State Employees Seeking Long-Term Solutions For Substitute Shortage

Gov. Kevin Stitt has announced an executive order that he said will help schools stay open, by allowing state employees to substitute teach.

32,000 state employees will be authorized to substitute teach as part of the executive order.

Oklahoma's Secretary of Education, Ryan Walters, will implement it.

Employees who work at schools will continue to be paid by the state, not the separate school districts.

State officials said a similar program was put in place at the beginning of the pandemic when the state's unemployment offices were slammed.

"The core mission of all 32,000 state employees is to serve the public and to help make Oklahoma a top 10 state. Right now, that means helping, stepping up to help their schools," Stitt said.

The Oklahoma Education Association responded to the order, saying that the substitute shortage was a problem before the pandemic began, COVID has just made it more severe.

They continued to say in part,

"While state employees and businesses may be able to help in the short term, we need to continue searching for long-term solutions."

The executive order is set to last 120 days.