OKCPS Seeks Teacher Shortage Solutions Through Educator Pipeline Program

Emergency teacher certifications hit record numbers in 2023. Oklahoma City Public Schools rely on these certifications to fill positions.  

Oklahoma Voice first reported that the state issued a new all-time high of 4,676 emergency certifications from June through December. Emergency certifications help school districts stay afloat. “Education has become tougher and tougher,” said Brad Herzer, assistant superintendent of human resources at Oklahoma City Public Schools. 

Students’ education rests on a bumpy road because the pool of teacher candidates dried up over the years. “It’s just the environment that we live in currently in the state of education,” Herzer said. “Any kind of math, science, special education. Those are probably the hardest to find. Colleges struggle to get students into the college of education.” 

Emergency certifications allow anyone with a bachelor’s degree to become a teacher. “We have emergency certified teachers in every subject,” Herzer said. 

Herzer said a lot of teaching positions would be empty without emergency certifications. More than 600 of OKCPS’s 2,700 teachers have emergency certifications. “Which is actually down from the previous year,” Herzer said. 

In 2016, the OKCPS Foundation began a pipeline program to pay for paraprofessionals' education to become education professionals. Paraprofessionals assist teachers at various schools within the district. The foundation started the program to meet the need for bilingual educators in the district. “All of this effort that we’re putting into it is gonna really make a dent in the problem that’s huge,” said Mary Mèlon-Tully, president and CEO of the OKCPS Foundation. 

After graduation, these educators are guaranteed a job within the district. 

Herzer and his team built their training regimen for teachers with emergency certifications. This helps provide formal teaching education they didn’t receive at the college level. Herzer said this ensures a smooth education path for its students. “The better prepared they are the more successful our students will be,” Herzer said