Top State Officials Slated For Pay Raise

As lawmakers gear up for the next session they will consider giving the governor and other top elected officials pay raises. The increases do not sit well with state employees and teachers who haven't had a raise, and some have even taken pay cuts.

The state superintendent is one who could get a pay raise.

This is a blow to some Oklahoma teachers who are going without a promised $5,000 bonus.

Shelly Campbell not only pushes her students academically, she holds herself to the same standard.

She went through the grueling process to become national board certified.

"I valued that learning process I got and the difference it would make for my students," Campbell said.

She says the $5,000 yearly bonus she gets, that she uses to stock her classroom, is a nice perk. But she says it's now been taken away.

The state superintendent cut the bonus for all national board certified teachers in the state due to education budget shortfalls.

Only months after the budget ax fell on teachers, it appears the state superintendent, the governor and other top leaders could be getting an automatic raise.

If the pay raise is not rescinded, Janet Barresi's salary would go from about $124,000 a year to more than $131,000.

It's a pay raise that one state representative is calling on the legislature to deny.

"It basically takes effect in 2014, but, nevertheless, my point is, now is the time to stop it. If we don't do anything this session, it would automatically go into effect," says Representative Scott Inman.

The state superintendent has to be re-elected to get her raise if it is not rescinded by lawmakers.