCLB Teacher Quality Objectives: C
| Goal A Equitable Distribution of Teachers |
| Goal B Elementary Teacher Preparation |
| Goal C Secondary Teacher Preparation |
| Goal D Veteran Teachers Path to HQT |
| Goal E Standardizing Credentials |
| Goal A Defining Professional Knowledge |
| Goal B Meaningful Licenses |
| Goal C Interstate Portability |
| Goal D Teacher Prep in Reading Instruction |
| Goal E Distinguishing Promising Teachers |
Teacher Evaluation and Compensation: C
| Goal A Evaluating Teacher Effectiveness |
| Goal B Using Value-Added |
| Goal C Teacher Evaluation |
| Goal D Compensation Reform |
| Goal E Tenure |
State Approval of Teacher Preparation Programs: D
| Goal A Entry Into Preparation Programs |
| Goal B Program Accountability |
| Goal C Program Approval and Accreditation |
| Goal D Controlling Coursework Creep |
Alternate Routes to Certification: C
| Goal A Genuine Alternatives |
| Goal B Limiting Alternate Routes to Teachers with Strong Credentials |
| Goal C Program Accountability |
| Goal D Interstate Portability |
Preparation of Special Education Teachers: D
| Goal A Special Education Teacher Preparation |
| Goal B Elementary Special Education Teachers |
| Goal C Secondary Special Education Teachers |
| Goal D Special Education Teacher and HQT |
Political contribution statistics from 2004 political cycle.
Union Political Contribution Totals
| Amount | Union |
| $ 54,450 | Oklahoma Education Assoc/oea |
| $ 10,250 | Oklahoma Federation Of Teachers/aft |
| $ 5,450 | Oklahoma City Federation Of Teachers Local 23/aft |
In Oklahoma, after 3 years, public school teachers receive what's commonly called "tenure," a special employment protection that teachers unions defend. As the below federal statistics indicate, tenured teachers (as opposed to less-senior "probationary" teachers) are practically impossible to fire.
| 2.9% tenured/post-probationary teacher firing rate |
0.66% |
9.8% |
Data obtained from the Department of Education's 2007-2008 Schools and Staffing Survey.
Statewide Unions
Oklahoma Education Association
Total Revenue: $ 6,656,385
Total Expenses: $ 6,591,046
Total Assets: $ 5,206,081
AFT Oklahoma
Total Revenue: $ 0
Total Expenses: $ 0
Total Assets: $ 0
Data obtained from the Internal Revenue Service's Master Data File 2005-2006.
Largest Non-Statewide Unions
| Union Name / District | Affiliation | Total Rev. | Total Exp. | Total Assets |
| Oklahoma City Federation of Teachers Oklahoma City Public Schools |
AFT | $ 793,360 | $ 818,364 | $ 175,112 |
Other Unions
| Name | City | Total Rev. | Tax Period |
| Oklahoma Education Association | Oklahoma City | $ 6,656,385 | 2003 |
| American Federation Of Teachers | Oklahoma City | $ 793,360 | 2003 |
| American Federation Of Teachers | Okla City | $ 269,432 | 2003 |
| Putnam City Association Of Classroom Teachers | Oklahoma City | $ 96,136 | 2003 |
| Education Support Personnel Of Oklahoma | Moore | $ 81,215 | 2002 |
| Edmond Association Of Classroom Teachers | Edmond | $ 40,725 | 2003 |
| American Federation Of Teachers | Oklahoma City | $ 0 | 2003 |
Teacher Contracts
| Name | District | Occupation | |
| Tulsa Classroom Teachers Association | Tulsa | Teachers |  |
| Putnam City Association of Classroom Teachers | Putnam City | Teachers | |
For this massive new project, the Center for Union Facts filed freedom of information requests with dozens of America’s major school districts.
From the stacks of paperwork that ensued, we have calculated a variety of statistics that document how teachers unions – and the laws and policies they defend – keep bad teachers in classrooms. Read on to discover just what all that dues money pays for in many cities around the country.
Tulsa Classroom Teachers Association: Protecting Bad Teachers
How We Discovered These Facts
This information comes from the Tulsa Public Schools response to a public information request filed by the Center for Union Facts, which asked for teachers who were terminated, as well as those who resigned or retired in lieu of termination.Click here to read our full letter to Tulsa Public Schools.
The Tulsa Classroom Teachers Association (TCTA) is the exclusive bargaining agent for teachers from Tulsa Public Schools, the largest school district in Oklahoma. According to district records, however, policies defended by TCTA and its parent unions (the Oklahoma Education Association and the National Education Association, America's largest teachers union) mean that practically no teachers are ever fired by the school system after they work for three years and thus acquire tenure (called "career status" in Oklahoma).
In Tulsa there are approximately 2,136 tenured teachers. Original research by the Center for Union Facts into school district records indicates that, between 2003 and 2006, only two tenured teachers were fired. Put another way, Tulsa Public Schools fires about 0.02 percent of its tenured teachers annually.
The typical union response to such abysmally low statistics is that tenured teachers are commonly "counseled out" of their jobs if they're not fit to teach. But a look at district records suggests that it's not very common at all. Center for Union Facts research indicates that for 2003 through 2006, only six tenured teachers appear to have resigned or retired in lieu of termination. That "counseled out" termination rate is still less than 0.07 percent of tenured teachers a year.
It's easy to believe that the vast majority of public schoolteachers in Tulsa are doing a good job, but it's a near-impossibility that fully 99.9 percent of its tenured teachers deserve to be in front of kids; any group of people that size is bound to have at least a few more bad apples than the ones noted above. The best explanation, in our opinion, is that by protecting an outmoded employment system in the legislature and by turning tenured teacher termination cases into equivalents of a criminal trial, the Tulsa Classroom Teachers Association and its affiliates have made it nearly impossible to fire bad teachers.
Source: Tulsa Public Schools
Data current as of March 10, 2008
© 2010 Center for Union Facts