社区黑料

This story is part of our SPOTLIGHT series focusing on the state of education in Oklahoma.

When Oklahoma鈥檚 education rankings make headlines, it鈥檚 usually not a good thing.

Last year, WalletHub, a , ranked the state 50th 鈥� just above New Mexico 鈥� on a mix of criteria including test scores, graduation and teacher certification rates. More recently, a University of Oklahoma researcher zoomed in on the , where the state places 48th overall in math and reading.

The unwelcome attention typically prompts a wave of finger-pointing from politicians and . 

Sometimes, teachers like Sarah Clifford.

A single mom of two who relocated from New York, she鈥檚 among the thousands in the state who entered the classroom without completing a teacher training program. In 2023, as a new teacher in the Edmond Public Schools outside Oklahoma City, she struggled to write lesson plans and hated teaching math, a subject she disliked as a child. Districts statewide have increasingly depended on emergency certified educators like her to fill vacancies. In 2023-24, the number topped 5,000, state data shows. Since 2022, the state has also allowed schools to hire , who may have no more than a high school diploma.

鈥淲e don’t want to demonize any person who is stepping up to be a teacher, regardless of the pathway,鈥� said Bryan Duke, dean of the College of Education and Professional Studies at the University of Central Oklahoma. 鈥淏ut the difference in preparation launches people successfully or unsuccessfully into careers.鈥�

Duke鈥檚 program has been part of the solution. In 2024, the university received nearly $2.5 million in from the state for scholarships to help teachers like Clifford complete their certification programs and earn a master鈥檚 degree. She graduated with last December after spending nine months instruction so she could 鈥渉elp students feel confident and start to love something that’s hard.鈥� Most of her third graders students who were 鈥渙n watch鈥� in math ended up on grade level by the end of the year.

鈥淥ur state doesn’t look like we’re doing well,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut if you go inside a classroom with people who have the passion and want to be there, those kids are thriving.鈥�

The data on the state鈥檚 decline is undeniable. In the mid-鈥�90s, the state ranked 17th in math and reading on the National Assessment of Educational Progress. With the 2024 scores, the state had fallen to 48th.

In a , University of Oklahoma researcher Adam Tyner described how Oklahoma missed the 鈥渟outhern surge鈥� that brought academic turnarounds to states like Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi. Those states saw improvement after pouring millions of dollars into teacher training, strong curriculum and coaching.

Oklahoma鈥檚 results have also affected public opinion. Less than a third of Oklahomans graded their local schools an A or B in from the university鈥檚 Oklahoma Center for Education Policy. Two years ago, 41% gave their schools high marks.

At about $12,500, the state鈥檚 per-pupil spending is . One reason is because it takes a in the legislature to approve a tax increase. District budgets could take another hit if voters this fall approve on property taxes. 

鈥淚f it’s really hard to increase revenues, you have to take away things from other areas,鈥� said Deven Carlson, a public policy researcher at the University of Oklahoma. 鈥淚t’s going to be hard to improve outcomes, if you think that money matters.鈥�

One possible off-ramp for parents is school choice. Many charter schools their local district schools, data shows, leading to push for expanding the charter sector.

This year, lawmakers took a dual approach to tackling the state鈥檚 education challenges. They gave teachers a $2,000 raise 鈥� but the is still well below neighboring Texas and Arkansas. Gov. Kevin Stitt also signed a increasing the minimum number of days in the school calendar from 166 to 173. That will make it harder for some districts with four-day weeks to maintain that schedule.

鈥淲e’ve lost a lot of instructional days,鈥� said Education Secretary Dan Hamlin. 鈥淚t’s not the only thing that matters; you need other things, too. But it is a component that’s meaningful.鈥�

鈥楢rt of teaching鈥�

State data shows that 184 districts are in session for 166 days or less, which they can achieve through four-day weeks with longer days. 

shows four-day weeks don鈥檛 necessarily improve retention, but districts that don鈥檛 adopt them can to nearby ones that do. The model is generally popular with teachers, who trade off longer hours for three-day weekends.

Superintendent Rick Cobb鈥檚 experience in the Mid-Del School District, outside Oklahoma City, illustrates the problem. When he became superintendent in 2015, he was 鈥渁larmed鈥� that the district had 20 emergency certified teachers, he said. Now 114 either have emergency certifications or are adjunct teachers, according to .

His district, which serves a blue color community near an Air Force base, never shifted to a four-day week. But others around Mid-Del did, luring away his teachers.

Knowledge of the subject matter generally isn鈥檛 a weak spot for emergency certified teachers, he said. But they often lack the skills to manage classrooms and modify lessons for students working at higher and lower levels.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 the art of teaching,鈥� he said.

Mike Simpson, superintendent of the Guthrie Public Schools, north of Oklahoma City, has faced the same challenge. His district, where nearly 60% qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, has lost teachers to districts with four-day weeks. But he never went that route because parents in his district depend on schools not just for education, but also for school meals. 

鈥淚f the parents go to work, who’s taking care of those kids? Who’s feeding them?鈥� he asked. 鈥淚 take that very seriously.鈥�

The small, rural Jennings Public Schools, west of Tulsa, is among those that run four days. It received a waiver from the state to operate a 156-day calendar.

Superintendent Derrick Meador doesn鈥檛 struggle to find certified teachers. He had three job openings recently and about 10 applicants for each one. It was the first time in three years he鈥檚 had to hire a teacher. Families, he said, support the four-day week and don鈥檛 want to lose it. Fewer than 2% of students are chronically absent, and the district performs well academically.

鈥淚f we weren’t getting the results that we were, I would have ended it a long time ago,鈥� Meador said. He doesn鈥檛 appreciate districts with four-day weeks getting for dragging the state down. 鈥淚 don’t like being lumped in with other districts. We stand alone on our merits and should be judged accordingly.鈥� 

He hopes the state will continue to allow waivers from the new 173-day requirement, but without it, Jennings will likely have to give up its four-day week.

鈥楲ife experience鈥�

It鈥檚 difficult to tie student outcomes to any one education policy, whether that鈥檚 the academic calendar or teacher certification. But Dan Goldhaber, director of the Center for Analysis of Longitudinal Data in Education Research at the American Institutes for Research, said if performance is falling, teacher quality 鈥渋s one of the very first things that I would look toward.鈥�

Oklahoma is certainly not alone in lowering the bar to teach, especially since the pandemic. Goldhaber examined post-COVID outcomes for students in Massachusetts and found that those whose teachers had emergency licenses in math and science than their peers. 

In Texas, a third of teachers were unlicensed in 2023-24. aims to reverse that trend by gradually reducing the share of unlicensed teachers that districts can hire to 5% by 2029.

Oklahoma took a small step in that direction this year when it tightened restrictions on adjunct teachers, who are only required to have 鈥渄istinguished qualifications in their field,鈥� but not a college degree. Stitt signed that stops schools from hiring adjuncts to teach core content areas in K-5.

that educators with temporary or emergency certifications are more likely than those who are fully certified to leave the profession. But they often take positions that would otherwise be nearly impossible to fill. 

In the Union Public Schools, which serves southeast Tulsa and part of Broken Arrow, several teach at the district鈥檚 Innovation Lab, a hub for career and technical education courses. They include Jeremy Weber, a who teaches students the basics of aircraft maintenance. On a recent morning, he showed students how to use safety wire to secure nuts and bolts to parts of a plane.

鈥淭hat life experience is pretty valuable,鈥� said Kenneth Moore, the district鈥檚 executive director of secondary education.

Earlier this month, newly certified teachers with years of life and career experience gathered at the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond to celebrate their graduation from the two-year alternative certification program. 

Grabbing refreshments at a pre-graduation reception and posing for pictures with their families and fellow graduates, they talked about wanting to reverse the stigma attached to teachers who take a nontraditional route to the classroom.

They included Cherice McDonald, a teacher in Oklahoma City schools who previously worked in the oil and gas industry, and is now being recruited to work as an assistant principal. 

Melanie Whitekiller Lawrence, a member of the Cherokee Nation, stayed home to raise her four kids before taking a job as a long-term substitute. When she took charge of a fourth grade class in Edmond, she said she 鈥渉ad no idea鈥� there were academic standards in math and reading she was required to teach under state law. She鈥檚 come a long way since the days when a colleague in the classroom next door would supply her with ready-made lessons for the week.

Last fall, her colleagues at Chisholm Elementary chose her to represent their school as . 

鈥淪ometimes, I feel like I’m more knowledgeable about current and best practices than my colleagues who have been teaching for a very long time,鈥� she said at the reception. 鈥淲e鈥檙e not just warm bodies.鈥�

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