Tulsa Public Schools Holds Job Fair

Oklahoma's classrooms are increasingly being led by teachers without formal training.

Tulsa Public Schools is hiring "emergency certified" teachers but also launching a new effort to make sure they're ready.

Tulsa Public still hires as many traditional teachers as they can but they're also seeking out folks eager to teach without a teaching degree.

Thursday, they took applications for the 500 or so jobs they have each year.

They're reaching out to candidates without a teaching certificate and offering a summer class to train them. 

The "Tulsa Teacher Corps" launches this summer and there are already 186 applicants.

At the end of the summer, the district said the new hires will be ready to teach.

"So, they come in emergency certified but they will have had a couple of months in the classroom, they will have worked with children, they will have worked with our instructional coaches, so they will have been around some of the best teachers in our district," said Emma Garrett-Nelson with TPS. 

Tulsa already has 280 emergency certified teachers and this group will add to those numbers.

Statewide, there are almost 2,000 teachers without training who are in front of 112,000 students.

The state superintendent said Thursday she's hopeful the pay raise that's coming will start to turn things around with hiring.

More information about careers at Tulsa Public Schools can be found on their website.