Tulsa Public Schools Not Affected By National Bilingual Teacher Shortage

According to the National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition, more than half of states around the country experienced a bilingual teacher shortage in their schools. Tulsa Public Schools said thanks to their partners, they weren't affected by the shortage.

In order for every child to learn, their families need to understand.

"Every student should have the opportunity to learn, whether English is their language that they're developing or an additional language," said Hannah Jimenez with Tulsa Public Schools.

Jimenez is the manager of dual language and world language pathways for Tulsa Public Schools. She said the district had 350 interpreters for parent-teacher conferences for the fall semester and was able to help families who spoke several different languages.

"We have an amazing community in Tulsa with people from many, many, many different language backgrounds, so it would be virtually impossible for one teacher to meet every language need in Tulsa Public Schools," Jimenez said.

To serve every family in the district, TPS hired contractors who could provide in-person or over-the-phone translations. One of those contractors was Sebastian Lantos, LLC.

"When you go into parent-teacher conferences, you see a ten-year-old girl or nine-year-old that's just waiting for that interpreter because she wants her mom and dad to know how good she's doing in school," Sebastion Lantos said.

The district offered many translation options, including in person, over the phone, and using a translation app called TalkingPoints.

Jimenez said accurate communication is important to ensure the child's success.

"That communication is essential, so we want to make sure that parents and families, from the teacher to the family, and from the family to the teacher, they're able to ask any question and receive all accurate information," she said.

Tulsa Public Schools said if you don't already have a translator requested on file, to talk to your school directly about having one in assistance.