THE ARCHIVIST Teacher flight is not new problem
Oklahoma public schools are facing some challenges.
Some teachers have left Oklahoma for higher-paying jobs, resulting in a teacher shortage.
History shows that this is not a recent problem.
This article appeared in The Oklahoman on Jan. 16, 1943:
Forty-three schools in 19 state counties have been forced to close their doors for lack of teachers, C.M. Howell, secretary of the Oklahoma Education association, reported Friday.
Howell said many more schools may have to close before the end of the current school (year) or may fail to open the next, if the teacher shortage becomes even more acute, as expected.
"Our report does not include the number of schools that shut down temporarily and since have reopened," he said. "Nor does it include the large number of schools now open only because they are using substitute teachers," Howell added.
Howell's report is based on a survey of 62 of the state's 77 counties ...
The best immediate answer to the teacher shortage problem would be to increase salaries to make teaching jobs more attractive, Howell said. "The teachers are leaving mostly for war industry jobs. They are particularly well qualified for these, and the pay is much better than teaching school."
Howell said many women teachers have resigned to move nearer their husbands in army camps; other have gone to better paying jobs in larger communities, and still others into private industry where more security is offered ...
Now, 75 years later, teachers still are leaving the education field and the state for betterpaying jobs.
The Oklahoma State School Boards Association atits website https://www.ossba.org/ advocacy/oklahoma-educationfacts/ states:
Oklahoma teacher pay is the lowest in the region and near the lowest in the country, contributing to the state's historic teacher shortage.
•11 out of every 100 teachers leave the state or the profession every year.
•17 percent of new teachers leave the state or the profession after their first year.
•10 percent of Oklahoma teachers with a decade of experience leave the state or profession every year.
These statistics are startling— even if the problem isn't new.
If you would like to contact Mary Phillips about The Archivist, email her at gapnmary@gmail.comgapnmary@ gmail.com.