'The turnover has been huge': Oklahoma schools dealing with mass exodus of teachers
OKLAHOMA CITY (KOKH) — As schools open their doors to kids, there is a mass exodus of teachers fleeing Oklahoma classrooms for good. FOX 25 put a call out to educators leaving the profession to learn what is driving them to the breaking point.
"It's not the kids. The kids are not the reason," said Hilary Cowen who left this year after teaching 16 years in Oklahoma public, private, and charter schools. "It's literally everything else."
"It occurred to me one day I would never allow myself to be treated the way I was being treated as a professional educator in any other area of my life," said Cowen.
Cowen was among dozens of teachers to share their experiences with FOX 25. describing demoralizing environments, an impossible workload, and a lack of support in dealing with the impacts of the pandemic.
"Just do more do more do more," said Duncan teacher Ryan Cole. "The cost of living is going up. We don't get paid a lot, to begin with. I work a full another job, 25 hours a week at least."
Teachers like Cole and Angie Wren who are sticking it out tell us up to half of their fellow staffers aren't coming back this school year.
"The turnover has been huge," said Wren, who teaches in Purcell. "We have a lot of teachers that drive from maybe 20 to 30 miles out. Some have taken jobs closer to home."
It is not just teachers. The shortage impacts all positions- from support staff, to athletic trainers, to counselors. Mid-Del Superintendent Rick Cobb has seen the pool of applicants completely dry up.
"It's the worst I've ever seen in terms of getting to the end of summer and having so many teacher vacancies," said Dr. Cobb.
Oklahoma Educators Association President Katherine Bishop has seen the problem growing now for a decade and only getting worse. Emergency certifications reached a record 3,800 last year.
"It's not just retirements and those eligible to retire," said Bishop. "But those educators who've said 'I'm done. I'm don't feel supported, and I'm going to look for something that brings me joy."
This exodus is happening without nearly the number of new educators entering the profession to replace them.
"We've got to get more kids graduating with education degrees, period," said Wren. "The numbers are not balancing."
Those additional education graduates must also be willing to stay and teach in Oklahoma. States like Texas and Kansas aggressively recruit our graduates with much higher starting salaries.
"We still put out some of the best teachers," said Cole. "It's just that everybody's figured out that you can go somewhere else and make a lot more money."
State lawmakers this year passed several short-term measures to get more bodies in classrooms and incentivize new teachers with scholarships and loan forgiveness.
"We can't solve this big issue with short-term strategies," said Bishop. "We have to look for long-term systemic change."
Until that systemic change is in place, expect to see more stories like Cowen's, She tells FOX 25 she is no longer feeling worn out and underappreciated.
"I don't know why anyone would choose that. over doing something else," said Cowen. "And that's the problem. That's what no one is addressing."
A number of teachers told FOX 25 they're waiting on upcoming election results before deciding whether to stay in the profession.
In our next Crisis in the Classroom report, a look at how divisive political rhetoric is weighing on our educators and what they want to see from our elected leaders to turn this teacher shortage around.
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