Without an increase in pay, Oklahoma may find itself with a lot less teachers

Oklahoma already doesn't have enough teachers and, after the Step Up Plan failed in the State House last Monday, it may get worse. Before the start of the school year, it was estimated that there were 800+ vacancies in schools statewide.

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According to a recent SoonerPoll of teachers in the state, 34.4 percent of teachers strongly agreed that they have become more serious about stopping or retiring from teaching all together.

[QUESTION] Since the Step Up vote on Monday, I have begun to more seriously consider stopping or retiring from teaching all together.

1. Strongly agree 34.4%
2. Somewhat agree 24.4
3. Neutral/Don't know 20.8
4. Somewhat disagree 8.2
5. Strongly disagree 12.2

An almost equal number strongly agreed that they have become more serious about changing professions or pursuing another career.

[QUESTION] Since the Step Up vote on Monday, I have begun to more seriously consider changing professions or pursuing another career.

1. Strongly agree 32.8%
2. Somewhat agree 25.0
3. Neutral/Don't know 18.2
4. Somewhat disagree 9.7
5. Strongly disagree 14.3

And some are also seriously thinking about leaving the state to teach in other states.

[QUESTION] Since the Step Up vote on Monday, I have begun to more seriously consider leaving the state of Oklahoma and teaching in another state.

1. Strongly agree 32.4%
2. Somewhat agree 16.9
3. Neutral/Don't know 19.4
4. Somewhat disagree 10.2
5. Strongly disagree 21.0

Teachers were split on which one they would pursue first, but none of the choices are good for the state.

[QUESTION] Which one do you believe you would pursue first or foremost?

1. Stop teaching or retire 25.0%
2. Change professions and pursue another career 32.6
3. Leave Oklahoma and teach in another state 32.4
4. Don't know 10.0

Additional analysis of the data shows that older, more experienced teachers were more likely to retire from teaching, middle-aged teachers were more likely to change professions, and younger teachers were more likely to leave the state and teach elsewhere.

"Without an increase in pay," said Bill Shapard, founder of the SoonerPoll, "it's a triple threat to the teaching profession in the state."

About the Poll

SoonerPoll.com, Oklahoma’s public opinion pollster, conducted the scientific online poll of 1,098 Oklahoma teachers.

The study was conducted online February 13-15, 2018 and respondents were selected at random among those with a teaching certificate in the state of Oklahoma and registered to vote. Teachers were identified by filtering out only teachers who were currently employed, retired, or looking for a teaching position in the state.

Weighting was not required for the study as the demographical profile of the sample was very similar to the profile of all teachers in the state.

The study has a Margin of Error (MoE) of ±2.88 percent.