It’s a new and dubious record.
Another round of emergency teaching certifications approved Thursday by the Oklahoma State Board of Education brings the total for this year to 1,429.
"There were, in the month of June, 224 brought to you; July, 631; and, in August, 574," said State Superintendent Joy Hofmeister.
Over all of last year, the state board approved 1,160 emergency teaching certifications, which was also a record.
The applications are only made when districts have exhausted their searches for certified teachers. Hofmeister said that means tens of thousands of students are being shortchanged.
"Even if you have experience of 20 years as a Boeing engineer ... dealing with children that have special needs, dealing with children that have lived lives of trauma, is a unique skill set that requires training, and that's missing," Hofmeister said.
Besides putting students at a deficit, Hofmeister said it’s putting a strain on principals and administrators.
"So, our superintendents and principals, instead of being instructional leaders over districts and the teachers that they serve in their building, are playing headhunter, trying to recruit someone to step in," Hofmeister said.
The vast majority of the emergency certifications are for first-time teachers. Oklahoma law allows emergency certified teachers two years to complete the regular requirements to be a teacher before they must apply for a renewal. From this month's number of emergency certifications, less than 10 percent were renewals.
Education advocates say the record number of emergency certifications perfectly illustrates Oklahoma's teacher shortage. For 2011–2012, the board of education approved 32 emergency teaching certifications.
