GUYMON, Okla. (AP) - Located just 20 minutes from the state lines of Texas and Kansas, the Oklahoma Panhandle community of Guymon faces competition from all sides when it comes to hiring teachers.
The majority nonwhite school district also has a large number of non-English-speaking students, which Superintendent Doug Melton says adds to the challenge of attracting teachers.
The Oklahoman newspaper reports (https://bit.ly/2is8S0k ) that the arrival of a pork processing plant more than 20 years ago attracted a wave of immigrant workers, especially from Mexico and Central America.
That demographic shift doubled the size of the school system to 3,000 students, 80 percent of whom are nonwhite. Melton says 34 different languages are spoken in the district as students continue to arrive from Central America and northern Africa.
Melton says the district pays starting teachers $3,000 more than the state-required minimum but still has difficulty competing for teachers with Texas and Kansas. The city of Liberal, Kansas, which is about a 45-minute drive north, pays about $8,000 more, Melton said.
Oklahoma recently set a record for emergency teaching certificates, 26 of which are used in Guymon. Beyond the challenge of competing with neighboring states for teacher candidates, Melton said his district also struggles with its location in rural Oklahoma.
“Not everybody wants to move to Guymon,” Melton said. “If you go to Norman or Edmond, you are teaching 99 percent students who speak English. Here you might have four kids in one class who just got here and don’t speak a word of English.”
Melton said he’s hopeful some sort of teacher pay-raise plan will emerge from the Legislature this year, giving his school system a more competitive salary to offer new teachers.
“I know everyone is dealing with these challenges,” Melton said. “But it feels like we are getting it from all sides.”
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Information from: The Oklahoman, https://www.newsok.com
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