The Oklahoma state Senate on Friday will consider a series of tax increases to help fund the state’s education system and put an end to a teachers’ strike that has lasted a week.
Among the tax increases included in the package being considered is a $20 million internet sales tax, according to Reuters. The state House approved that measure on Wednesday.
It also includes a hotel tax increase expected to bring in an additional $50 million and a gambling tax that could generate an additional $22 million.
{mosads}
Oklahoma public school teachers are among the lowest paid in the U.S., and the state’s education system has seen inflation-adjusted general funding per student drop by about 28 percent over the past decade, according to Reuters.
A teachers’ strike in West Virginia last month that led to a 5 percent pay raise for teachers encouraged educators in Oklahoma and Kentucky to take similar action.
Oklahoma lawmakers passed a tax increase earlier this week that would have raised teachers’ salaries by an average of $6,000.
But the strike continued, with educators calling for a $10,000 pay increase over three years.