Friday, January 18, 2008; Posted: 4:36 p.m. (CDT)
When it comes to education money is always an issue. It's something State Representative Joe Dorman, D-Rush Springs, has seen first hand.
"My mom would actually go around to garage sales to find coloring books and other items that they could clean up and save for the kids to save money," says Dorman. "The school just didn't have enough to provide."
The democrat is actually endorsing a tax credit proposal authored by a republican. State Representative John Trebilcock wrote the bill.
"John is a former school teacher and he knew my mom was a special needs teaching assistant," says Dorman. "It just seemed to work well that he and I would work on this together."
The tax credit would give teachers up to $500 for classroom materials.
"The more public sentiment we have on this, the more calls that the legislature receives, the more likely it is we'll see something like that put in a final bill," says Dorman.
Those Oklahomans we asked about the tax credit seemed to be in favor of the bill.
Richard Whittington says, "Anytime we can put some money towards our education or help the kids out, how can you lose."
His wife, Anngela Whittington, says, "The kids are going to benefit from it. I've seen how much parents have to donate in order to further the education of the kids, so I think it's great."
Meanwhile, some Oklahoma City teachers are receiving a big bonus. Teachers in 63 schools in the state will get a bonus ranging from $500 to $3,000. Their students either scored the highest or were most improved on required state tests. Some also received the bonus for Perfect Academic Performance Index Scores by the students.
