oklahoma teacher shortage

Against a backdrop of record emergency certifications issued in the state and high staffing vacancy levels, a new report suggests a potential “turning point” in the momentum to recover Oklahoma’s teacher workforce.

Muskogee Public Schools has 21 teaching vacancies heading into fall 2022. The district is getting creative in its efforts to fill them: Offering a $10,000 housing stipend to buy a home or build a new one within Muskogee City Limits.

Six years after pausing the administration of the death penalty in the state, Oklahoma carried out an execution on Thursday that did not go according to plan. During injection of the three-drug cocktail, inmate John Grant convulsed more than two dozen times and vomited, before losing consciousness and dying in the execution chamber. Witnesses described a gruesome sight, and the Grant execution casts doubt over the next executions the state is planning, including that of Julius Jones.

As the academic year winds down, schools are already looking toward the next one. It’s bound to be more normal. There’s also bound to be thousands of new…

In Oklahoma, 30,000 teachers have left the profession in the past six years. That’s the eye-popping statistic that stands out in the latest Oklahoma…