182 Emergencies and Counting!

First thing first: if you’re teaching in an Oklahoma classroom next year, I’m rooting for you. I want you to be successful. I want you to have students you love, parents who support you, colleagues who help you grow, and administrators who provide you with the resources you need. Once you’re signed, sealed, and delivered,  I really don’t care about how you got here.

You might have been a 4.0 student in college, or you might have just squeaked by. You might have chosen the teaching profession at age 20 or age 50. You might be in that classroom for one of 100 different reasons, and you might have taken one of 100 different pathways to get there. I don’t care; I wish you well.

I say this because, as you may have heard, the State Board of Education issued 182 emergency certificates this week. Think about that number: 182. These aren’t alternatively certified teachers. These are people who’ve reached agreements with schools to fill classrooms while working on earning a teaching certificate. Here’s how state law (p. 269) explains the distinction:

Nothing in the Oklahoma Teacher Preparation Act shall restrict the right of the State Board of Education to issue an emergency or provisional certificate, as needed. Provided, however, prior to the issuance of an emergency certificate, the district shall document substantial efforts to employ a teacher who holds a provisional or standard certificate or who is licensed in the teaching profession. In the event a district is unable to hire an individual meeting this criteria, the district shall document efforts to employ an individual with a provisional or standard certificate or with a license in another curricular area with academic preparation in the field of need. Only after these alternatives have been exhausted shall the district be allowed to employ an individual meeting minimum standards as established by the State Board of Education for the issuance of emergency certificates.

In other words, if a school district can document the tall buildings it has leaped in trying to find a teacher, when there are just no suitable applicants (yes – we still reserve the right to interview and decline to hire people who we just can’t imagine putting in a classroom with children) it can petition the SBE for an emergency certificate for a prospective teacher. Keep in mind that there are many pathways to gaining either a traditional or an alternate teaching certificate.

Procedures published by the Oklahoma State Department of Education provide nine columns of pathways to earn a teaching certificate. That’s right – there are eight ways in addition to simply going to college, earning a degree, and beginning your career in the classroom at 22 or 23 years old.

• Option 1 – Traditional
• Option 2 – Alternative
• Option 3 – ABCTE PassPort to Teaching
• Option 4 – Troops to Teachers

• Option 5 – Teach for America
• Option 6 – Four-Year-Olds and Younger Certificate
• Option 7 – Career Development Program for Paraprofessionals to be Certified Teachers
• Option 8 – Out of State Teachers Seeking Oklahoma License or Certificate
• Option 9 – Non-traditional Special Education

So these teachers getting emergency certification don’t fall into any of the above categories – 182 of them. Allow Tyler Bridges to put that number in perspective:

182 emergency teaching certifications granted today/189 TOTAL in 2013. This is a crisis folks. #teachershortage #oklaed #OKhouse @oksde

— Tyler Bridges (@bridgestyler) July 23, 2015

It’s staggering – 182 emergency certificates this month, but 189 for the entire year of 2013.

As I said at the top, though, I’m rooting for these people. I’m cheering on all of our teachers. Still, even with the pathways and emergencies, we just don’t have enough teachers to staff our schools. Back in March, during the #oklaed chat prior to the rally at the Capitol, several of the usual suspects commented on how the teacher shortage has impacted their schools.

A1: #oklaed T shortage caused my school to have class sizes of 33 in 5th grade

— Dr. Jason James (@James409Jason) March 30, 2015

A2: We have larger class sizes and less course offerings #oklaed

— Mrs. Telannia Norfar, NBCT (@thnorfar) March 30, 2015

A1 We need a language arts special education teacher, but cannot find one. Students who need lab classes don't have that option. #OklaEd

— Michelle Boyd Waters, M.Ed. 📚 📝 (@watersenglish) March 30, 2015

A1 – I continue to hear #OklaEd stories of class sizes growing and courses being cancelled due to a lack of qualified applicants.

— Shawn Hime (@shawnhime) March 30, 2015

Last year, hundreds of positions were never filled by a permanent teacher. I’ve heard more than one legislator say that businesses have this happen all the time; there are always an acceptable number of positions open.

This is yet another reason that public education doesn’t fit a business model. Maybe these numbers are acceptable at AT&T, Apple, and Dell. They aren’t acceptable where we’re trying to teach seventh grade math, AP Physics, or first grade everything. If you don’t believe me, ask the parents and students impacted by these shortages.

If the AT&T store is shorthanded, I have to wait a little longer for my service. If a school is shorthanded, instruction can grind to a halt. If a teacher materializes two months into the school year, that time is just lost.

This is still the most critical issue in public education. It’s going to take a serious investment to get more teachers into classrooms – an even greater one to get them to stay.