Districts address teacher vacancies amid cuts, low salaries

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) – Education administrators say Oklahoma's ongoing teacher shortage stems from declining numbers of college graduates who are trained to teach and relatively low teacher salaries that are a disincentive when recruiting from out-of-state.

Oklahoma City Public Schools spokesman Mark Myers says officials are trying to fill 37 teaching vacancies that are currently staffed by substitutes. That comes a few months after state budget cuts forced the district to eliminate more than 200 teaching positions.

The average K-12 salary in Oklahoma ranks 48th out of 50 states and the District of Columbia.

To address the shortage of qualified in-state applicants, the Oklahoma City district tried to recruit candidates from other states, but the program resulted in less than half a dozen hires before it was discontinued.