{"id":34038,"date":"2021-05-27T05:00:57","date_gmt":"2021-05-27T10:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/?p=34038"},"modified":"2021-06-11T13:56:51","modified_gmt":"2021-06-11T18:56:51","slug":"oklahoma-continues-to-battle-teacher-shortage-but-pandemic-hasnt-caused-a-mass-exit-yet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/2021\/05\/27\/oklahoma-continues-to-battle-teacher-shortage-but-pandemic-hasnt-caused-a-mass-exit-yet\/","title":{"rendered":"Oklahoma continues to battle teacher shortage, but pandemic hasn\u2019t caused a mass exit yet"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"width: 100%; height: 170px; margin-bottom: 20px; border-radius: 10px; overflow:hidden;\"><iframe style=\"width: 100%; height: 170px;\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\" seamless src=\"https:\/\/player.captivate.fm\/episode\/93dcf2e7-a907-48f6-8caf-3afc0bc3b91d\"><\/iframe><\/div><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Faith Phillips is a great teacher.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In only two years teaching English and creative writing at Stilwell High School she\u2019s got a few accomplishments under her belt:<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">She helped her students put together a podcast that was a<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/2020\/06\/26\/stilwell-high-school-students-explore-their-towns-history-in-podcast-that-was-a-finalist-in-npr-student-challenge\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> finalist in NPR\u2019s student podcast<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> challenge. She wrote a grant for new exercise equipment at the middle school gym. She even led a crowdfunding campaign to buy laptops for students to use in class.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The 42-year-old is hanging it up after a difficult time. She never really wanted to teach more than one year, but she felt like she couldn\u2019t leave the classroom in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now she\u2019s leaving the profession, which she said is the most difficult job she\u2019s ever had.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWhen you have 120 souls that are leaning on you and need your ear, and they want to tell you their problems, when you get home at the end of the day, you&#8217;ve got nothing left for anybody, not even yourself,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Thousands of Oklahoma teachers make a similar decision every year. Annually, more than 4,000 of Oklahoma\u2019s roughly 45,000 teachers leave the profession in the state and the number of new hires is consistently lower.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And at Stilwell, the job is just plain hard. More than <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/oklaschools.com\/school\/achievement\/1523\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">90% of the school\u2019s students<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> are economically disadvantaged and nearly \u2154 are below target for academic achievement on the state\u2019s school report card. That means there\u2019s lots of trauma in the school, Phillips said.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cYou&#8217;re expected to wear so many hats. You&#8217;re a counselor, your family member if you do it right,\u201d Phillips said. \u201cEspecially with the students that I work with, if you do it right, you&#8217;re a family, you&#8217;re a support for people who don&#8217;t have support&#8230; it&#8217;s draining.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_32234\"  class=\"wp-caption module image alignright\" style=\"max-width: 537px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-32234\" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2019\/12\/Joy_Hofmeister_State_Supt_Public_Instruction_portrait-537x672.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"537\" height=\"672\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2019\/12\/Joy_Hofmeister_State_Supt_Public_Instruction_portrait-537x672.jpg 537w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2019\/12\/Joy_Hofmeister_State_Supt_Public_Instruction_portrait-1535x1920.jpg 1535w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2019\/12\/Joy_Hofmeister_State_Supt_Public_Instruction_portrait-768x961.jpg 768w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2019\/12\/Joy_Hofmeister_State_Supt_Public_Instruction_portrait-120x150.jpg 120w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2019\/12\/Joy_Hofmeister_State_Supt_Public_Instruction_portrait-240x300.jpg 240w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2019\/12\/Joy_Hofmeister_State_Supt_Public_Instruction_portrait-620x776.jpg 620w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2019\/12\/Joy_Hofmeister_State_Supt_Public_Instruction_portrait-863x1080.jpg 863w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 537px) 100vw, 537px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Oklahoma State Department of Education<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Joy Hofmeister, State Superintendent of Education<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h3><b>A top priority<\/b><\/h3><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The teacher shortage isn\u2019t a new problem. In the most recent school year, Oklahoma had 2,785 emergency teachers &#8211; teachers who aren\u2019t fully qualified but allowed to teach if there\u2019s a need. Ten years ago, there were less than 100.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWe\u2019re just not retaining teachers,\u201d said Robin Fuxa, Director of the Professional Education program at Oklahoma State University.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Fuxa is in charge of a program at OSU that trains new teachers in college. That program and others like it around the state can&#8217;t keep up with the turnover that Oklahoma schools see annually.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Many of the problems come down to money, she said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><a href=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/2018\/01\/22\/low-pay-no-1-reason-oklahoma-teachers-quit-survey-says\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Low pay and high stress<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> are consistently cited as a reason for leaving. A 2018 survey &#8211; conducted before Oklahoma\u2019s teacher walkout &#8211; cited those two factors as the top reasons teachers quit.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And the resulting shortage has been the most important issue of concern for Oklahoma\u2019s highest education official &#8211; state schools superintendent Joy Hofmeister.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cYou can have high standards,\u201d she said, \u201cyou can have great facilities, but if you don&#8217;t have the teachers to teach, what good is it?\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The state has laid out a number of initiatives since 2015 when Hofmeister took office.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That includes <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.oklahoman.com\/article\/5588485\/house-preparing-to-vote-on-revenue-plan-pay-hikes\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">a raise in 2018<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> around the time of the teacher walkout, a decrease in mandates from the state of what should or shouldn\u2019t be done in the classroom and additional supports to dealing with student trauma.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And Hofmeister is cautiously optimistic that the measures are having an impact across the state.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In fact, the 2020-21 school year teacher turnover rate &#8211; the numbers of teachers leaving or moving districts &#8211; was the lowest it\u2019s been since at least 2013, according to Oklahoma\u2019s State Department of Education.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nationally, a mass exodus of teachers due to the pandemic<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.chalkbeat.org\/2021\/4\/6\/22368846\/teacher-turnover-quitting-pandemic-data-economy\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> never really materialized<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Economists think that\u2019s because of a desire to keep a stable job during the unpredictable COVID-19 pandemic.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Regardless, the number of teachers leaving the profession had been steadily decreasing after the walkout in 2018, according to state numbers. Additionally, teacher pay is <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/mailchi.mp\/ossba\/new-regional-teacher-pay-rankings?e=b320d835d2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">rising in comparison to the state\u2019s neighbors<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWe have made improvements and I don&#8217;t want that lost in the recognition that, yes, we are not out of the woods and no, we have not yet achieved what our kids deserve,\u201d she said. \u201cBut we will keep our eyes on what is most important for students. And that is a great, well-rounded education. And it starts with great teachers.\u201d<\/span><\/p><p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-34040\" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2021\/05\/unnamed-1-672x140.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"672\" height=\"140\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2021\/05\/unnamed-1-672x140.jpg 672w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2021\/05\/unnamed-1-1920x400.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2021\/05\/unnamed-1-768x160.jpg 768w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2021\/05\/unnamed-1-150x31.jpg 150w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2021\/05\/unnamed-1-300x63.jpg 300w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2021\/05\/unnamed-1-620x129.jpg 620w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 672px) 100vw, 672px\" \/><\/p>\n<h3><b>The cliff\u2019s edge<\/b><\/h3><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Despite the progress made, Oklahoma is facing another problem, Fuxa said.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A so-called \u201cretirement cliff\u201d is approaching. Teachers\u2019 pensions are determined by their last three years on the job so many might be looking to retire after completing their third year of school after the 2018 raises, Fuxa said.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWe have a lot of boomers who are retiring,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The key to replacing those teachers, Fuxa said, will be getting more who are traditionally certified into the classroom. Emergency and alternative certified teachers are less likely to stay in the field.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Fuxa said state leaders need to look at incentivizing Oklahoma teachers\u2019 college graduates to stay in the state. Districts from other states are regular attendees at OSU\u2019s teacher job fairs, she said.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hofmeister said a sudden, massive influx of federal dollars will help with stabilizing the workforce.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThe federal relief funds are coming at just precisely the right moment,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Teacher turnover happens in districts that are the most poorly funded, Hofmeister said. So the state is looking at ways to better leverage the billions of federal dollars to retain and recruit qualified teachers, she said.<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_32996\"  class=\"wp-caption module image aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 672px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-32996\" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/06\/IMG_7460-672x448.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"672\" height=\"448\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/06\/IMG_7460-672x448.jpeg 672w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/06\/IMG_7460-1920x1280.jpeg 1920w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/06\/IMG_7460-768x512.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/06\/IMG_7460-150x100.jpeg 150w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/06\/IMG_7460-300x200.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/06\/IMG_7460-620x413.jpeg 620w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/06\/IMG_7460-1620x1080.jpeg 1620w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 672px) 100vw, 672px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Robby Korth \/ StateImpact Oklahoma<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">This sign proclaiming Stilwell as the &#8220;Strawberry Capital of the World&#8221; greets visitors as they come into town.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h3><b>A life changing experience<\/b><\/h3><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For Phillips in Stilwell the job was worth it.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sure, it was hard. Easily the hardest job she\u2019s ever had and she previously worked as a corporate lawyer.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While she\u2019s writing, she doesn\u2019t want to completely lose contact. Phillips said she plans to stay involved in the arts in Stilwell.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Working with the youth in her old town was inspiring too. Helping them develop podcasts and tell the story of their community was tremendous.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cIt makes me sad,\u201d she said. \u201cIt does. And I know that I&#8217;m going to be missing out on a lot.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Faith Phillips is a great teacher.In only two years teaching English and creative writing at Stilwell High School she\u2019s got a few accomplishments under her belt:She helped her students put together a podcast that was a finalist in NPR\u2019s student podcast challenge. She wrote a grant for new exercise equipment at the middle school gym. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":209,"featured_media":32994,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34038"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/209"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34038"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34038\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34074,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34038\/revisions\/34074"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32994"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34038"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34038"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34038"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}