Oklahoma schools race to hire teachers amid statewide shortage
By Kilee Thomas
Click here for updates on this story
OKLAHOMA (KOCO) — Oklahoma school districts are starting their hiring season early this year, as they compete to secure teachers amid a statewide shortage.
Deer Creek Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Jason Perez said the district anticipates adding 15 new positions as it expands with a new middle school opening in August.
“In the early part of my career, it was hiring season when it was May,” Perez said. “And now, it’s mid-February when we’re beginning to see school districts across the state beginning to post jobs for the next school year. We can’t wait that long because there’s not a lot of certified applicants available, and so we’re all kind of fighting for that shallow pool.”
Oklahoma City Public Schools is also getting an early start, hosting four teacher job fairs over the next two weeks, starting Tuesday. Prospective teachers will have the opportunity to meet with HR and school principals.
Perez said that special education positions are the most challenging to fill statewide.
“The biggest one by a long shot is special education,” he said. “We’re just finding that the colleges are not graduating enough of these certified candidates that can come in and be able to do this job and work with our most at-risk population.”
Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.