The bill-tracking service e-Capitol lists almost 450 active education measures for the current session of the Oklahoma Legislature.

Committee and floor deadlines will winnow that number considerably over the next few weeks, but it does nevertheless indicate just how much education is on the minds of state lawmakers.

The first bill passed by the House this session, HB 2247, by Rep. Randy McDaniel, R-Oklahoma City, is intended to help ease the state’s teacher shortage by encouraging retired educators to return to the classroom.

In the past, legislators have complained about retired teachers “double-dipping” by taking their pensions while going back to work part-time in Oklahoma or full-time elsewhere.

HB 2247, however, would give older teachers an incentive to return or remain in the classroom by raising to $18,000 a year the amount of money they can earn without a corresponding loss in pension benefits.

Teacher pay has been much discussed in recent weeks, with raises of $3,000 to $5,000 proposed by Gov. Mary Fallin and several lawmakers. In truth, all require not one but a sequence of unlikely circumstances.

And all were predicated on a $900 million general revenue shortfall, not the $1.3 billion now being discussed.