Teacher supply data notable

It's often said Oklahoma schools have experienced steep budget cuts throughout the past decade. Data in a new report on Oklahoma's educator supply tacitly ties problems more to the oil bust, which hit in 2015 and subsequently wrecked state finances, than to any prior spending changes.

“The 2018 Oklahoma Educator Supply & Demand Report,” issued by the state Department of Education, reveals the supply of Oklahoma educators has declined by around 2,300 people out of nearly 53,000. But that decline occurred after the 2015-2016 school year, not before. Most notably, the supply of educators reached “a peak” in 2015-2016. That's contrary to claims Oklahoma experienced a mass exodus of teachers during the past decade with a steady decline each year.

The report shows the share of teachers leaving the profession declined slightly for two years after the 20122013 school year. The rate of teachers leaving the profession did not surpass the 2012-2013 rate until around the 2015-2016 school year.

If school budgets were being consistently cut to detrimental effect for five or six years prior, why were fewer teachers leaving the profession in years seven and eight and why was the overall supply increasing at that time?

In central Oklahoma, the report showed, the number of educators peaked in 20152016, and the area still had more educators in 2017-2018 than in the 2012-2013 school year. In northeastern and northwestern Oklahoma, educator supply generally crept up during the first four of the last six school years.

Only in southeastern and southwestern Oklahoma did the educator supply consistently and steadily decline following 2012-2013. About 44 percent of the statewide contraction from 2012-2013 to 2017-2018 was generated in those two regions.

Given that those regions include some of Oklahoma's most rural areas, it's reasonable to ask how much of the decline was tied to state funding/teacher pay and how much was due to the challenges of attracting and retaining teachers in remote and lower-population districts?

Another interesting tidbit is that “educational attainment rates among public school educators have decreased” from 2012-13 to 2017-18. The share of Oklahoma educators with a master's degree or higher dropped from 42.6 percent to 36.7 percent.

Since teacher salaries automatically increase with degree attainment, the report notes, the drop in Oklahoma's average teacher salaries “could partially be explained by fewer years of experience and/or lower education attainment in the teaching force.”

Put simply, part of the decline in average teacher salaries may be unrelated to state spending.

Policymakers do need to work to ensure schools are staffed with the best and brightest teachers, and labor supply issues cannot be ignored. But this report's raw data suggest Oklahoma's challenges are more multifaceted than the broad-brush picture painted by some activists.