Tulsa Public Schools Continues Search For Teachers

Tulsa Public Schools is close to the goal of having a teacher for every classroom this fall despite the difficulties of hiring teachers during a shortage.

Tulsa Public Schools has hired 400 teachers this summer. They need about 430 and school starts in three weeks.

The district continues the hiring process with job fairs even Wednesday. They had interviews set with 38 prospects and hired some on the spot. 

The district said it has reached out to everyone from retired teachers to paraprofessionals who want to become certified for the classroom and made a special effort to recruit people without any formal training in teaching and get them the training and certification they need to get into the classroom.

"In many cases, we would prefer to have those classically trained to teach because it would make the stress on the school more bearable, because it does require more support and professional development, and resources which are dwindling as the budget continues to dwindle," Bradley Eddy, Tulsa Public Schools.

The school district said it is confident they will have the teachers they need to start school, but said it is not a sign that there is any relief to the teacher shortage, it's just that they have gotten more creative in how they reach out to hire.