Results from a new survey show the recent teacher pay raise has had little immediate effect on the state’s teacher shortage, and that schools will still start the year with nearly 500 unfilled positions.
276 superintendents responded to the Oklahoma State School Board Association’s survey on the teacher shortage.
- More than half of them said it was more difficult to hire teachers this year than it was in 2017.
- About 10 percent of district leaders reported that the pay raise was helpful in convincing teachers contemplating retirement to remain in the classroom.
- Nearly 30 percent of superintendents said they plan to increase class sizes this year. That’s down from 55 percent in 2017.
This is the fifth year the OSSBA has put out the teacher shortage survey. One of the most common recurring concerns is how an overreliance on inexperienced teachers is jeopardizing student achievement.
The Oklahoma State Board of Education has already approved more than 1,200 emergency teaching in the first two months of the current fiscal year. By comparison, almost 2,000 were approved in all of fiscal year 2018.
