Just moments after the Oklahoma Senate passed the bill late Wednesday, she said: "We finally got the job done, and I applaud the bipartisanship of the House and Senate." 

03/29/2018 Senate Passes Historic Funding Bill For Teacher Pay, State Employee Raises

The state House already passed the plan to increase taxes on cigarettes, fuel, lodging, and oil and gas production.

In a Facebook video, OEA President Alicia Priest, she says this bi-partisan bill also provides raises to support staff and restores $50-million in general education funding that has been cut in the last decade.

Priest is calling the bill major progress, but as of now, the union is still calling on teachers to come to the capitol Monday to demand more general education funding for classrooms.

And a commitment to funding their original demand, which was additional raises over three years.

The state Senate says this bill boosts average teacher pay to second in the region, which again is just one part of the OEA's demands.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

","published":"2018-03-29T08:13:33.000Z","updated":"2018-03-29T10:35:48.000Z","summary":"

Governor Mary Fallin says she "absolutely" plans to sign a package of tax hikes to generate hundreds of millions of new dollars for teacher pay and avert statewide school closures. 

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