Oklahoma schools seek fix to teacher shortage

LAWTON, Okla. — Across Oklahoma, superintendents from the smallest districts to the largest continue to contend with an ongoing teacher shortage that shows no signs of slowing.

More than 30,000 teachers have left the profession in Oklahoma since 2013, according to the 2018 Oklahoma State Department of Education’s Teacher Supply and Demand report. That’s an average loss of 10 percent of the state teacher workforce. To help combat that loss, district administrators have had to increasingly turn to alternative and emergency certification options in order to put teachers in the classroom.

That’s the case even in smaller districts, like Cache and Elgin, where populations continue to boom, the student body continues to increase and the number of qualified teachers continues to dwindle. As the school year winds down and faculty, staff, students and parents make decisions for where they will be in the fall, administrators face a tough road ahead.

“We’re no different than anyone else,” Chad Hance, Cache Public Schools superintendent, told The Lawton Constitution. “We’re finding teachers are hard to come by. Right now, it’s the time of the year where people are moving on and making changes. We’re having vacancies and we’re not wanting to waste time.”

Read more: https://www.swtimes.com/news/20190415/oklahoma-schools-seek-fix-to-teacher-shortage
(Fort Smith Times Record)