State sets new record for emergency teacher use

The state Board of Education has approved more than 2,100 emergency teacher certificates for the new school year, putting thousands of unlicensed and non traditionally-trained teachers in classrooms across Oklahoma. 

The state board approved 916 emergency certificates at Thursday’s board meeting, bringing the 2018-19 school year total to 2,153, surpassing the state record in just three months. 

“We are now experiencing the full weight” of a teacher shortage, said Joy Hofmeister, the state’s superintendent of public instruction. 

When districts are unable to fill a teacher position with a certified candidate, an individual can be granted a two-year emergency certificate if they can pass a test in the subject area they wish to teach and pass a criminal-background check.

Though once rarely used, the approval of emergency teaching certificates have become a routine action by state board members in recent years. 

In 2012, just 32 emergency certified teachers were hired across Oklahoma.