By Ben Felder Staff Writer bfelder@oklahoman.com
In a scramble to fill classrooms ahead of another school year, the state Board of Education on Thursday approved 631 emergency teaching certificates for public school districts across Oklahoma.
Designed as a last-ditch mechanism for hiring a teacher when a a certified and traditionally trained applicant is not available, emergency teaching certificates have become a common tool for Oklahoma schools as colleges produce fewer teaching candidates, and low pay and tough conditions send many teachers out of the state or out of the profession.
“The shortage of certified teachers in Oklahoma is merely a symptom of a much bigger problem that our state is facing when it comes to support for education,” said Janis Perrault, chief of human resources for Oklahoma City Public Schools, the state's largest district, which was approved for 87 emergency certificates Thursday.
Oklahoma used 1,160 emergency certificates last year, which represented less than 3 percent of all public school teachers in the state.
However, last year's number was a new state record and more than 10 times the amount approved just four years earlier.
“This feels like the new normal,” said state superintendent Joy Hofmeister.
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