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FeaturesAugust 13, 2015

OKLAHOMA CITY -- As students return to their classrooms this year, some may find fewer teachers waiting to greet them. Many schools -- particularly in places with growing populations and difficult working conditions -- are having a tough time getting enough teachers to fill all their jobs. Districts say they're struggling the most in areas such as math, science, special education and foreign languages...

By SEAN MURPHY and DAVID EGGERT ~ Associated Press

OKLAHOMA CITY -- As students return to their classrooms this year, some may find fewer teachers waiting to greet them.

Many schools -- particularly in places with growing populations and difficult working conditions -- are having a tough time getting enough teachers to fill all their jobs. Districts say they're struggling the most in areas such as math, science, special education and foreign languages.

Low pay, more mandatory tests, funding cuts and what some educators feel are more demands from policymakers are among the reasons cited by departing teachers and by administrators trying to replace them.

In the scramble, some teachers are taking on new subjects. Oklahoma officials have issued 215 emergency certifications to allow teachers to instruct outside their areas of expertise, compared to just 71 at the same time last year.

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While teacher shortages aren't appearing everywhere, they tend to pose challenges in faster-growing states and those with budget problems, education researchers say. Remote areas and high-poverty districts such as Detroit with uncertain budgets and difficult working conditions also have trouble.

"They can't draw enough (teachers) from the local population because there just aren't that many there. So they have to figure out ways to draw people in from farther away," said Bob Floden, co-director of the Education Policy Center at Michigan State University.

An Oklahoma survey last year showed about 1,000 unfilled vacancies, resulting in larger class sizes and the elimination of some courses. The state's average teacher salary is $44,128 -- 49th in the nation.

Some former teachers say an increase in mandatory testing and a sense of hostility from lawmakers has crushed morale. Recent Oklahoma measures are designed to increase rigor as well as imposing a grading system for schools many teachers and administrators felt was unfair. But per-pupil funding has kept declining, and teachers haven't received a pay raise in nearly a decade.

"We used to be treated as professionals who were allowed to have autonomy in our classrooms and play to our strengths or our background or education," said Rebecca Simcoe, a high-school English teacher in Tulsa with a doctorate who resigned last year to do not-for-profit work. "Now we're expected to be automatons following their robotic instructions, just getting these kids to pass tests."

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