Tulsa Public Schools will now be able to hire educators without teaching credentials.
At a meeting of the TPS Board of Education Monday night, members voted 3-2 in favor of a new policy allowing the hiring of adjunct teachers with some professional experience but without standard teaching certifications.
The measure, titled Policy 4211, was introduced to help ease an ongoing teacher shortage.
It was met with opposition from Tulsa’s teachers' union, members of the public and a state lawmaker.
“We have no mechanism for tracking adjunct teachers state-wide,” said Rep. John Waldron during a public comment period. “We don’t have good data on how [adjuncts are] doing, what their qualifications are. It’s a recipe for chaos.”
Shawna Mott-Wright, president of the Tulsa Classroom Teachers Association, told those who spoke in favor of the measure: “Shame on you.”
But advocates said the policy has more benefits than drawbacks.
“If we have the ability to hire people that are a few credits short, train them and coach them with the tools that the district provides, that is a win-win situation,” said Colette Allen, interim principal at Whitman Elementary School.
TPS Superintendent Dr. Ebony Johnson defended the measure followed by a lengthy presentation from district staff.
“I have a responsibility to ensure we have the most capable adults in front of our students every day,” she said. “Opening up new positions to aspiring educators is another way to grow our own and build up teaching talent in Tulsa.”
Board President Stacey Woolley added an amendment to keep the new policy in place for one year, forcing the board to revisit it in May 2025.
Board member Calvin Moniz and Vice President John Croisant voted against the measure. Sarah Smith and Dr. Jennettie Marshall were absent from the meeting. Wolley joined Susan Lamkin and E’Lena Ashley in approval.
A surprise vote
Kathy McDonald regularly attends Tulsa school board meetings. McDonald has been a vocal supporter of board member E’Lena Ashley, who herself has drawn public attention over her political views and backing of State Superintendent Ryan Walters during an accreditation crisis.
“I count her as a gift to Tulsa,” McDonald said of Ashley.
That kind of support is all the more reason why McDonald was surprised to see Ashley vote in favor of the new policy.
“I’m dumbfounded on this one,” she said. “Our children deserve better than what just happened in that room.”
Ashley said before the vote that the topic “kept me up at night.”
“There is definitely a break in the system, and I want to support our teachers” Ashley said, “but the bottom line is we cannot leave our students in a failed position where we’re not filling their classrooms with someone that wants to be there to teach them.”
The buck being passed to local boards
Speaking before the vote, Woolley placed blame on state lawmakers for putting TPS in the position to need non-certified adjuncts to fill vacancies.
Woolley scolded legislators who “have repeatedly defunded public education and have disparaged teachers.”
“They’re diverting money, more and more every year, to pay for private schools for wealthy families, and this is where we get into this situation,” she said.
While Woolley successfully amended the policy to add mandatory renewal after one year, she unsuccessfully tried to attach a second amendment that would limit the number of non-certified adjuncts hired to 10.
The new policy stems from Oklahoma Senate Bill 1119, which removed a 270-hour limit on adjunct teachers working in classrooms per semester.
The bill was passed as a response to a nationwide teacher shortage, a problem that school administrators in Oklahoma still lament.
