Metro Job Fair Sees Fewer Teacher Applicants

At Edmond Public Schools’ secondary job fair Tuesday, prospective teachers lined up to meet with principals.

Chief Human Resources Officer Randy Decker said seven or eight years ago, about 400 people would show up to shake hands and share their resumes at elementary and secondary recruitment events.

But this year, not even half that attended.

District officials said the quality of applicants is excellent, but the quantity is disappointing.

The number of teachers needed at schools all across Oklahoma, reportedly far exceeds the number of university and college graduates expected in the state.

In Edmond alone, Superintendent Bret Towne said they'll need 300 teachers to fill next year's positions.

“I don’t think we’ll be able to hire them all,” he told News 9. “This may be the year that class sizes go up because of lack of teachers, that programs may be cut because we can’t find a teacher for a particular area. And that’s a shame.”

The turnout is not just low at job fairs. District officials also report a big drop in online applications over the years as well.