Hofmeister announces addition of 1,751 classroom teachers over the last two years

OKLAHOMA CITY (Nov. 21, 2019) – Oklahoma has seen significant growth in its teacher workforce with the addition of 1,751 classroom teachers since the 2017-18 school year, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Joy Hofmeister said today. During the past two legislative sessions, lawmakers passed back-to-back pay increases averaging approximately $7,400 per teacher, boosting Oklahoma’s teacher pay to the top of the region.

“Because of concentrated efforts to attract and retain teachers over the last several years, we can now report that school districts are hiring and more people want to teach in Oklahoma,” Hofmeister said. “We still have work to do to ensure we have a sufficient educator workforce to reduce class sizes and bolster student learning, but this sustained uptick in numbers is a strong indicator that we have begun to reverse course and attract new talent to a profession with unparalleled impact on young lives. These numbers represent a win for Oklahoma kids.”

In the 2017-18 school year, Oklahoma’s classroom teacher count was 41,305. A year later, it had grown to 42,453, an increase of 1,148. New Oklahoma State Department of Education numbers for the current school year include 43,056 classroom teachers, or 603 more than the year prior.