Lenzy Krehbiel-Burton
Tulsa World Staff Writer
The Oklahoma State Department of Education announced Monday afternoon that it is offering a one-time five-figure signing bonus for secondary math and science teachers who meet certain stipulations.
Citing the high rate of emergency certified teachers statewide, the program offers $15,000 to in-state educators and $25,000 to out-of-state educators who have a standard or alternative teacher certificate in secondary math or science and did not teach in an Oklahoma public school during the 2023-24 school year.
Additionally, in order to be eligible for the one-time bonus, those educators must be hired to teach in a rural school district for the 2024-25 school year, defined as having at least 75% of its campuses located in a Census-defined rural area as per the National Center for Education Statistics.
The list of 384 districts and charter schools listed as eligible participants on OSDE’s website includes an Oklahoma City-area charter school, Sovereign Community School, that closed at the end of the 2022-23 school year.
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Tulsa-area districts that meet the rural district definition used by the Education Department for the program include Allen-Bowden, Anderson, Barnsdall, Bowring, Caney Valley, Inola, Kellyville, Keystone, Mounds, Liberty, Olive, Oologah-Talala, Pawnee, Perkins-Tryon, Porter Consolidated, Preston, Pretty Water, Prue, Shidler, Sperry, Twin Hills, Wagoner, Woodland, Wynona and Yale.
According to agency spokesman Dan Isett, about $4 million in federal COVID-19 relief money is being used to pay for the program.
The program’s application window closes Sept. 1, and the bonuses will be awarded on a first-come, first-served basis. Along with teaching for the full school year, recipients will be required to participate in monthly professional development sessions from the Education Department.
Between the start of the fiscal year on July 1 and its most recent meeting in May, the Oklahoma State Board of Education has approved 4,142 emergency teacher certificate requests, including a combined 834 for middle and high school level math and science. That figure includes certifications for specific applicable academic areas under those subjects, such as physics, chemistry and biology.
Among the districts and charter schools listed on the OSDE’s website as eligible for the new sign-on bonus program, Newcastle had the most emergency certification requests approved since July 1, with 33 across all subjects and grade levels.
The 20 school districts statewide with the highest number of emergency certification requests this fiscal year are all ineligible to participate in the new signing bonus program, as none meet the definition of a rural district. Along with multiple Oklahoma City-area districts, Lawton, Enid, Ardmore and Shawnee, that list includes Tulsa, Broken Arrow, Union, Muskogee, Bartlesville, Tahlequah and Claremore.
“Historically, the rural areas have been the most impacted,” Isett said. “I wish we could do everything for everyone, but historically, that’s where the greatest needs have been.”
This is the second teacher signing bonus program launched by the Education Department since State Superintendent Ryan Walters took office in January 2023. The first program, which provided up to $50,000 for elementary and special education teachers in exchange for a five-year commitment, attracted more than 500 certified teachers to Oklahoma classrooms.
The program is at the center of litigation from a pair of recipients who were subject to repayment demands from the Education Department. That case is still pending in Oklahoma County District Court.
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