New report reveals 30,000 teachers have left profession in 6 years

OKLAHOMA CITY – Using historical educational and population data, market trends and demand-supply projections, the 2018 Oklahoma Educator Supply & Demand Report indicates that the percentage of Oklahoma educators leaving the profession has increased over the past six years, representing more than 5,000 per year or a total of approximately 30,000. This exodus represents an average of 10 percent of Oklahoma’s teacher workforce, in comparison to a national attrition rate of 7.7 percent.

The Oklahoma State Department of Education (OSDE) recently released the report, which seeks to explain the state’s persistent teacher shortage while offering recommendations on how to stem the crisis. State law requires that the report be updated every three years.

The report includes multiple indicators of teacher shortage, including teacher-pupil ratios, supply-side trends and the number of emergency-certified teachers approved by the State Board of Education. So far in the 2018-19 school year, the latter figure is 2,915 – an all-time high and a massive increase over the 32 emergency certifications approved in 2012. Emergency certifications are utilized when a school district has been unsuccessful in its attempts to fill a vacancy with a certified teacher.

One of the goals outlined in OSDE’s 8-year strategic plan for education, Oklahoma Edge, is to reduce the need for emergency-certified teachers by 95 percent.

“Steep budget cuts over the last decade have made the teaching profession in Oklahoma less attractive, resulting in a severe teacher shortage crisis and negative consequences for our schoolchildren,” said Joy Hofmeister, State Superintendent of Public Instruction. “The loss of 30,000 educators over the past six years is staggering – and proof that our schools must have the resources to support a growing number of students with an increasing number of needs.

“Moreover, we must continue to examine a variety of strategies to encourage teachers to stay in the classroom and recruit new teachers to a field that is unparalleled in its potential to impact young lives.”