Oklahoma’s Schools Are Some of the Worst in the Nation. Can They Recover?

When Oklahoma’s education rankings make headlines, it’s usually not a good thing.

Last year, WalletHub, a personal finance website, ranked the state 50th — just above New Mexico — on a mix of criteria including test scores, graduation and teacher certification rates. More recently, a University of Oklahoma researcher zoomed in on the Nation’s Report Card, where the state places 48th overall in math and reading.

The unwelcome attention typically prompts a wave of finger-pointing from politicians and business leaders. 

Sometimes, they target teachers like Sarah Clifford.

A single mom of two who relocated from New York, she’s among the thousands in the state who entered the classroom without completing a teacher training program. In 2023, as a new teacher in the Edmond Public Schools outside Oklahoma City, she struggled to write lesson plans and hated teaching math, a subject she disliked as a child. Districts statewide have increasingly depended on emergency certified educators like her to fill vacancies. In 2023-24, the number topped 5,000, state data shows. Since 2022, the state has also allowed schools to hire adjunct teachers, who may have no more than a high school diploma.