Billboards encouraging Oklahoma teachers to move to Texas

OKLAHOMA CITY (KOKH) — Several billboards around Oklahoma are encouraging Oklahoma teachers to move to Texas for a higher starting salary.

The billboards read "Your future is in a Fort Worth classroom. Teacher starting salary $52,000". They then direct teachers to the Fort Worth Independent School Districts website for more.

The billboards can be seen in Oklahoma City, Norman and Tulsa. The average starting teacher salary in Oklahoma comes in at $31,919. Oklahoma Education Association President Alicia Priest tells FOX 25 more needs to be done for Oklahoma teachers.

"We need to continue working on [teacher pay] so our teachers can stay here with our students," Priest said.

Oklahoma teachers walked out of school in early April to rally for more education funding and higher salaries. Just before the walkout, Governor Mary Fallin signed legislation that would give teachers a 15 to 18 percent raise, depending on experience. The raise comes from a change in itemized deductions, a rise in the gross production tax to five percent, adds a $1 cigarette tax, a 3 cent tax to gas and a 6 cent tax to diesel.