Higher ed makes case for $100M increase

EDMOND — Chancellor Glen Johnson kicked off a statewide tour Wednesday to explain the $100 million budget increase the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education requested for fiscal year 2020.

The first stop on the nine-campus tour was the University of Central Oklahoma. In attendance were 28 legislators, along with community leaders and educators. The meeting came just hours after the Board of Equalization estimated lawmakers will have $612 million more to spend in the next budget.

“We’re going to have additional dollars this year, which is great news,” Johnson said. “We’ve got to make the case why higher ed should be a top funding priority.”

First on the list is a $38.7 million increase in faculty salaries.

“Higher education was very supportive of the teacher pay raise last year. We felt it was the right thing to do,” Johnson said. “That being said, there are instances where K-12 teachers are now making more than professors at some two-year colleges.”

Oklahoma’s public colleges and universities are losing good faculty to institutions that can pay more, he said.

Another $20.4 million is requested to restore 303 faculty positions and 674 course sections eliminated during recent budget cuts. More than 1,000 faculty positions were cut in the past six years, making it difficult for some students to enroll in courses needed to complete their degrees, Johnson said.

“We want to get the faculty back in the classroom where students can take those courses, graduate on time and then fill those jobs that require a college degree,” he said.

Rep. Emily Virgin, D-Norman, said the $100 million increase request is “realistic and reasonable” following $274 million in cuts to higher education since 2008.

“With our continual underfunding of higher education, we are putting a college degree out of reach for those students who need it the most,” Virgin said.

Rep. Mike Osburn, R-Edmond, said it is vital to Gov.-elect Kevin Stitt’s vision for Oklahoma.

Stitt “is saying that he wants us to be a top 10 state. We can’t do that without a strong higher education system,” Osburn said.

Rep. Jason Dunnington, D-Oklahoma City, an adjunct professor at Oklahoma City University, said students often choose a college because of a certain program and a professor who is doing research with grant money that can help them get started in their careers.

“If we’re losing those types of professors to other schools because of our failure to fully fund faculty positions, then that’s on us as a Legislature,” Dunnington said. “I think the odds are good there will be some new funding for faculty (next year).”

“When we ask our citizens to pay taxes, they’re asking us in the Legislature to prioritize where that money goes and how it is spent. And higher ed, in my mind certainly, is one of the core services of government,” he said. “If we don’t make that investment, then our children leave and they don’t come back.”